Author: Walter E. Block

I am delighted that Mr. Noah Smith has sharply criticized Austrian economics; he does so in 2014 and again in 2015. He may not know much about the subject (a little knowledge often leads to grave error) but he writes in an entertaining manner, he spells the name of this school of thought correctly, he is vociferous in his critique (actually pretty nasty, but that is ok), and, most important, he writes for a mainstream news outlet. As far as I am concerned, no publicity is bad publicity. Even unsuccessful attacks on the praxeological school such as his two articles … Continue reading →

On February 9, 2015 I published an essay entitled “The Gentrifier.” In it I explained that contrary to the economic illiterates who hate and revile this practice, it is entirely a legitimate one. Since there has been confusion about this practice on the part of one writer who really ought to know better, I shall try to explain it even more slowly and carefully than I did at the outset. What is gentrification? It merely constitutes one aspect of bidding for scarce resources; that which occurs in the real estate market. The more general case occurs continuously all throughout the … Continue reading →

On February 9, 2015 I published an essay entitled “The Gentrifier.” In it I explained that contrary to the economic illiterates who hate and revile this practice, it is entirely a legitimate one. Since there has been confusion about this practice on the part of one writer who really ought to know better, I shall try to explain it even more slowly and carefully than I did at the outset. What is gentrification? It merely constitutes one aspect of bidding for scarce resources; that which occurs in the real estate market. The more general case occurs continuously all throughout the … Continue reading →