Breaking news!!! The Crooked Timber liberal economist John Quiggin* is writing the sequel to Henry Hazlitt's popular classic...Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics

Read all about it on Noah Smith's blog...here and here...

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Ken Houghton: John Quiggin - You're writing the sequel to Hazlitt? Will Costco/Amazon offer the two books as a box set?

John Quiggin: I hope so: Hazlitt is still selling well

James M. Buchanan: General-fund financing is analogous to a market situation where the individual is forced to purchase a bundle of goods, with the mix among the various components determined independently of his own preferences. The specific tie-in sale is similar to general-fund financing, that is, nonearmarking.

Derek Thompson: Every year, 100 million homes pay for a bundle of cable channels. Like any bundle, it's hard to see exactly what they are paying for. That is somewhat the point of bundling -- to disguise the true cost of the constituent items.

Bastiat: Treat all economic questions from the viewpoint of the consumer, for the interests of the consumer are the interests of the human race.

Xero: Why not create a market for public goods?

John Quiggin: Opportunity cost is what matters

Xero: Errr...was that a yes?

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*It's entirely possible that there are two John Quiggins and/or I am being pranked.