Curriculum Vitae
Bryan Caplan
Associate Professor
Department of Economics,
Center for Study of Public Choice,
and Mercatus Center
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
703-993-2324 (office)
703-993-2323 (fax)
bcaplan@gmu.edu
Birthdate: April 8, 1971
Education:
B.A., Economics, University of California at Berkeley, 1993
Ph.D., Economics, Princeton University, 1997
Job history:
Assistant Professor of Economics, George Mason University, 1997-2003
Associate Professor of Economics, George Mason University, 2003-
Fields of
Specialization and Interest
·
Public economics
·
Public choice
·
Psychology and economics
·
Public opinion
·
Economics of the family
·
Austrian economics
Teaching Experience
· Introductory Microeconomics (undergraduate)
· Intermediate Macroeconomics (undergraduate)
· Industrial Organization (undergraduate)
· Labor Economics (undergraduate)
· Econometrics (undergraduate)
· Public Choice (undergraduate)
· Microeconomics (graduate)
· Econometrics (graduate)
· Macroeconomics (graduate)
· Monetary Economics (graduate)
· Public Finance (graduate)
Service
Public Choice Brown Bag Seminar Organizer, 2000-2003
Assistant Director of Graduate Studies, 2004-
Public Choice Seminar Organizer, 2006-2008
Publications
a. Books
·
The Myth
of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies. 2007. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press. (Named a Best Book of 2007 by the
Financial Times).
·
The Myth
of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies. 2008.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. [Paperback edition with a new introduction by
the author.]
b. Journal Articles
· "The Austrian Search for Realistic Foundations." April 1999. Southern Economic Journal 65(4), pp.823-838.
· "Rational Irrationality: A Framework for the Neoclassical-Behavioral Debate." Spring 2000. Eastern Economic Journal 26(2), pp.191-211.
· "When Is Two Better Than One? How Federalism Amplifies and Mitigates Imperfect Political Competition." April 2001. Journal of Public Economics 80(1), pp.99-119.
· "Rational Ignorance versus Rational Irrationality." 2001. Kyklos 54(1), pp.3-26. (lead article)
· "Has Leviathan Been Bound? A Theory of Imperfectly Constrained Government with Evidence from the States." April 2001. Southern Economic Journal 67(4), pp.825-847.
· "Libertarianism Against Economism: How Economists Misunderstand Voters and Why Libertarians Should Care." Spring 2001. Independent Review 5(4), pp.539-563.
· "Rational Irrationality and the Microfoundations of Political Failure." June 2001. Public Choice 107 (3/4), pp.311-331.
·
"Probability,
Common Sense, and Realism: A Reply to Hülsmann and Block." Summer
2001. Quarterly Journal of Austrian
Economics 4(2), pp.69-86.
· "Standing Tiebout on His Head: Tax Capitalization and the Monopoly Power of Local Governments." July 2001. Public Choice 108(1/2), pp.101-122.
· "What Makes People Think Like Economists? Evidence on Economic Cognition from the Survey of Americans and Economists on the Economy." October 2001. Journal of Law and Economics 44(2), pp.395-426.
·
"How Does War Shock the Economy?" 2002. Journal of International Money and Finance 21, pp.145-162.
· "Systematically Biased Beliefs About Economics: Robust Evidence of Judgemental Anomalies from the Survey of Americans and Economists on the Economy." April 2002. Economic Journal 112(479), pp.433-458.
·
"Sociotropes, Systematic Bias, and
Political Failure: Reflections on the Survey of Americans and Economists on the
Economy." June 2002. Social Science Quarterly 83(2),
pp.416-435.
· "Stigler-Becker versus Myers-Briggs: Why Preference-Based Explanations Are Scientifically Meaningful and Empirically Important." April 2003. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 50(4), pp.391-405. (lead article)
·
"The
Logic of Collective Belief." May 2003. Rationality
and Society 15(2), pp.218-42.
· "The Idea Trap: The Political Economy of Growth Divergence." June 2003. European Journal of Political Economy 19(2), pp.183-203.
· "Probability and the Synthetic A Priori: A Reply to Block." Fall 2003. Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 6(3), pp.61-7.
·
"Networks, Law, and the Paradox of
Cooperation." (with Edward Stringham)
December 2003. Review
of Austrian Economics 16(4), pp.309-26.
·
"Is Socialism Really 'Impossible'?" 2004. Critical
Review 16(1), pp.33-52.
·
"Do We Underestimate the Benefits of Cultural
Competition?" (with Tyler Cowen) May
2004. American Economic Review
94(2), pp.402-7.
·
"Mises, Bastiat, Public Opinion, and Public
Choice: What's Wrong With Democracy" (with Edward Stringham). January 2005.
Review of Political Economy 17(1), pp.79-105.
·
"From Friedman to Wittman: The
Transformation of Chicago Political Economy." April 2005.
Econ Journal Watch 2(1), pp.1-21.
(lead article)
·
"Rejoinder
to Wittman: True Myths." August
2005. Econ Journal Watch 2(2),
pp.165-85.
·
"Toward a New Consensus on the Economics of
Socialism: Rejoinder to My Critics."
2005. Critical Review 17(1/2), pp.203-20.
· "Terrorism: The Relevance of the Rational Choice Model." July 2006. Public Choice 128(1/2), pp.91-107.
· "The Economics of Szasz: Preferences, Constraints, and Mental Illness." August 2006. Rationality and Society 18(3), pp.333-66.
·
"How
Do Voters Form Positive Economic Beliefs?
Evidence from the Survey of Americans and Economists on the
Economy." September 2006. Public
Choice 128(3/4), pp.367-81.
·
"Behavioral Economics and Perverse Effects of
the Welfare State" (with Scott Beaulier).
November 2007. Kyklos 60(4): 485-507.
· "Mises' Democracy-Dictatorship Equivalence Theorem." March 2008. Review of Austrian Economics 21(1), pp.45-59.
·
"Privatizing
the Adjudication of Disputes" (with Edward Stringham). 2008. Theoretical Inquiries in Law
9(2): 503-528.
·
“Reply
to My Critics.” 2008. Critical
Review 20(3), pp.377-413. (response to full-issue symposium on The Myth of the Rational Voter)
·
"Majorities
Against Utility: Implications of the Failure of the Miracle of
Aggregation." Winter 2009. Social
Philosophy and Policy 26(1), pp.198-211.
·
“Singapore’s
Political Economy: Two Paradoxes.” Ethos, forthcoming.
c. Articles Currently Under Review
·
"The Gender Gap of Economics: Why Do Men Think
More Like Economists?" Revision
requested by the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization.
·
"Positive
versus Normative Economics: What's the Connection?" (with Stephen
Miller). Revision requested by Social Science Quarterly.
·
"Intelligence
Makes People Think Like Economists." (with Stephen Miller). Revision requested by Intelligence.
d. Review Essays
· "The Literature of Nonviolent Resistance and Civilian-Based Defense." 1994. Humane Studies Review 9(1), pp.1-7, 10-12.
·
"Autocratic Ghosts and Chinese Hunger: A
Review Essay of Autocratic Tradition and Chinese Politics by Zhengyuan
Fu and Hungry Ghosts by Jasper Becker." 2000. Independent Review 4(3), pp.431-38.
·
"Have the Experts Been Weighed, Measured,
and Found Wanting?” (Review Essay on
Philip Tetlock's Expert Political
Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We
Know?) 2007. Critical
Review 19(1), pp.80-91.
·
“Irrational Principals: A Review Essay on
Timothy Besley’s Principled Agents?” Review
of Austrian Economics, forthcoming.
e. Chapters in
Books
·
"Economists Versus the Public on Economic
Policy," "Rational Ignorance," and "Rational
Irrationality" in Rowley, Charles, and Friedrich Schneider, eds. 2004. The
Encyclopedia of Public Choice. Boston:
Kluwer Academic Publishers.
·
"Frederic Bastiat,"
"Competition," "Libertarian," "Fascism," and
"Ayn Rand" in Hussain, Syed, ed. 2004. Encyclopedia of Capitalism. NY: Facts on File.
·
"Ayn Rand and Public Choice: The Obvious
Parallels," in Younkins, Edward,
ed. 2007. Ayn
Rand's "Atlas Shrugged": A Philosophical and Literary Companion.
Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate Publishing Company, pp.225-34.
·
"Communism" and
"Externalities" in Henderson, David, ed. 2008. The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. Indianapolis, IN, pp.66-9, 169-72.
·
"The
Totalitarian Threat," in Bostrum, Nick, and Milan Ćirković, eds.
Global Catastrophic Risks.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 504-519.
·
"David Friedman," "Laissez-faire
Policy," "Anarchism," and "Fascism" in The
Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, forthcoming.
·
"Intellectual Autobiography of Bryan Caplan." in Block, Walter, ed. Libertarian
Autobiographies, forthcoming.
·
“The Myth
of the Rational Voter and Political Theory: A Reply to Estlund, Landemore,
and Mackie.” Forthcoming in Colloquium
on Collective Wisdom conference volume.
f. Book Reviews
· Review of Michael Kater, The Twisted Muse: Musicians and Their Music in the Third Reich. 1998. Journal of Cultural Economics 22(4), pp.287-9.
·
Review of Ronald Wintrobe, The Political Economy of Dictatorship. 1998. Independent Review 3(3), pp.468-71.
·
Review of Daniel Shaviro, When Rules Change. 2001. Public
Choice 106, pp.193-6.
·
Review of A. James Gregor, The Faces of Janus: Marxism and Fascism in the Twentieth Century. Fall 2001.
Continuity, pp.142-4.
·
Review of George Tsebelis, Veto Players: How
Political Institutions Work.
2004. Public Choice
121(1-2), pp.260-2.
·
Review of Daniel Klein and Fred Foldvary, eds., The Half-Life of Policy Rationales: How New
Technology Affects Old Policy Issues.
2005. Independent Review 9(3), pp.442-3.
·
Review of Hans Gersbach, Designing Democracy: Ideas for Better Rules. 2006. Journal of Economics 87(2): 197-200.
·
Review of Guiseppe Eusepi and Alan Hamlin,
eds. Beyond
Conventional Economics. 2007. Public
Choice 131(3/4): 505-7.
·
Review of Clifford Winston, Government
Failure Versus Market Failure: Microeconomics Policy Research and Government
Performance. 2007. Constitutional Political Economy 18(4): 225-8.
g. Monographs
· "Straight Talk About Economic Literacy." Commissioned by the Mercatus Center. Available at: http://www.mercatus.org/Straight%20talk%20on%20economic%20literacy.pdf
·
"The
Myth of the Rational Voter." May
29, 2007. Policy Analysis no. 594. Cato Institute. Available at:
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa594.pdf.
h. Editorials
·
"Economic Illiteracy: A Modest Plea Against
Humility." October 2002. Royal
Economic Society Newsletter 119, pp.9-10.
·
"Special Interest Secret." May 12, 2007.
Wall Street Journal, A11.
·
"The Kids These Days: A Bright Future for
Economic Literacy?" History News Network. October 8, 2007.
·
“5 Myths About Our Ballot-Box Behavior.” January 8, 2008. Washington
Post, B03.
·
“The 18-Cent Solution.” May 8, 2008.
New York Times, A31.
·
“What If the Median Voter Were a Failing
Student?” September, 2008. The
Economists’ Voice, pp.1-5.
·
“Good News and Bad News on Parenting.” January 23, 2009. The
Chronicle of Higher Education, B5.
i. Other Publications
·
“Who’s in Charge Here?” January, 1988. Dragon 129,
pp.66-69.
·
"Creeping Privatization: The Present and
Potential of Alternative Dispute Resolution." 1994. Regulation 2, pp.18-22.
·
Guest blogger for Marginal Revolution, http://www.marginalrevolution.com. July 2004.
·
Regular blogger for Econlog, http://econlog.econlib.org. January 2005-present
·
"The Myth of the Rational Voter." November, 2006. Cato
Unbound. http://www.cato-unbound.org/2006/11/06/bryan-caplan/the-myth-of-the-rational-voter. (lead article)
·
Guest blogger for Britannica Online, http://blogs.britannica.com. May, 2007.
·
Guest blogger for the Economist, http://www.economist.com/debate/freeexchange. June, 2007.
·
"Dumbocracy in America: Interview with Nick
Schulz." June 20, 2007. Tech
Central Station Daily. http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=061907A.
·
"The Four Boneheaded Biases of Stupid
Voters." October 2007. Reason
39(5), pp.24-32. (cover story)
j. Media Appearances
· EconTalk. "Caplan on Discrimination and Labor Markets." December 4, 2006.
· Cato Institute. "What Should Be a Culture of Enterprise in An Age of Globalization?" March 29, 2007.
· BBC Radio 4. "Thinking Allowed: The Rational Voter." May 2, 2007.
· WWTC. "Taxpayers League Live with David Strom." May 19, 2007.
· BBC Radio 3. "Night Waves." May 21, 2007.
· RNN. "Real Politics Live." May 28, 2007.
· Bloggingheads.tv. "'The Myth of the Rational Voter' by Bryan Caplan." May 30, 2007.
· Bloomberg Radio. "On the Economy with Tom Keene." June 20, 2007.
· EconTalk. "Caplan on the Myth of the Rational Voter." June 25, 2007.
· C-SPAN2. "Irrational Politics and Free Trade." July 2, 2007.
· ABC Radio National (Australia). "The Myth of the Rational Voter." July 2, 2007.
· WGNU. "Sloan Ranger Show." July 3, 2007.
· Syndicated. "Culture Shocks with Barry Lynn." July 10, 2007.
· KSTP. "The Bob Davis Show." July 16, 2007.
· WNYC. "Silly Voters: The Brian Lehrer Show." August 8, 2007.
· WPR. "Conversations with Joy Cardin." August 14, 2007.
· WTVN. "Town Hall Ohio." August 19, 2007.
· KOA. "The Mike Rosen Show." August 20, 2007.
· WNBC. "News Forum Now." August 22, 2007.
· VFH Radio. "With Good Reason." September 8, 2007.
· QNN. "America Back on Track with Tony Seton." September 19, 2007
· Syndicated. "The Liberated Space." September 27, 2007.
· Bloomberg Radio. "On the Economy with Tom Keene." May 9, 2008.
· WTOP. “WTOP News.” May 28, 2008.
· WRKO. “Avi Nelson.” July 26, 2008.
· CBC. “The Current.” September 10, 2008.
· CTV. “CTV News.” September 29, 2008.
· KOGO. “Chip Franklin.” October 9, 2008.
· ABC. “20/20.” October 10. 2008.
· WDYT. “The Brain Storm.” October 13, 2008.
· KOTA. “The Shad Olson Show.” October 17, 2008.
k. Work in Progress
·
Selfish
Reasons to Have More Kids (book)
·
The
Case Against Education (book)
·
"Public
Opinion, Education, and IQ" (with Stephen Miller)
·
"Systematically
Biased Beliefs About Political Responsibility" (with Wayne Grove and Ilya
Somin)
·
"Education as a Signal of Conscientiousness"
(with Stephen Miller)
·
"Over-Estimating the Social Budget Constraint:
A Key to Political Discontent?" (with Geoffrey Lea)
·
"The Endowment Effect, the Black Market, and
the Foundation of Property" (with Isaac DiIanni)
·
"Economic Generations?: A Test of Strauss and
Howe's Generational Hypothesis"
·
"Expectational Equilibria, Democratic
Transitions, and the Stability of Private Legal Systems" (with Edward
Stringham)
·
"A Bayesian/Search-Theoretic Critique of
Georgism" (with Zachary Gochenour)
·
“Group Interest: The Root of Social Conflict” (with
Diana Weinert)
·
“Persuasion, Slack, and Traps: How Can Economists
Change the World?”
Dissertations Chaired
Parker Norman. “The Role of ‘Too Big to Fail’ Status
in Bank Merger Activity.” Defended
12/3/07.
Selected
Presentations
"Rational
Ignorance versus Rational Irrationality." 1999 Public Choice Society
Meetings.
"What Makes
People Think Like Economists?" 2000
Public Choice Society Meetings.
"Systematically
Biased Beliefs About Economics."
2000 Southern Economic Association Meetings.
"The Idea
Trap." 2001 Public Choice Society
Meetings.
"The Logic of
Collective Belief." University of
Delaware Economics Department Seminar.
Fall, 2001.
"Sociotropes,
Systematic Bias, and Political Failure."
2002 Public Choice Society Meetings.
"The Idea
Trap." University of Oklahoma
Economics Department Seminar. Spring,
2002.
"Debate with
Prof. Peter Boettke: Why I Am Not an Austrian Economist... and Why You
Shouldn't Be Either." George Mason
University Economics Society, 2002.
"Do We
Underestimate the Benefits of Cultural Competition?" 2004 American Economic Assocation Meetings.
"Debate with
Prof. Lawrence Iannacone: Is Religion Rational?" George Mason University Economics Society,
2005.
"Irrational
Politics and Free Trade." Heritage
Foundation, 2007.
"The Myth of
the Rational Voter." Cato
Institute, 2007.
"The Myth of
the Rational Voter." Trinity
College, 2007.
"Debate with
Prof. Donald Wittman: Is Democracy a Failure?" George Mason University Economics Society,
2007.
"The Myth of
the Rational Voter." National
Economists Club, 2007.
"The Myth of
the Rational Voter." Osher
Lifelong Learning Institute, George Mason University, 2007.
“The Myth of the
Rational Voter.” Yale Center for the
Study of American Politics and Yale Law School, 2007.
“Majorities Against
Utility: Implications of the Failure of the Miracle of Aggregation.” Aggregation in Moral and Political Philosophy
Conference. Social Philosophy and Policy
Center, Bowling Green State University, 2007.
“The Myth of the
Rational Voter.” Miller Center of Public
Affairs, University of Virginia, 2007.
“The Myth of the
Rational Voter.” Department of
Economics, University of Virginia, 2007.
“The Myth of the Rational Voter.” Western Hemisphere Affairs, Department of State, 2007.
“Plenary Session: The Myth of the Rational Voter.” Public Choice Society Meetings, 2008. “The Myth of the Rational Voter.” SXSW Interactive, 2008. “The Myth of the Rational Voter.” The World Bank, 2008. “Selfish Reasons to
Have More Kids.” GMU Economics Society
and Foundation for Economic Education.”
“Majorities Against
Utility: Implications of the Failure of the Miracle of Aggregation.” Colloquium on Collective Wisdom. Collège de France, 2008.
“Why I Love Economics, and You Should Too.” Summer Economics Institute, 2008.
“The Myth of the Rational Voter.” Homo Politicus: Ignorant, Dogmatic, Irrational? Conference on Political Ignorance and Dogmatism. American Political Science Association, 2008.
“Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids.” Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, George
Mason University, 2008.
“The Myth of the Rational Voter.” Noblis, 2008.
“Systematically Biased Beliefs About Political Influence.” Public Choice Seminar, George Mason University, 2008.
“The Myth of the Rational Voter.” Jefferson Literary and Debating Society,
2008.
“The Myth of the Rational Voter.” Singapore Civil Service College, 2008.
“Selfish Reasons to
Have More Kids.” Institute of Policy
Studies (Singapore), 2008.
“Debate with Prof. Robin Hanson: Liberty versus Efficiency.” George Mason University Economics Society, 2009.
Professional
Associations
Referee for Public Choice, Southern Economic
Journal, Economic Inquiry, Economics of Governance, Eastern
Economic Journal, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization,
Social Science History, National Tax Journal, Review of Austrian
Economics, Journal of Public Economic Theory, International
Review of Economic and Finance, Journal of the History of Economic
Thought, Social Science Quarterly, Journal of Labor Research,
American Political Science Review, American
Economic Review, Social Forces, the
European Journal of Political Research,
Economics and Philosophy, Rationality and Society, and Economic Journal
Prizes and Awards
Winner of the 2005 Thomas
S. Szasz Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Cause of Civil Liberties.
First Place Article, 2006 Templeton Enterprise Awards (with Edward Stringham).
Media Coverage
Research discussed in The
Economist, The Financial Times, The Times of London, In These Times, New York Times Magazine, The
Wall Street Journal, The Telegraph, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The
Chicago Tribune, and The American Prospect.
References
|
Prof. N. Gregory Mankiw Department of Economics Harvard University Littauer Center 223 Cambridge, MA 02138 ngmankiw@fas.harvard.edu |
Prof. Tyler Cowen Department of Economics George Mason University MSN 1D3 Fairfax, VA 22030 703-993-2312 tcowen@gmu.edu |
|
Prof. David Romer University of California, Berkeley 510-642-1785 dromer@econ.berkeley.edu |
Prof. Timur Kuran Department of
Economics Duke University 213 Social Sciences Building Box 90097
Durham, NC 27708 919-660-1872 t.kuran@duke.edu |