Sorry for the confusion when betonit.ai stopped working last weekend. I was actually not hacked, just confused about what services I needed to purchase to keep the alternate domain name up. Thank you to everyone who emailed me about the glitch. Shouldn’t happen again! Reminders: Today: Meet-up and talk at Texas A&M. Tuesday: Cato book event for Build, Baby, Build. Wednesday: Official release of Build, Baby, Build! P.S. I plan to host an AMA on the new book on the release date. Update: Seems like there’s an issue for www.betonit.ai versus betonit.ai. Trying to fix now. If you know e ..read more

I recently discussed my “make desertion fast” proposal (updated here) with philosopher Ned Dobos over lunch. Though he’s sympathetic, he’s sent me the following two emails outlining possible objections. With Ned’s kind permission… Hi Bryan, Thought you might be interested to know that I’m giving a talk at the ISA (International Studies Association) conference on Thursday addressing “Caplan’s proposal” to incentivize desertion. The plan is to set out and respond to a few possible ethical arguments against your proposal (see below for the 3 arguments I’ll be focusing on). I don’t think any of th ..read more

You’ve heard how Japan finally surrendered to the United States after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. You’ve heard how Emperor Hirohito went on Japanese radio and informed his people of his decision. But have you ever actually heard what Hirohito told his subjects? The Emperor’s surrender speech is one of the most egregious examples of demagoguery that I’ve ever read. A pile of preposterous pretty political lies for peace. And while we should all embrace the peace, today we’re going to review the lies. From what I’ve read, most Japanese listeners were barely able to follow Hiroh ..read more

I’m afraid betonit.ai is having technical difficulties. But betonit.substack.com should still be working normally. With luck, betonit.ai will be working again in 24-48 hours. My apologies for the inconvenience! —Bryan ..read more

You’ve heard how Japan finally surrendered to the United States after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. You’ve heard how Emperor Hirohito went on Japanese radio and informed his people of his decision. But have you ever actually heard what Hirohito told his subjects? The Emperor’s surrender speech is one of the most egregious examples of demagoguery that I’ve ever read. A pile of preposterous pretty political lies for peace. And while we should all embrace the peace, today we’re going to review the lies. From what I’ve read, most Japanese listeners were barely able to follow Hiroh ..read more

I’m afraid betonit.ai is having technical difficulties. But betonit.substack.com should still be working normally. With luck, betonit.ai will be working again in 24-48 hours. My apologies for the inconvenience! —Bryan ..read more

Michael Liebowitz, a.k.a. “the Rational Egoist,” recently interviewed me on Open Borders, You Will Not Stampede Me, and more. Highlight: You may enjoy my (over?)reaction to learning Michael’s backstory ..read more

I’ve got five events coming up: two in the DC area, and three in Texas. All open to all. “Solving the Nation’s Housing Crisis.” Panel discussion at GMU’s Schar School of Policy and Government, featuring me, Ilya Somin of the GMU Law School, and Jerry Howard, former Director of the National Association of Home Builders. Update: This event has been postponed until September! My apologies for any inconvenience. Austin Bet On It Meet-Up. Location: University of Texas at Austin, RRH 1.350 Board Room. Time: April 24, 5-6:30 PM. College Station Bet On It Meet-Up. Location: Fargo’s Pit BBQ, 1701 ..read more

In 2005, I debated my then-colleague Larry Iannaccone on the economics of religion. The turnout — around 300 people at GMU back when it was clearly a commuter school — surprised me and totally shocked Larry. I still remember his eyes bugging out when he entered the auditorium! Though perhaps he was just astounded to see me wearing a suit. We tried recording using an early-gen iPod, but that failed. All that remains of the debate is the following opening statement and this supplementary webpage, though I’d obviously be happy to run any response Larry cared to write. Enjoy! Larry Iannaccone a ..read more

In late 2020, George Mason University publicly released this statement on behalf of the Presidential Task Force on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence. (Archived here in case GMU tries to flush it down the memory hole). When I first received the statement via email, I was stunned. I’d long known that the GMU administration leaned left. Two weird departments aside, GMU has been an ideologically typical university for many decades. But to the best of my knowledge, GMU’s leadership had never before openly pledged our collective allegiance to wokeness. The available pdf says “DRAFT,” but make no ..read more