Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan
“I specialize in trillion-dollar ideas: policy reforms which, if implemented, would generate trillions of dollars of net social benefits. Ideas like open borders, educational austerity, and by-right construction. While I’m well-aware that my thoughtful critics have thoughtful criticisms, I also maintain that thoughtful critics with thoughtful criticisms are few and far between. When I present my trillion-dollar ideas, most of my critics present emotionally compelling but quantitatively trivial drawbacks. … I have a standard reply to all such criticisms: Even if you’re totally right, even if the problem is ten times worse than you fear, we should still implement the trillion-dollar proposal under discussion. Why? Because when we’re evaluating policies, we should ‘put a price tag’ on every problem — and the price tag on your problem is a rounding error.” (08/28/25)