I’m in the market for babies and, based on the research, it’s prime time to be having them. Happily married, financially stable, and with a happiness quotient that should make the rich and famous envious, my wife and I are in a place to “make the plunge.” However, lots of our friends and acquaintances don’t quite understand why we would want to do that. If we express interest in raising a family, we often are thought to be either out of our minds, or members of an exclusive order of saints—altruistic beyond comprehension, and perhaps a little out-of-touch with reality. After all, the standard assumption is that children impose a major limit discretionary time, money, and, well, everything. But, there are a number of voices arguing the opposite. While it’s fairly easy to find religious writers, and especially prolific Catholics, making the case for having children, the argument for kids in the press is harder to find...and even harder if you’re looking for an argument that doesn’t depend on altruism and total self-abnegation for its impetus. Enter Bryan Caplan from EconLog.
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