Book Review, Liberty Classics
A Liberty Classics Book Review of Studies on the Abuse and Decline of Reason: Text and Documents, by F.A. Hayek (edited by Bruce Caldwell). 1 According to F.A. Hayek, what are the theoretical and historical reasons for the tragedies of socialism that emerged in the 20th century? Hayek attempted to answer this question in what .. MORE
Thinking Straight
Man-Made Rights are Either in Ordered Anarchy or in Command-Obedience Relations The literature of ethics and political philosophy presents an ideal human nature, notably free of conflicts between men. In this literature, basic rights are “natural.” There is no reason why anyone should accept this supposition about the basic character of men, and therefore .. MORE
Book Review, Kling's Corner
[W]e can’t both accept anything resembling common-sense morality and the anti-libertarian welfare-state structures that admittedly characterize most advanced states at present. —Dan Moller, Governing Least: A New England Libertarianism,1 page 20 Dan Moller contends that there is a powerful case against the welfare state based on ordinary moral intuition. The argument can be thought of .. MORE
Energy, Environment, Resources
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
Business Economics
Money and Inflation
International Trade
Media Watch
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
International Trade
Biography, Intellectual History
Technology
econtalk-podcast
What does it mean to live Constitutionally in the year 2024? For a start, it means getting off social media. It also means swapping a quill pen for your keyboard, and candlelight for electricity. And don’t forget the tricorn hat and musket–though maybe skip the boiled mutton. Join author A.J. Jacobs as he deep-dives with .. MORE
econtalk-podcast
Can Israeli society survive the loss of universal military service? Will the deregulation of Israel’s kosher supervision spell the end of its Jewish character? And, speaking of Israel, what is it that makes its television dramas so good? Tyler Cowen discusses these and other subjects with EconTalk host Russ Roberts, new immigrant to Israel and .. MORE
International Trade
David Henderson has an excellent post on the effect of tariffs on the price level. I agree with his analysis, but here I’ll reframe the debate in a way that I hope will also be helpful. Let’s begin with a few propositions: 1. Under the vast majority of policy regimes, the imposition of tariffs leads .. MORE
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
The quantity of rent-controlled apartments demanded thus becomes enormous. In New York City, some old rent-controlled units have become family heirlooms. A woman went viral on TikTok in 2021 after showcasing her redecorated $1,300 a month rent-controlled two-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side, after inheriting the lease from her parents—a unit that would .. MORE
Explore the lasting legacies and
continued relevance of our classic titles.
THE State is a severe mother. She demands from her noblest sons their intellects, their energies, and, if need be, their lives; but she is not ungrateful. The men who have guided her destinies live in grateful memory and in memory the more honoured, if to great service and lofty aims they have added disregard .. MORE
I must have been forty years old before reading Frederic Bastiat’s classic The Law. An anonymous person, to whom I shall eternally be in debt, mailed me an unsolicited copy. After reading the book I was convinced that a liberal-arts education without an encounter with Bastiat is incomplete. Reading Bastiat made me keenly aware of .. MORE
Book Review of The Poor and the Plutocrats: From the Poorest of the Poor to the Richest of the Rich (Oxford University Press 2021) by Francis Teal.1 Is inequality a problem? Many people seem to think so, if we judge the public discussions in Europe and the United States over the last decade or so. .. MORE
Modern manufacturing is a logistical marvel that taps hundreds of facilities in dozens of countries, but that system is based on frictionless international trade. Break just a few links and the entire network collapses. A modern car has about 2000 parts. If you are missing ten, you’ve got a large paperweight. Peter Zeihan1 Adam Smith .. MORE
VIDEO
Israel Kirzner, Professor Emeritus at NYU, is among the foremost scholars in the continuing development of the Austrian school of economic theory. He has extended our understanding of the workings of a free society, illuminated the role of entrepreneurs in the process of economic discovery, and shed new light on the dynamics of market forces. .. MORE
VIDEO
On April 10, 2013, Liberty Fund and Butler University sponsored a symposium, “Capitalism, Government, and the Good Society.” The evening began with solo presentations by the three participants–Michael Munger of Duke University, Robert Skidelsky of the University of Warwick, and Richard Epstein of New York University. (Travel complications forced the fourth invited participant, James Galbraith .. MORE
Econlib Videos
Conversations with some of the most original thinkers of our time
The Reading Lists by Topic pages contain some suggested readings organized by topic, including materials available on Econlib. Brief reviews or descriptions are included for many items.
Supplementary materials for popular college textbooks used in courses in the Principles of Economics, Microeconomics, Price Theory, and Macroeconomics are suggested by topic.
These free resources are appropriate for teachers of high school and AP economics, social studies, and history classes. They are also appropriate for interested students, home schoolers, and newcomers to the topic of economics.
The Original Federal Reserve System Several monetary institutions appeared in the United States prior to the formation of the Federal Reserve System, or Fed. These were, in order: the constitutional gold (and bimetallic) standard, the First and Second Banks of the United States, the Independent Treasury, the National Banking System, clearinghouse associations, and the National .. MORE
When economists such as robert mundell were theorizing about optimal monetary unions in the middle of the twentieth century, most people regarded the exercise as largely hypothetical. But since many European countries established a monetary union at the end of the century, the theory of monetary unions has become much more relevant to many more .. MORE
The population of wealthy countries is getting much older. Between 2005 and 2035, the number of elderly in wealthy countries will more than double, but the number of workers will barely change. This historically unprecedented demographic change portends enormous fiscal stresses because of the high and growing cost of meeting government pension and health-care commitments .. MORE
-Adam Smith
-Ludwig von Mises Full Quote >>
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