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Book Review, Liberty Classics
A Liberty Classic Book Review of Cost and Choice: An Inquiry in Economic Theory, by James M. Buchanan.1 In less than one hundred pages, James Buchanan excoriates economists—classical and modern—for their unrecognized confusions about cost. More than an insular academic debate, Cost and Choice: An Inquiry in Economic Theory develops a biting set of logical .. MORE
Book Review, Kling's Corner
So we have a way of telling which political activists actually care about society and which are merely trying to portray themselves as caring: The ones who actually care will exert significant effort to make sure that their beliefs are correct. —Michael Huemer, Progressive Myths,1 p. 212 Michael Huemer believes that some important components of .. MORE
Book Review
A Book Review of Democracy for Busy People, by Kevin J. Elliott.1 Kevin J. Elliott’s 2023 book, Democracy for Busy People, is for anyone interested in liberal democratic politics. The book is worthwhile for classical liberals in particular because it handles topics often passed over by classically liberal democratic commentators and takes opportunity cost seriously. .. MORE
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econtalk-podcast
What does it take to translate a 900-page Russian novel written before the fall of the Soviet Union? For Robert Chandler it meant living in a seaside cottage for four months to immerse himself completely in the characters’ lives and to meet his publisher’s deadline. Listen as Chandler, the translator of Vasily Grossman’s masterpiece Life .. MORE
econtalk-extra
The recent Supreme Court ruling condemning Harvard and UNC’s race-based admissions policies has re-ignited the conversation about how to improve opportunities for bright minority students. In this week’s episode, economist Roland Fryer has a proposal to improve the pipeline of minority applicants, but he doesn’t think the Ivy League universities will go for it. He also .. MORE
Business Economics
A chain of coffee shops near me has had a sign outside their establishments this fall that simply reads, “Pumpkin is a Feeling.” Some might read this and simply conclude that it’s false. Pumpkin isn’t a feeling. It’s a plant! But when it comes to the pumpkin flavored treats that are popular each autumn, the .. MORE
Political Economy
Visiting a 13th-century cathedral, climbing a bell tower stairway with stone steps bowed by centuries of human footsteps, and meeting the chimeras and gargoyles that look over Paris roofs provide a unique esthetic if not religious experience. But in the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris ravaged by fire five years ago, an economist may see .. MORE
Explore the lasting legacies and
continued relevance of our classic titles.
In his Geschichte und Kritik der Kapitalzins-Theorieen (1884), which I translated in 1890 under the title of Capital and Interest, Professor Bohm-Bawerk, after passing in critical review the various opinions, practical and theoretical, held from the earliest times on the subject of interest, ended with the words: “On the foundation thus laid, I shall try .. MORE
Published Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Improvement of the Working Population in the County of Glamorgan
Book Review of What We Owe the Future, by William MacAskill.1 An issue that has long divided scholars is the question of how much weight to give to the interests of future generations, especially when making decisions of significant public importance. On one side of this issue there have been those like the University of .. MORE
Book Review of Narrative Economics: How Stories Go Viral and Drive Major Economic Events.1 by Robert J. Shiller. And if you wish to adorn, borrow the metaphor from something better in the same genus, if to denigrate, from something worse. —Aristotle, Rhetoric III, 1404b It is an odd experience to be reading Robert J. Shiller’s .. MORE
VIDEO
Svetozar “Steve” Pejovich, one of the most dynamic and insightful theorists writing on property rights, reflects on his experience in economics. With characteristic sagacity and humor, he demonstrates the power that empirical cases can bring to bear on theoretical problems. Born in Belgrade, Pejovich is Professor Emeritus at Texas A&M University, where he taught for .. MORE
VIDEO
A professor at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago in the 1960s and a primary figure in Chicago School Economics and in the field of Law and Economics, Harold Demsetz has contributed original research on the theory of the firm, regulation in markets, industrial organization, antitrust policy, transaction costs, externalities, and .. MORE
Econlib Videos
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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.
People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. It is impossible indeed to prevent such meetings, by any law which either could be executed, or would be consistent with liberty and justice. But .. MORE
“ Free market” is a summary term for an array of exchanges that take place in society. Each exchange is undertaken as a voluntary agreement between two people or between groups of people represented by agents. These two individuals (or agents) exchange two economic goods, either tangible commodities or nontangible services. Thus, when I buy .. MORE
The United States produces more per capita than any other industrialized country, and in recent years governments at various levels have spent about $350 billion per year, or about 3.5 percent of gross domestic product, on programs serving low-income families.1 Despite this, measured poverty is more prevalent in the United States than in most of .. MORE
-Israel Kirzner
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