Biography, Intellectual History, Law and Institutions, Political Science, Public Choice
Book Review, Kling's Corner
In The Evolution of Everything: How Ideas Emerge,1 Matt Ridley claims for liberty what Karl Marx once claimed for socialism: the mantle of science. He argues that evolution pervades not only biology but also technology and culture, and that it brings progress. In contrast, those human institutions that rely on top-down authority can cause much .. MORE
An Economist Looks at Europe
In November last I was in Argentina, the country of Evita Peron, for a Liberty Fund colloquium on whether commercial banks should back deposits with 100 percent ready money to avoid runs when confidence falters. What I have come to think about fractional reserve banking I will leave for a later column. Today, my topic .. MORE
Kling's Corner, Liberty Classics
It is a question of deciding whether individual freedom is compatible in principle with the present system centered on and almost completely identified with legislation. This may seem like a radical view. I do not deny that it is. But radical views are sometimes more fruitful than syncretistic that serve to conceal the problems more .. MORE
International Trade
Biography, Intellectual History
International Macroeconomics
Central Planning
Economic Methods
Energy, Environment, Resources
History of Economic Thought
Macroeconomics
econtalk-podcast
Who was Milton Friedman? Jennifer Burns of Stanford University finds in her biography of Friedman that the answer to that question is more complicated than she thought. Listen as she and EconTalk’s Russ Roberts discuss how the now-forgotten Henry Simons shaped Friedman’s thought, the degree to which Friedman had a deep understanding and belief in .. MORE
econtalk-extra
How much thought do you put into how you acquired the food you eat? I don’t mean where did you buy it, but who grew it, found it, caught it, killed it? I admit that the answer for me is, “not much.” I have a small garden patch in the summer and forage a bit .. MORE
Central Planning
Deregulation Can Fix the Housing Crunch by J.D. Tuccille, Reason, September 23, 2024. Excerpt: Building regulations reflect a wide range of government interventions, including zoning restrictions, land use regulations, energy efficiency codes, safety codes, and more. The intent behind such rules often started with public health, then expanded to encompass energy efficiency, home values, and even .. MORE
International Macroeconomics
In my recent book entitled Alternative Approaches to Monetary Policy, I described two different low interest rate monetary policies, one expansionary and contractionary: Because of the interest parity condition, we know that these are both low interest rate policies. International investors will accept a lower interest rates in safe assets located in countries where the .. MORE
Explore the lasting legacies and
continued relevance of our classic titles.
Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973) first published The Theory of Money and Credit in German, in 1912. The edition presented here is that published by Liberty Fund in 1980, which was translated from the German by H. E. Batson originally in 1934, with additions in 1953. Only a few corrections of obvious typos were made for .. MORE
A NEW edition of this translation of the popular treatise of M. Say having been called for, the five previous American editions being entirely out of print, the editor has endeavoured to render the work more deserving of the favour it has received, by subjecting every part of it to a careful revision. As the .. MORE
Bureaucracy has a reputation of being a ‘necessary evil’ in modern western society. We are quick to blame bureaucracy for long waits at the DMV [Department of Motor Vehicles], lengthy approval processes for building permits, and for the piles of paperwork at work. Bureaucracy is the source of mandatory workplace trainings and the reason for .. MORE
Review of The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes, by Zachary D. Carter.1 Why should someone write another biography of Keynes? Major biographies of John Maynard Keynes (not merely books on Keynes and Keynesianism, of which the supply is far larger) include the 1951 Life of John Maynard Keynes .. MORE
VIDEO
A five-part short video series on the life and contemporary relevance of Adam Smith. This video series, produced by AdamSmithWorks, can be watch as a full 38-minute feature, or in five thematic, classroom-friendly chunks. To access all, click here. Below are some discussion prompts related to this video: Part 1: The Invisible Hand .. MORE
VIDEO
Nobel laureate Ronald H. Coase (1910-2013) was recorded in 2001 in an extended video now available to the public. Coase’s articles, “The Problem of Social Cost” and “The Nature of the Firm” are among the most important and most often cited works in the whole of economic literature. Coase recounts how he tried to encourage .. 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.
Mercantilism is economic nationalism for the purpose of building a wealthy and powerful state. Adam Smith coined the term “mercantile system” to describe the system of political economy that sought to enrich the country by restraining imports and encouraging exports. This system dominated Western European economic thought and policies from the sixteenth to the late .. MORE
Gross output (GO) is a relatively new macroeconomic statistic that measures total economic activity. Gross domestic product (GDP)—the other major measure of economic activity—accounts only for final goods and services. However, GO’s scope includes both final output as well as intermediate inputs at all earlier stages of production. Therefore, GO is a much more comprehensive measure .. MORE
A patent is the government grant of monopoly on an invention for a limited amount of time. Patents in the United States are granted for seventeen years from the date the patent is issued or for 20 years from the date of filing. Other countries grant patents for similar time periods. Italy and Mexico grant .. MORE
-James Buchanan
-John Stuart Mill Full Quote >>
-Leonard E. Read Full Quote >>