Conversation Arts: Civility, Incivility, and Persuasion, Political Science
Book Review
A Book Review of The Story of Work: A New History of Humankind, by Jan Lucassen.1 As the subtitle suggests, Jan Lucassen’s massive work of scholarship is ambitious in scope and scale. The entire sweep of human history and the whole of the planet are its canvas and the story it tells and the analysis .. MORE
Book Review, Liberty Classics
A Liberty Classic Book Review of Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis, by Ludwig von Mises.1 The hallmark of a great book is its ability to stand the test of time, for its lessons to apply across place and time, and for its underlying principles to resonate with future generations. On the occasion of the .. MORE
Article
What is Modern Monetary Theory? The term “modern” in Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) is probably not the best choice of words, since it implies there is something new in MMT. As many MMT critics point out, looking for something new in MMT is a pointless excercise. There is nothing new to be found. Paul Krugman,1 .. MORE
Microeconomics
History of Economic Thought
Business Economics
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
Economics and Culture
Public Choice Theory
Conversation Arts: Civility, Incivility, and Persuasion
Central Planning
Austrian Economics
econtalk-podcast
Author and economist Emily Oster of Brown University talks about her book, The Family Firm, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Oster argues that running your family life the way you’d run your own business makes for a better family in today’s crazy world. And where possible, the myriad of decisions you make should be based .. MORE
econtalk-podcast
John Kay and Mervyn King talk about their book, Radical Uncertainty, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. This is a wide-ranging discussion based on the book looking at rationality, decision-making under uncertainty, and the economists’ view of the world.
History of Economic Thought
As I do every year, I get up at about 3:00 a.m. PDT every Columbus Day (aka Indigenous People’s Day or Canadian Thanksgiving) to see who won the Nobel Prize in economics. I then estimate whether I know enough about his, her, or their work to write a piece in the morning for the Wall .. MORE
Economics and Culture
Bloomberg has an article discussing the economic impact of superstars like Taylor Swift and Shohei Ohtani: Move over, Taylor Swift. The economic might of baseball star Shohei Ohtani is bringing some big winners, and also some losers to the Japanese corporate world. How should we think about “economic impact”? It’s not an easy question to .. MORE
Explore the lasting legacies and
continued relevance of our classic titles.
A Liberty Classic Book Review of Competition and Entrepreneurship by Israel Kirzner.1 The start of the 1970s was not the best time for the Austrian school of economics. Ludwig von Mises was past his productive years and would pass away in 1973. F. A. Hayek was still active but had turned much of his attention .. MORE
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
VIDEO
Anthony de Jasay, a regular columnist for Econlib, was one of the most original and independent thinkers on the relationship between the individual and the state. Through his published works, he challenged the reigning paradigms justifying modern democratic growth. His deeply challenging theoretical works include The State, an analysis that views the state as acting .. MORE
VIDEO
Nobel laureate James M. Buchanan (1919-2013) was recorded in 2001 in an extended video now available to the public. Universally respected as one of the founders of the economics of public choice, he is the author of numerous books and hundreds of articles in the areas of public finance, public choice, constitutional economics, and economic .. 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 distribution of income lies at the heart of an enduring issue in political economy—the extent to which government should redistribute income from those with more income to those with less. Whether government should redistribute income is a normative question, and each person’s answer will depend on his or her values. But for many people, .. MORE
Adam Smith struggled with what came to be called the paradox of “value in use” versus “value in exchange.” Water is necessary to existence and of enormous value in use; diamonds are frivolous and clearly not essential. But the price of diamonds—their value in exchange—is far higher than that of water. What perplexed Smith is .. MORE
In recent years, taxation has been one of the most prominent and controversial topics in economic policy. Taxation has been a principal issue in every presidential election since 1980—with a large tax cut as a winning issue in 1980, a pledge of “Read my lips: no new taxes” in the 1988 campaign, and a statement .. MORE
-Israel Kirzner
-F. A. Hayek Full Quote >>
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