Topic: Books

Debts, Deficits, and the Entitlement Crisis

– March 17, 2021

“The US government’s debt is soaring like never before and promises to only bring economic stagnation if not outright disaster. Looking past Covid-19, we should strive to implement bold reforms to our costly but important entitlement programs to truly deliver on fiscal stability. These reforms may not be popular or easy but there is no doubt that they will be necessary.” ~ Ethan Yang

Books, Classical Liberalism, Government

To Decline or Not Decline: Western Civilization’s Endless Nemesis

– March 9, 2021

“Judging by the many failed prophets of the past, neither are we this time doomed, from climate change or corporate takeovers or from cultural values and demographics deteriorating. That’s an explosively optimistic notion in a world otherwise flirting with madness.” ~ Joakim Book

Books, Free Markets, Government

The Assault On Our Right To Earn A Living

– March 8, 2021

“Economic freedom allows us to do everything from building awesome financial systems capable of moving billions of dollars to intimate cultural experiences such as purchasing home-cooked meals from a local restaurant. The assault on our right to earn a living began over a hundred years ago and has now become the accepted reality today. It is fundamentally rooted in a vision of the world that is not only ignorant of sound economics but lacks the moral sensibility to recognize the humanity of work.” ~ Ethan Yang

Authoritarianism, Books, Government

The Covid Crucible

– March 4, 2021

“Constant repetition of the bizarre and obviously untrue mantra that policymakers are ‘following the science’ and not basing Covid policy on the 21st-century equivalent of spectral evidence suggests that Miller was on to something fundamental. So watch or read The Crucible until the crucible of Covid repression spurs a new literary treatment of the dangers unleashed by that strange brew of populism, private interest, and government power.” ~ Robert E. Wright

Books, Economic Education

Should We Rethink Macroeconomics?

– February 26, 2021

“Critiques of mainstream macroeconomics are common among Austrian economists. In a new book, titled Macroeconomics as Systems Theory, Richard Wagner goes further. He starts with Erik Lindahl’s distinction between microeconomics as individual action and macroeconomics as interaction. He then offers a new approach to macroeconomics based on theories of complex systems.” ~ William J. Luther

Books, Crisis, Economic Education

Unfreezing the Economy After Lockdowns

– February 25, 2021

“In order to emerge with an economy that can produce prosperity for all and not just those who benefited from lockdowns, we need to embrace the ideas of sound economics, innovation-friendly rules, and individual agency. It was the principles of a free society that brought the wonders of modernity into existence, and it’s the same principles that will lead us back.” ~ Ethan Yang

Books, Economic History, Financial Markets

When Financial Markets Bubble, There’s Something for Everyone

– February 24, 2021

“Whenever something seems bubbly, accusations of tulips and South Sea bubbles are never far away – even though the proportion of people who could actually explain those iconic episodes of our financial past is frighteningly close to zero. Levenson’s account of the South Sea Bubble will not, I daresay, be the last time historians find reason to look at this grand event of our financial past.” ~ Joakim Book

Books, Government, Policy

Why We Need Simple Rules for a Complex World

– February 14, 2021

“Our current bias towards trying to make a government rule for every single issue that arises in society is not only ignorant of the very institutions of freedom that make our society prosper, but it also threatens to continue a vicious cycle that fuels an ever-encroaching state. A more optimal solution to address societal issues would be a paradigm shift to a system that understands the power and promise of simple rules in an ever more complex world.” ~ Ethan Yang

Books, Classical Liberalism, Immigration

Voting with Your Feet

– February 9, 2021

“The essence of foot voting, like private-sector decisions, is that you decide. In my mind, this selection point is the strongest indication that foot-voting outperforms ballot-voting: with enough ranges of options available for potential movers, they can choose a package that best suits them.” ~ Joakim Book

Books, Economic Education, History

Robert Higgs: A Birthday Appreciation

– February 1, 2021

“Higgs’s virtuosity as an economic historian stems from clear and careful analytical thinking combined with an understanding of what the state is and what the state is not. He is not a romantic about war and the state, to put it lightly, and he has never shied away from calling a government exactly what it is: an organization that gets what it wants by threats and violence.” ~ Art Carden

Books, Classical Liberalism, Policy

The Only Way To Win Is Not To Play

– January 31, 2021

“Ignoring one another is a peaceful way of coexisting; Not interacting is a viable solution unless we’re forced to do so through a one-size-fits-all political process. Playing the political game makes it worse, and the collapse of personal grand narratives have let politics substitute for every other desire we have.” ~ Joakim Book

Books, Economic Education, History

Thomas Sowell — Intellectual Maverick at Work

– January 28, 2021

“Watching this documentary on Sowell, I am once more struck on how many fruitful research questions can be raised by pursuing the hypotheses he raises in his works. I also respect the clarity of his voice, and the clarity of his purpose.” ~ Peter J. Boettke