Topic: Economic History

Individualism and ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’

“Collectivist ideologies are ultimately nothing but fantastical escapes from reality, filled with promises of freedom from scarcity and alienation in one’s work.” ~ Jedediah Pida-Reese

The Surprising Beneficiaries of American Slavery

“The late economist Walter E. Williams said that slavery was the worst thing ever to happen to his ancestors, but the best thing ever to happen to him.” ~ Charley Hooper and David R. Henderson

A Brief History of Social Justice

“The underlying problem with social justice is the failure to distinguish between negative rights, which protect liberty and property, and positive rights, which provide a license to violate established negative rights.” ~ Robert F. Mulligan

Imperial Monetary Policy and the Independence Movement

“The road to independence, the Imperial Crisis as some term it, began with resistance to the Stamp Act, which indeed was a type of tax but not, on its face, a particularly onerous one. So the key to understanding the independence movement is to understand why the colonists reacted to the Stamp Act as vigorously as they did.” ~ Robert E. Wright

Announcing New Deal Rebels, edited by Amity Shlaes

“Roosevelt’s ‘New Deal’ administration had a transformative impact on American society and the understanding of the government’s role in it. AIER was similarly founded during the same era and in response to that changing nature of government. ” ~ William Ruger

The Collapse of the USSR Was One the Best Things that Happened to the Environment

“These proportions suggest that the collapse of the USSR was an incredibly cheap climate-change mitigation ‘policy.’ Indeed, the mitigation was itself a benefit to economic growth rather than a cost.” ~ Vincent Geloso

Three Myths About Marx

“Findings suggest that political events, rather than intellectual renown, placed Marx on the map.” ~ Phillip W. Magness

Economic Growth Theories Fall into the Dustbin of History (And That’s Okay)

“So, while prominent economists were spinning their unsatisfying theories and lamenting the vicious cycle of poverty, the world got better—on its own.” ~ Jane Shaw Stroup

Eliminating the Debt Ceiling: Is There Anything the 14th Amendment Can’t Do?

“The Biden administration threatens to invoke Section 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment to sidestep the longstanding federal debt ceiling in a way that would increase the power of the executive branch. ” ~ Robert E. Wright

Adam Smith v. Wesley Jones

“It is long past time Americans saw through the multiple misrepresentations that have defended the Jones Act’s nothing-for-something restrictions for over a century, including twisting Adam Smith’s logic into a false endorsement of its enormously costly restrictions.” ~ Gary M. Galles

Hamilton’s Haircuts

“Whatever you think of the wisdom of Hamilton’s moves, our point is simple and stark: The US government has defaulted in the past.” ~ David R. Henderson and Jeffrey R. Hummel

A Look at Covid-19 Recession Through Schumpterarian” creative Destruction” Forces