Learn Liberty Blog
We tackle big questions about what makes society free or prosperous and how we can improve the world we live in.
Blog Posts in Focus
Free trade lets us turn corn into cars.
January 25, 2018 | Bryan Caplan
From the American point of view, technology and trade are the same. From the human point of view, trade is better.
The organic industry is a case study in rent-seeking.
February 5, 2018 | Henry I. Miller
If businesses get government subsidies to make their products cheaper, or “capture” regulation to hurt their competitors, that’s rent seeking.
The politics of "The Last Jedi"
December 20, 2017 | Ilya Somin
One Resistance fighter says that the movement will win “not by fighting what we hate, but by saving what we love.” But what do they love?
Blog Posts
Congestion tax in Manhattan: Readers speak!
March 9, 2018 | Michael Munger
Last month, I wrote a post that asked whether Manhattan should tax ride-shares, tax all vehicles, do something else, or do nothing at all. And you had some ideas about that. Below, I have tried to combine your answers (I got nearly 30) into a manageable set of categories. Responses were about evenly split among […]
Learn Liberty Turns 7
February 11, 2018 | Learn Liberty Team
Since our inaugural videos in 2011, Learn Liberty has sought to advance the ideas of classical liberalism with the help of the scholars and professors who champion them. We’re proud to say that seven years running, the legacy of our early videos lives on in the work we do today. At the core of the […]
The organic industry is a case study in rent-seeking.
February 5, 2018 | Henry I. Miller
If businesses get government subsidies to make their products cheaper, or “capture” regulation to hurt their competitors, that’s rent seeking.
Free trade lets us turn corn into cars.
January 25, 2018 | Bryan Caplan
From the American point of view, technology and trade are the same. From the human point of view, trade is better.
The Sweet Cakes case: Let the market give discrimination its just desserts.
January 18, 2018 | Ninos Malek
The Oregon-based Sweet Cakes bakery has been ordered to pay $135,000 in damages for refusing to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian couple for their ceremony. In December of 2017, the Oregon State Court of Appeals upheld the decision to force the bakery to pay the couple for damages.
Does Manhattan need a congestion tax on Uber?
January 10, 2018 | Michael Munger
Charging “prices” does not a market make.
What’s wrong with making money?
January 4, 2018 | Ninos Malek
Social justice advocates argue that it is “society’s” duty to eliminate pain and inequality wherever and whenever it exists. What is interesting is that I have never met Mr. Society.
The politics of "The Last Jedi"
December 20, 2017 | Ilya Somin
One Resistance fighter says that the movement will win “not by fighting what we hate, but by saving what we love.” But what do they love?
Tear down those statues
December 14, 2017 | Michael Munger
I have tried to avoid saying much about the “Confederate statues” kerfuffle. That’s partly because the issue is more complicated than it’s often made out to be.
How the government ruined health care for those who need it most
December 8, 2017 | Howard Baetjer
If you develop an expensive chronic illness, you might think the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will protect you. Instead, you’re likely to end up with subpar coverage or no coverage at all for your condition.
The real effects of good intentions
November 28, 2017 | Ninos Malek
On the first day of my economics classes, I tell my students that if they saw my paychecks that they would realize the school is exploiting me.
Truthiness and the origins of "fake news"
November 15, 2017 | Michael Munger
If I have my news, and you have yours, and both of us rely on truthiness — the uncontestable “essential” truth of our beliefs, regardless of facts — it’s impossible to have a conversation.
Life isn’t fair, but can government help that?
October 25, 2017 | Chris Freiman
Luck egalitarianism is, roughly, the view that inequalities in life prospects resulting from luck are unjust. If Amy has better job opportunities than Bob because she happened to have parents who could afford to send her to a fancy private school, that’s unfair.
The dirty word that gives us our freedom
October 18, 2017 | Lauren Hall
Competition is often considered a dirty word, with many critics of free market ideas emphasizing the cutthroat competition of Wall Street as an example of how competition brings out the worst in people, encourages us to cut corners, and undermines our altruistic tendencies.
3 reasons why the NRA is so powerful
October 16, 2017 | Michael Munger
Organized interest groups are able to control a lot of policy making, even if most people in the unorganized public disagree with them.
Looking at randomness but seeing conspiracies
October 10, 2017 | Michael Munger
The wary cat has a theory of the world: “Stove burns you. Stay away from stove.”
Do NFL players have the right to take the knee?
October 9, 2017 | Ninos Malek
We need to be careful about arguing that players have a First Amendment right to protest peacefully on the field.
Is the USA really the highest-taxed nation in the world?
October 6, 2017 | Jason Sorens
President Trump has repeatedly claimed that the United States is the highest-taxed country in the world. The data people are using to fact-check him are misleading.
Why compassionate people should reject Bernie’s single-payer health care plan
October 5, 2017 | Lauren Hall
The government has been ruining US health care since 1946.
Notes from the bubble
October 4, 2017 | John Hasnas
We treat those we believe to be ill-motivated as adversaries to be defeated, and we frequently have no compunction about excluding them from our “disinterested pursuit of truth.”
There's one situation where classical liberals can justify foreign intervention.
October 3, 2017 | Steve Davies
For any kind of libertarian/classical liberal, the question with foreign policy is which course of action is going to most maximize liberty, both in the country that is potentially doing the intervening and the part of the world where the intervention might take place.
How Obamacare fails breastfeeding mothers
October 2, 2017 | Lauren Hall
Without government interference in my insurance plan, where would I be today?
The timber industry illustrates exactly what's wrong with international trade restrictions.
September 28, 2017 | Art Carden
It is an easy mistake to think that restrictions on international trade that help one industry “grow and prosper” will help all industries “grow and prosper.”
This is the best way to provide relief after a hurricane.
September 27, 2017 | Anne Bradley
When we experience a large decrease in supply, or an increase in scarcity, the price mechanism helps us know what to do next.
Prices are the moral rationing agents of market exchange.