Category:Basic Economics

April 24, 2023 | Post

Disasters, such as the horrific earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria in February 2023, bring up a recurring myth — one that demands the wisdom of Frederic Bastiat.

March 20, 2023 | Post

Do minimum wage laws help low-skilled workers? No. Workers are thrown out of work if they cannot produce more than the minimum wage stipulates. If the minimum wage is $15/hour and a worker can only produce $13/hour worth of goods, they will not be hired since no profit-seeking employer would employ someone at a loss.

March 6, 2023 | Post

Why are some countries successful while others aren’t? Is it down to natural resources, colonialism, or can it be better explained by something else?

February 22, 2023 | Post

Housing affordability has become a plague on Australia’s economy, and government policy here has ensured that no matter what happens, people — especially the least well off — will continue to get hurt. Let’s take a look at the reasons behind Australia’s housing crisis…

December 19, 2022 | Post

The philosophy involved in Rob Your Neighbor, a game many families play at Christmas that involves buying generic gifts to be chosen at random, mirrors the public model of taxation.

December 8, 2022 | Post

While true hyperinflation does not happen often, it’s always good to know the measures you could take to overcome the challenges presented by hyperinflation if ever it occurs in your country (and the chances are never quite zero.)

November 30, 2022 | Post

The socialism vs. capitalism debate is tired and stale. If you look at any media on the topic, you’ll find people rehearsing the same, boring arguments. “Socialism doesn’t work because human nature is flawed! Socialism doesn’t work because nobody would be incentivized to work! Socialism is inefficient!” Of course, these statements are true. However, they are not convincing for those who don’t believe them. Next time you find yourself into a debate, use these arguments to tackle the root cause of what you’re discussing…

November 29, 2022 | Post

In economics, unlike in math, constant relations not only are not possible, but can’t exist. Because economics involves the behavior of human beings, not numbers or inanimate objects.

November 21, 2022 | Post

Why have socialist ideas become so attractive again, despite the fact that all socialist experiments, without exception, have failed over the past 100 years? The 2019 book by Dr. Kristian Niemietz, ‘Socialism: The Failed Idea That Never Dies,’ provides convincing answers.

July 5, 2022 | Post

According to a survey from the American Farm Bureau Federation, the cost of an average 4th of July feast is up by 17 percent from 2021. Why is this?

May 26, 2022 | Post

Unfortunately, a free market is not something that appears overnight, so what do we say to those who do not have equal opportunities as things stand?

April 26, 2022 | Post

What lessons can we learn about the importance of property rights from examples such as rental cars and Brazil’s favelas?

April 12, 2022 | Post

In order to be able to address the root problems of inflation, we need to dispel some common myths. Here are our top five picks:

April 7, 2022 | Post

Reddit created an open, collaborative canvas where anyone can paint, but the only way to render a cohesive image is collaboration through spontaneous order.

March 25, 2022 | Post

John Locke and David Hume are two thinkers who provided a robust defense of property rights, and their arguments are markedly different.

December 20, 2021 | Post

Here’s a brainbuster for you: The product on the left will help keep you alive for 6-8 weeks. It costs $4.49. The other is nothing more than pretty to look at. It costs $161. Why? This paradox — the water-diamond paradox — troubled some of the world’s greatest minds. Plato wondered about it; Copernicus and […]

November 4, 2021 | Post

This is the second of Learn Liberty’s “Legends” series. Read our first, on Ayn Rand, HERE. He never won a Nobel Prize. He never wrote a New York Times bestseller. In the history books, he doesn’t sit alongside Adam Smith, Ludwig von Mises, and Friedrich Hayek as all-time great economists. He doesn’t even have an […]

September 4, 2021 | Post

The G7’s recent plan for a global minimum tax rate of 15% is a terrible idea that will hurt consumers and restrict competition.

April 28, 2021 | Video

Between Outtakes is a series of videos from various public intellectuals and their opinions about current issues from a pro-Liberty point of view.

In this first video, we invited Prof. Nigel Ashford, Senior Programs Officer at the Institute for Humane Studies, to give his perspective on the discussion of Brexit within libertarian circles. He explains why the support for the Brexit referendum of leaving the European Union is not unanimous between libertarians and gives his personal view on the matter.

February 14, 2020 | Post

Valentine’s Day is only possible because of free markets. Our ability to appreciate and enjoy Valentine’s Day is the direct result of the wealth created by markets.

January 25, 2018 | Post

From the American point of view, technology and trade are the same. From the human point of view, trade is better.

January 10, 2018 | Post

Charging “prices” does not a market make.

November 28, 2017 | Post

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.

October 23, 2017 | Video

Remember the mid-2000s housing crash that wiped out homeowners? Well, there’s another bubble getting ready to pop, and this one’s in student debt. Prof. Antony Davies explains.