Wikileaks, cyber attacks, and escalating Middle Eastern conflicts.
It’s a useful illustration of the logic of political action when the state is in a position to dispense favors, whether those favors be subsidies or mandates or barriers to entry that protect special interests’ profits.
We’re just a month out from what’s sure to be a historic presidential election. Check out the links below to get caught up before heading into the weekend. The United States suspended talks with Russia as the situation in Syria escalates following a failed ceasefire just weeks ago. Women’s U.S. chess star Nazi Paikidze is […]
Why did the United States invade Iraq? The pretense was that Iraq was harboring weapons of mass destruction. Another popular reason, however, was to make the country safe for democracy. The campaign – like so many foreign interventions – was “an abysmal failure,” says Professor Chris Coyne in the new Learn Liberty video below. Over […]
Why do foreign policy adventures so often go awry? In this week’s Learn Liberty video, Professor Abby Hall Blanco reveals how economic principles–like incentives and constraints—can explain the frequent poor outcomes of foreign policy. Incentives are usually defined by economists as the evaluation of the costs and benefits of a particular decision. But incentives may […]
Protectionism is the belief that domestic producers have a higher claim to your money than you do.
Duke University’s great historian of thought and Hayek scholar Bruce Caldwell sent the following e-mail to me, which I share here with Bruce’s kind permission (link added): Has anyone in the blogosphere noticed the chilling similarity between Hayek’s description in the Road To Serfdom (in the chapter titled “Why the Worst Get on Top“) of […]
Public Choice Theory provides a window into the incentives of government, providing insight into how and why bad and unpopular policies stay in place.
The road to tyranny is paved with good intentions. Anti-entrepreneurship, innovation crushing good intentions.
The Olympic Games are an inefficient boondoggle for host countries. There are alternatives that would reduce the costs AND corruption.
At the risk of sound glib, I believe the quadrennial fervor over the Summer Olympics is at least partially a function of the seemingly timeless nature of the competition. Set against the backdrop of the financial crisis in Rio de Janeiro, however, the games have become far more interesting, albeit tragic. Sprinters this year will […]
Much could be and has been written about the problems facing the Summer Olympic Games in Rio thanks to polluted water venues, substandard housing for athletes, Zika, crime, transportation, and Brazil’s overall financial problems. Beyond and behind these headlines, though, lay fundamental (and interesting) issues of political economy. The Olympic Games are costly, with large […]
When government and private military contractors get too close, “People are shipped off to fight and die without making our nation any safer”. Unfortunately as a result of the Military Industrial Complex in the U.S. not all acts of war actually end up making our nation any safer. When govt and private military contractors get […]
A county in Georgia is raising taxes in order to pay for public parks, even as it spends $400 million to fund a new stadium for the Atlanta Braves. Further, while citizens of Cobb County voted in favor of funding public parks, they weren’t given a say about building the stadium. As Reason reports: …in […]
Editor’s Note: This is part one in a two part series from Sarah Skwire on women and liberty. You can read part two here. I’ve been a feminist for as long as I can remember. One of our oldest family stories is of Young Sarah asking Mom why Puppy Chow had a commercial that said “Don’t […]
In 2012, we released a video answering the question, “Why is there corn in your Coke?” Now, Jared Meyer sat down with Robert Bryce, an energy policy expert at the Manhattan Institute, to answer the question, “Why is there corn in your car?” The corn in your car—or rather, the corn you put into your […]
The recent document leak known as the Panama Papers suggests that numerous world leaders and their cronies as well as other powerful individuals avoid paying taxes by setting up shell companies in Panama, a country known for its banking secrecy. But it’s important to remember that just because people opened a bank account or created […]
Why are cities across America considering bans on e cigarettes and vaping? And what do the tobacco industry and anti-tobacco groups have in common? Prof. Aeon Skoble looks at the motivations of the groups who want to ban e cigarettes and vaping. While anti-tobacco groups want to ban e cigarettes out of concern for public […]
Who knew “happy hour” was a banned term? Until 2014, it was illegal in Virginia for a bar to advertise “happy hours” or “drink specials” outside. Bar & restaurant owners still face onerous prohibitions on how they sell alcohol, from speaking about to serving it. Professor Antony Davies explains that these laws were made with […]
Netflix recently debuted season two of its original series House of Cards. Some have suggested the show reflects a deeply cynical view of politics, but Prof. Steve Horwitz argues that it is an unromantic and realistic portrayal of how the incentives politicians have in the United States can give rise to the same kind of […]
Everyone wants the items they buy to be safe to use or consume. When products undergo third-party certification processes to determine their safety, market forces are able to optimize the amount of testing conducted and consumers can use the information provided by certification firms to make their own decisions. It is difficult to say how […]
Have you ever wondered why it is illegal to purchase alcohol in many U.S. cities, states, and counties on Sunday? It is not illegal to drink alcohol on Sunday. Professor Bruce Yandle explains that such laws benefit two distinct groups: bootleggers and Baptists. The Baptists benefit because they have seen to it that alcohol sales […]
Corn growers receive billions of dollars each year in subsidies from the U.S. government. The average American family pays $400 per year to subsidize corn. As a result, corn products and derivatives can be found in many items at American grocery stores. In the video, Professor Daniel J. D’Amico discusses how farm subsidies and other […]
Historical trends in gas prices can largely be explained by changes in supply and demand. Demand for oil rose through the 20th century. Although this put upward pressure on price, supply initially increased even more rapidly as people produced newer and less expensive production methods. Professor Art Carden shows how oil prices changed based on […]