In a world dominated by numbers and equations, one economist dared to challenge the status quo and unveil the true power of persuasive language. Meet Deirdre McCloskey, a visionary economist, historian, and writer whose groundbreaking ideas have reshaped the way we understand economic progress.
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?
Soylent Green (1973), a dystopian sci-fi movie, depicts a world suffering from overpopulation, climate change, and extreme inequality, where the rich exploit and own the poor, who survive on the evil Soylent Corporation’s processed plankton. As 2022, the year in which Soylent Green was set, has now passed, the movie’s grim predictions of overpopulation have proven misguided.
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?
What lessons can we learn about the importance of property rights from examples such as rental cars and Brazil’s favelas?
The Build Back Better Act is an attempt by the Biden administration to distribute handouts for specific sets of voters ahead of the 2022 midterms
Last week, we wrote about Frederic Bastiat, the king of communicating economic and philosophical ideas in simple, direct (and often funny) ways. Of course, in the 19th century, Bastiat’s medium was the printed word. But if you had to find an heir to his throne in the social media era, Thomas Sowell would be a […]
If levied, the “billionaire tax” targeting unrealized capital gains would penalize entrepreneurship and have unprecedented destructive potential
When a worsening economic crisis saw anti-government protests erupt in Cuba, the regime was quick to blame U.S. sanctions instead of its own policies
Ahead of his panel on Corruption and Poverty in Latin America at LibertyCon Europe, Juan Carlos Hidalgo, former policy analyst at the Cato Institute talks about why Latin America has so many cases of corruption, the recent protests in Chile and other countries around the world.
Is it fair that CEOs get paid millions—even billions—while there are so many people still in poverty? Well, it depends! Watch the second entry in our question and answer series with Prof. Howie Baetjer.
What’s the evidence that economic freedom is beneficial for society? Prof. Antony Davies shows charts of the free market’s effects on unemployment, inequality, poverty, and even child labor.
Why did poverty decrease so much over the past 200 years, and especially over the past 30 years? Let’s look at one key example; then we’ll zoom out to the broader research.
Today’s welfare system discourages aspiring for the American dream. What if we tried a universal basic income instead? Watch the full interview with Prof. Munger
Why do people keep saying the ‘50s were more “equal” than today? Perhaps they forget how many people were in poverty — or what the major unions did to African-Americans.
A combination of drought, political instability and poor policies is threatening the lives of thousands. Fortunately, for some herders, insurance products are helping to make a desperate situation a little bit better.
The rich get richer, and the poor get … cell phones, cars, and nice TVs? Prof. Mike Munger says we’re actually more equal than ever. Click to watch the full interview.
Should the federal government provide a universal basic income for the states?
I am furious. I was scrolling through my Facebook feed and learned that my friend Steve Horwitz had written almost 3,000 words in a single day in his new book chapter on inequality.
If the problem is that the poor have too few options, it’s a bad “solution” to remove one of those options.
The rapid decline of poverty over the past forty years shows that there has never been more hope for rising incomes among the poor. We can help them best by promoting mobility through economic freedom.
Here’s my opening statement for my Students for Liberty debate with Will Wilkinson. Enjoy. Libertarians have a standard set of fundamental criticisms of the welfare state. Forced charity is unjust. Individuals have a moral right to decide if and when they want to help others. Forced charity is unnecessary. In a free market, voluntary donations […]
What should we do about the fact that some people are able to earn more money than others? Should government redress the resulting disparities in income? The answer is often believed to hinge upon our conclusion about the role of luck in affecting income-earning abilities. Those on the political left emphasize factors beyond the individual’s […]
Last night, millions of movie buffs, entertainment fiends, and celebrity gawkers from across the globe tuned in for the Oscars. While a few of us aficionados waited with bated breath for the announcement of Best Live-Action Short (Timecode was robbed!), for many viewers the awards ceremony isn’t the main event: The red carpet is what […]