Should We Get Rid of Guns?
You will not be surprised to learn that my answer is no, but what I’d like to discuss in this week’s column is an argument by an eminent philosopher that we should. Robert Hanna is an authority on Kant (Objectivist
Keynesian Supply Shocks and Hayekian Secondary Deflations
Abstract: In response to the COVID-19 lockdown policies, Guerrieri et al. (2020) developed a new concept: the Keynesian supply shock. A Keynesian supply shock is an aggregate supply shock that leads to an even larger aggregate demand shock. This paper
The Colonization Cost Theory of Anarchic Emergence
Abstract: The paper describes the colonization cost theory of anarchic emergence. The theory states that when the state incurs high costs of directly colonizing land, it may be beneficial for it to allow anarchy to emerge and settle distant frontiers.
Mexico Flirts with Nationalizing Its Electricity Sector
Mexico finds itself in the middle of an energy debate. En bloc, the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), seeks to nationalize the electricity industry. In as many words, AMLO recently said that the essence of his proposed initiative
On the Cause and Effect of Interest Rates
It is a common idea, accepted by all those who have written on commerce, that an increased quantity of money in a state decreases the rate of interest, because when money is abundant it is easier to find some to
The Long Rehabilitation of Frank Fetter
Abstract: Economics has long history of “rehabilitations,” including W.H. Hutt’s rehabilitation of Say’s law, and Alfred Marshall’s attempt to rehabilitate David Ricardo. The rehabilitation of Frank A. Fetter should be as important as either of these, especially for economists working
On Professor Ludwig von Mises’s 70th Birthday
Abstract: This newly translated tribute to Ludwig von Mises was written by Hans Mayer on the occasion of Mises’s 70th birthday in 1951. It was published in the Zeitschrift für Nationalökonomie in 1952. In it, Mayer expresses a surprisingly favorable
Anatomy of Liberty in Don Quijote de la Mancha: Religion, Feminism, Slavery, Politics, and Economics in the First Modern Novel
Anatomy of Liberty in Don Quijote de la Mancha: Religion, Feminism, Slavery, Politics, and Economics in the First Modern Novelby Eric Clifford GrafLanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2021, 290 pp. Abstract: Anatomy of Liberty in Don Quijote de la Mancha: Religion, Feminism,
The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes
The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynesby Zachary D. CarterNew York: Random House, 2020, 656 pp. Abstract: Zachary D. Carter, author of The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes
Why It’s Important to Prepare Students for “Trick Questions”
I have taught economics long enough that I have made use of a variety of “trick” questions in introductory courses. I have found them, used well, to be pedagogically helpful. But not everyone agrees. Whether a question is considered a trick