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We are approaching the 250th anniversary of the United States’ Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776. However, that same year carries a different meaning in Latin America. Rather than the beginning of a system based on limits to power and individual freedom in the United States, 1776 represented a major turning point in the .. MORE
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Liberty
In the 1830s, a French aristocrat named Alexis de Tocqueville traveled through the United States and returned home with Democracy in America, a penetrating analysis of a society marked by energetic voluntary associations and a restless spirit of enterprise. Tocqueville admired much of what he saw, but his verdict was not uncomplicated. Near the end .. MORE
Adam Smith
A small industry within the history of economic thought continues to churn through the historical record in search of direct links between European ideas in political economy and the American Revolution and Founding. The attraction is understandable. Of particular interest is the alluring prospect of Adam Smith’s influence on the Founders. Put simply, if it was .. MORE
Political Economy
We are approaching the 250th anniversary of the United States’ Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776. However, that same year carries a different meaning in Latin America. Rather than the beginning of a system based on limits to power and individual freedom in the United States, 1776 represented a major turning point in the .. MORE
Sam's Links
Sam Enright works on innovation policy at Progress Ireland, an independent policy think tank in Dublin, and runs a publication called The Fitzwilliam. Most relevant to us, on his personal blog, he writes a popular link roundup; what follows is an abridged version of his Links for May. Blogs and short links 1. Yudhister Kumar .. MORE
Politics and Economics
We rely on experts for a lot of our information. By “expert,” I mean someone who is paid for their opinion. Roger Koppl uses this definition in his 2018 book Expert Failure, and I use the same definition in my research, which is based on his book. This definition is useful because it allows us .. MORE
Price Theory
Question: Consider the markets for fresh vegetables and instant noodles. Assume that fresh vegetables are a normal good, while instant noodles are an inferior good. Suppose Congress bans a commonly used fertilizer and pest-control chemical in vegetable farming. Without this input, vegetable yields fall due to increased spoilage and pest damage. (a) Using a supply .. MORE
Regulation
Mancur Olson’s The Rise and Decline of Nations doesn’t provide a particularly optimistic picture: once your nation has been stable for a while, and may even have risen to wealth, it becomes more and more vulnerable to “institutional sclerosis.” This happens because small groups are better able to overcome free-riding, resulting in their ability to .. MORE
Regulation
A recent post argued that housing affordability is not so bad as it might appear when home prices are adjusted for all relevant factors, such as size, quality, and household income growth. While houses have become more expensive in dollars, they are also significantly bigger and nicer, and the average household has significantly more income. .. MORE
Money and Inflation
Inflation began rising in 2021 due to pandemic-related supply chain disruptions and reopening dynamics. The Russia-Ukraine war that started in February 2022 intensified these pressures through a commodity super cycle (a broad and sustained surge in energy and raw material prices) that sent inflationary shockwaves to nearly all major economies, including the U.S., where CPI .. MORE
In recent years, the Arctic has returned to the center of public attention: the renewed interest in Greenland, the progressive opening of maritime routes due to ice melt, and the claims over areas like the Svalbard archipelago are clear signals that Arctic policy will remain in the public eye. Regarding the Svalbard archipelago, located in .. MORE
This essay is part of Ten Key Ideas, an occasional series on fundamental economic concepts. “We call politicians our representatives and they often claim to be fighting for us. But when we think about it, we understand that our interests are diverse and that no politician can really fight for all of us.” Sometimes it’s .. MORE
Human beings are inherently pro-social creatures. Aristotle went so far as to refer to us as political animals, driven by our nature to create associations that culminate in the broader community of the polis. And our capacity for reciprocity, trust, and cooperation has deep evolutionary origins. These big brains of ours developed, in part, to .. MORE
Every line trending upward, every drop in cost, every additional ounce of efficiency we can squeeze from a bundle of inputs is the product of deliberate effort—of thousands of workers, engineers, factory managers, and line supervisors redesigning products, rearranging factories, testing and exploring new ways to do things. —Brian Potter, The Origins of Efficiency (304) .. MORE
"In Latin America, it was the strengthening of a centralizing, authoritarian approach " Sounds like 2026 in the US. Steve
steve, July 1