It can be easy to lose oneself in times of great uncertainty. This spring and summer have marked one such time. Faced with a pandemic, social, cultural, and political upheaval, we have done our level best to remain a steady source for education and civil discourse, staying true to the beliefs of the founder of Liberty Fund, Pierre F. Goodrich. That we might make "some hopeful contribution may be made to the preservation, restoration, and development of individual liberty through investigation, research, and educational activity" will remain our primary objective.
As readers of Econlib well know, however, uncertainty is a characteristic of human life. And change can also provide opportunity. Over the past several months, we have endeavored to provide more resources suited to today's media landscape. All our EconTalk episodes (over 700 of them!) are now available on our YouTube channel, and many of four newest episodes are available in video as well as audio format. You can also find our latest EconLog video conversation there, as well as a handful of other treats. We have increased the frequency of our online Reading Groups (see the bottom of the page for more) and our new Virtual Reading Groups. (Stay tuned for an announcement about our September VRG!) We would love to hear from you, and learn more about what resources you would like to see at Econlib.
This leads us to the most exciting change we are happy to share this month, the announcement of Liberty Fund's new president and CEO, Sean Shelby. Shelby joins Liberty Fund after serving as a technology executive at the global firm Isobar. “After many years in the private sector, I am excited to bring my passion for ideas and innovation to the Liberty Fund,” said Shelby. “When I look back on my life and contemplate the educational, professional, and travel experiences that have shaped my life, I realize I have been preparing myself for many years to lead an organization dedicated to principles I hold dear.” Read the full press release here.
Until next month, we wish you well, and look forward to seeing you online. Please share your suggestions and comments with us at econlib@libertyfund.org. We love to hear from you.
EconLib Feature Articles, August 2020
Missing: Entrepreneurship in Economic Education by Russell S. Sobel
Why can't you find "entrepreneurship" in your economics textbook???
"Traditional neoclassical microeconomics presents a very lengthy and rigorous treatment of business firms operating in markets with different levels of competition...We pride ourselves on being a discipline that employs methodological individualism, yet we fail to do this when it comes to the behavior of ‘firms’ in markets. Firms don’t behave, entrepreneurs do!" Read More.
Put Away the Puppets
a review of Rizzo and Whitman's Escaping Paternalism By Maria Pia Paganelli
"Behavioral paternalists can determine your optimal saving behavior... They have a very clear and beautiful model (system) of the rational amount to save. If you do not meet it, your behavior is irrational. So they will help you do what you really should do, and what you yourself would do, if you had not been moved by the irrational forces of your own biases. And they, like the man of system, imagine they can move people like pieces on a chess-board, or like puppets, in the words of Rizzo and Whitman, through a series of arrangements more or less imposed by law. Read More.
Economists Waging War by David R. Henderson
"Most economists go through their lives wondering if any of their work has had an effect on the world beyond academe. The seven economists that Alan Bollard writes about in Economists at War probably never had to wonder. Bollard, an economics professor at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand, traces the effects seven economists had on their governments’ policies before, during, and after wartime. Read More.
Twilight of the Bourgeosie by Arnold Kling
"Demographer Joel Kotkin, in The Coming of Neo-Feudalism,warns of a redistribution of wealth and power away from the working class and the bourgeoisie that emerged during the Industrial Revolution. Kotkin refers to these two classes as the Third Estate. Instead, in the information age, wealth is accruing to a few technology-oriented titans with a gift for business strategy. Meanwhile, cultural power is accruing to intellectuals who despise the bourgeoisie and toady to the tech tycoons. Read More.
One would think that, in the case of an economic shock such as a pandemic, an economy would suffer less damage and recover more rapidly the greater its level of economic freedom and the more flexible it is. To the typical economist, this seems rather obvious in theory. But is it empirically confirmed? Read More.
