September 2026 ISSUE

Institutions That Bind Can Also Divide

By Maurizio Bovi

Inequality is often the outcome of processes regarded as fair. Yet advantages acquired fairly in one sphere—economic, educational, or political—rarely remain confined to the domain that produced them. As these advantages spill over into other areas, they reshape opport...

Foundations of Public Choice: A Primer

By Michael Munger

1. Introduction Public Choice is more than you think. The usual quick definition—“applying economics to the study of politics”—is not wrong, but it’s facile. Public Choice asks how political actors use information and respond to incentives. That’s a lot more th...

Judy Shelton: Good as Gold?

By Jeffrey Rogers Hummel

Judy Shelton has earned media attention for her criticisms of Federal Reserve policy. In July of 2025, during an online interview with Steve Bannon, she accused Fed chair Jerome Powell of “setting himself up as some kind of an emperor” merely because he had tentativel...

We Can’t Agree on Inequality—Here’s Why

By Maurizio Bovi

Centuries of argument have left a stubborn question unresolved: how much economic inequality is acceptable? Unlike inequalities rooted in race, gender, or disability—which typically attract broad moral condemnation—economic inequality in income, consumption, and wealth ...

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