Monologues from Russ, Turned Tables: Russ Gets Interviewed
Article
The Theory of Moral Sentiments, by Adam Smith Relationships between people of different generations make up some of the most meaningful connections life has to offer. They shape deep-seated beliefs, goals, and priorities. In The Theory of Moral Sentiments [TMS], Adam Smith describes the human actor as one who is guided by relational experiences. Do .. MORE
Article
James Buchanan Virginia Political Economy was born in the foyer of the Social Science Building at the University of Chicago early in 1948. In a casual conversation with a fellow graduate student, Warren Nutter, I discovered that we shared an evaluation and diagnosis of developments in Economics, the discipline with which we were about to .. MORE
Book Review, Kling's Corner
Can the four-year degree be saved? Not for most learners, I would argue. Once less expensive alternative pathways become clearer and surer, a full-on degree will seem impractical… But why does the degree have to be the only product that colleges sell? And why can’t the American Dream be achieved by other college products, other .. MORE
Free Markets
Book Review
Book Review
Monologues from Russ
Energy, Environment, Resources
International Trade
Adam Smith
econtalk-podcast
Lamorna Ash talks about her book Dark, Salt, Clear with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Ash leaves London and moves to the small fishing village of Newlyn, near where her mother grew up on the Cornish coast. In Newlyn, everything revolves around fishing. Ash gets herself a bunk on a trawler and quickly learns how to .. MORE
econtalk-extra
What have you binged on lately? The new Dracula? The Crown? You probably automatically thought of your TV when I said “binge,” but did you know that the novels of Jane Austen were part of the original “binge”- reading, that is. Will novels such as Austen’s ever return to such popular heights? In this .. MORE
Energy, Environment, Resources
Why California Gas Prices Are the Highest in America By Vance Ginn, The Daily Economy, May 23, 2025. Excerpt: According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), gasoline prices are generally shaped by five components: crude oil prices, refining costs, distribution and marketing, taxes, and regulations. In California, taxes and regulatory costs alone account for .. MORE
Free Markets
In a nicely nuanced editorial, “JD Vance is Wrong: The Market Isn’t a ‘Tool’” Wall Street Journal, May 26, 2025, Matthew Hennessey, deputy editorial features editor of the Journal, took issue with Vice-President Vance, writing: On a recent podcast, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat asked Mr. Vance for an example of how his Catholicism influences his .. MORE
Explore the lasting legacies and
continued relevance of our classic titles.
It is an interesting question to ask oneself how the ideas of academic economists, like Adam Smith or Jean-Baptiste Say for example, were made available to the ordinary person who does not normally read multi-volume academic tracts. In the first half of the 19th century we see this role of popularizer of economic ideas being taken .. MORE
IN this book I have endeavored to determine whether protection or free trade better accords with the interests of labor, and to bring to a common conclusion on this subject those who really desire to raise wages.I have not only gone over the ground generally traversed, and examined the arguments commonly used, but, carrying the .. MORE
Henry Hazlitt’s 1946 book, Economics in One Lesson,1 remains relevant for readers to this day. In print since its publication, the book has sold more than a million copies, has been translated into 10 languages, and in 2019 became inspiration for a new book, Economics in Two Lessons: Why Markets Work So Well and Why .. MORE
Reveries of a Solitary Walker I confess that I am an atypical tourist. When last in Paris, I eschewed the charred Notre Dame cathedral and the urban oasis of the Luxembourg Gardens. Instead, I headed to the Citéco1 Museum of the Economy. The museum is quite well done, with foundational exhibits on exchange, individual autarky, .. MORE
VIDEO
Israel Kirzner, Professor Emeritus at NYU, is among the foremost scholars in the continuing development of the Austrian school of economic theory. He has extended our understanding of the workings of a free society, illuminated the role of entrepreneurs in the process of economic discovery, and shed new light on the dynamics of market forces. .. MORE
VIDEO
Svetozar “Steve” Pejovich, one of the most dynamic and insightful theorists writing on property rights, reflects on his experience in economics. With characteristic sagacity and humor, he demonstrates the power that empirical cases can bring to bear on theoretical problems. Born in Belgrade, Pejovich is Professor Emeritus at Texas A&M University, where he taught for .. MORE
Econlib Videos
Conversations with some of the most original thinkers of our time
The Reading Lists by Topic pages contain some suggested readings organized by topic, including materials available on Econlib. Brief reviews or descriptions are included for many items.
Supplementary materials for popular college textbooks used in courses in the Principles of Economics, Microeconomics, Price Theory, and Macroeconomics are suggested by topic.
These free resources are appropriate for teachers of high school and AP economics, social studies, and history classes. They are also appropriate for interested students, home schoolers, and newcomers to the topic of economics.
Regulation The federal government has been regulating prices and competition in interstate transportation ever since Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to oversee the railroad industry in 1887. Truckers were brought under the control of the ICC in 1935 after persistent lobbying by state regulators, the ICC itself, and especially, the railroads, which had .. MORE
Deficit spending has been a way of life for the federal government for most years since World War II. A whole generation of elected federal officials has come and gone without ever balancing the budget. The last time that federal budget expenditures were brought into balance with revenues was in 1969, and prior to that .. MORE
A tariff is a fancy word for a tax. The term usually refers to import duties, which are fees levied on goods entering one country from another. Import tariffs have been a controversial feature of domestic politics, international diplomacy, and economic policy for centuries. This article covers some of the basic economics of tariffs as .. MORE
-Arthur Seldon
-Frederic Bastiat Full Quote >>
-Arthur Seldon Full Quote >>