Econlib Newsletter

May 2023

Well, we’re still waiting for Spring here in the Midwest…We hope you’re having better weather. The chilly temps are not keeping us from making summer plans, however. High on that list is prepping for a monthlong celebration of the 300th anniversary of Adam Smith’s birth. Look for more announcements from our friends at AdamSmithWorks as we get closer to June.

This month, we hope you’ll consider joining us for a NEW From the Shelf webinar hosted by Arnold Kling to discuss Michael Tomasellos’s new book, The Evolution of Agency, which Kling reviewed here this past month. Scroll to the bottom for the registration link.

We’re also digging into Ludwig von Mises’ Liberalism, Peter Boettke’s selection for May for our No Due Date subscribers. We had a terrific online salon with Amity Shlaes last week to discuss her book, The Great Society, and Richard Ebeling will join us later this month to discuss Mises. You can view a selection of our past Virtual Salons on our YouTube channel, and now you can ALWAYS join with a monthly subscription.

Today of course is May Day… a day with a somewhat troubled history for Econlib readers. You won’t be surprised to know we miss Bryan Caplan’s annual rant. Happily, today at EconLog, we bring you David Henderson’s. And here are some more from years past:

Why do we say the history is troublesome? Have a look at some varied explanations on the history of May Day from NPR, the History Channel, the Industrial Workers of the World, and the UK National Trust and decide for yourself.
In 2013, Art Carden urged us to Never Forget May Day, and pointed us to Eugene Richter’s classic Pictures of the Socialistic Future, which you can read online at Econlib.
In Chapter 4 of his Selected Essays on Political Economy, Frederic Bastiat railed against the socialists and their allegiance to “fraternity” on May Day.
Peter Boettke recalled Emma Goldman’s reminiscences of May Day in his list of recommended readings on Soviet political and social ethnography.

We hope you enjoy these and all the new content we bring you below. We wish you a terrific month, and we’ll be back next month with more.

Until then, stay well and stay curious.

NEW Econlib Articles

May 2023

The Economics of Aging: Living Longer versus

Living Better

By Walter Donway

“Is it preferable for biomedical research to aim at extending life? Or should its goal be to “compress morbidity” to make the same lifespan healthier? What is the economic value of each emphasis?” These are the questions Donway takes on in the articles, sparked by a recent issue of Nature Aging.

Let Go of the Zero-Sum

Fallacy and Enjoy Others' Good Fortune

By Art Carden

The zero-sum fallacy flies in the face of the explanatory power of the Bourgeois Era, in which people have been enriching themselves by enriching others for the past two and a half centuries. Art Carden wants us to lighten up, and start congratulating others fort their good fortune rather than succumbing to envy.

John Locke: Mercantilist?

By Eric Mack

Was John Locke a mercantilist? It depends… According to Mack, “…the correct assessment of this claim is that it all depends on what one understands mercantilism to be. Is mercantilism at its core the view that a nation should export more than it imports to build up its stock of money—in particular, its stock of silver and gold? Or is mercantilism at its core the view that the wealth of a nation consists in the size of its stock of silver and gold?”

Legal Safeguards Against Omnipotent Lawmakers

By Pierre Lemieux

Lemieux rounds out his series of commentary on F.A. Hayek’s Law, Legislation, and Liberty trilogy. In this piece, Lemieux takes on the third volume, concerning “the limits that a free society must place upon the coercive powers of government.”

Patrick House and

Itzhak Fried on the Brain's Mysteries

While operating on a 16-year-old girl who suffered from severe seizures, neurosurgeon Itzhak Fried stumbled on the region of the brain that makes us laugh. To neuroscientist Patrick House, Fried's ability to produce laughter surgically raises deep and disconcerting questions about how the brain works. Join Fried, House, and EconTalk's Russ Roberts for a live broadcast from Jerusalem's Shalem College that is a sequel of sorts to House's earlier appearance on EconTalk. House and Fried discuss the mystery of consciousness and try to square the biological bases for emotions with the circle of our humanity.

Explore More.

More Recent Episodes:

FROM THE SHELF with Arnold Kling

The Evolution of Agency

by Michael Tomasello

Join Arnold Kling. Alberto Mingardi, and friends to discuss Tomasello’s provocative book on Tuesday, May 16 from noon- 1pm EDT.

Participation is free, but pre-registration is required.

See the recordings of our previous sessions on our YouTube channel.

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