Thomas Sowell, Political Conflict, and Madmen in Authority

By Arnold Kling

Arnold Kling revisits Sowell’s classic account of the conflict between “constrained” and unconstrained” visions and posits another way to view this distinction. “If you think that embedded cultural knowledge usually contains more wisdom than elite knowledge, then you will tend toward the constrained vision. If you instead see existing norms and institutions as a problem and the ideas of a cognitive and moral elite as the solution, then you will tend toward the unconstrained vision.”

Join Kling and special guest Mike Munger on August 16 at noon EDT for our monthly “From the Shelf” conversation based on Sowell’s book.

Free to all, but pre-registration is required.

Climate Activism versus Classical Liberalism at 35

By Robert L. Bradley

Bradley looks back on the history of the climate change debate, pointing to the work of legendary classical liberal scholars William Niskanen and Steven Horwitz. While there is little doubt the planet continues to warm, Bradley argues policy makers have yet to answer the challenges posed by these two years ago.

Adam Smith: Experimental Innovator

By Walter Castro and Julio Elias

Castro and Elias remind us that any characterization of Adam Smith as a free-market ideologue is incomplete at best. Drawing on the work of David Galenson, Castro and Elias present Smith as a Experimental Innovator, upon whose work many others have been able to build.

Don Lavoie on the Continuing Relevance of the Knowledge Problem

By Cory Massimino

Don Lavoie reformulated and clarified the knowledge problem as developed by Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek, took to task the various proposals of the day calling for more state control, and articulated a radically liberal alternative.

You might think we know all there is to know about the knowledge problem by now, but as it turns out, the proposals of the 2020s don’t differ all that much from the proposals of the 1980s, and Lavoie’s knowledge problem remains just as relevant as ever.

Zvi Mowshowitz on AI and the Dial of Progress

The future of AI keeps Zvi Mowshowitz up at night. He also wonders why so many smart people seem to think that AI is more likely to save humanity than destroy it. Listen as Mowshowitz talks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about the current state of AI, the pace of AI's development, and where--unless we take serious action--the technology is likely to end up (and that end is not pretty).

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What is No Due Date?

No Due Date is Econlib’s subscription economics book club. Curated by Pete Boettke, you’ll read with him exploring the best in economics and the social sciences- both classic and contemporary.

Subscribers- in addition to receiving a new book each month- also get exclusive access to virtual events with Pete each month and a private online space for discussion and community. It’s a wonderful opportunity to engage with other interested readers in a great community.

Last month we read Matt Ridley’s How Innovation Works, and subscribers enjoyed a wonderful salon with Ridley. This month, we’re reading Peter Leeson’s The Invisible Hook. It’s not too late to join us. Subscribe today!