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Econlib Newsletter  |  September 2023

Summer Reading and Remembering

Savoring the last of summer, and remembering the Guns of August.

Here in the Midwest, we’re enjoying what we think (hope?) are the last throes of summer. Like many of you, we get a lot of reading in during summertime, and this one is no exception. Here are some of the highlights below:

• Recalling “The Guns of August,” we enjoyed Barbara Tuchman’s eponymous history of the dawn of World War 1. Our friends at Liberty Fund books paired this classic with five of our own titles- including two from Mises- and we’re inviting all of you to join us in the NEW LF Portal to discuss these titles and topics all month long. No purchase is required; you will need to create a profile in our private online profile. We hope to see you there!

• Speaking of economic history, a new Liberty Matters is underway at the Online Library of Liberty, asking the provocative question- what would young America’s economic growth look like had the American Revolution failed? Click here to read all the contributions from Vincent Geloso, Antoine Noel, Marcus Witcher, Samuel Gregg, C. Bradley Thompson, and Anthony Comenga.

• We ARRRGHED our way through Peter Leeson’s The Invisible Hook as part of Peter Boettke’s No Due Date book club, and subcribers enjoyed a personal conversation with “the two Petes,” as well as a Virtual Happy Hour with Katie Flavin and conversation in the LF Portal. This month, we’re reading an Econlib classic, Anthony de Jasay’s The State and looking forward to another members-only Salon with EconLog’s Pierre Lemieux later this month.

• Finally, we’ve been very happily watching the new comics series at AdamSmithWorks. Check out some of our favs, like Man of System, The Boy Who Loved to Play, What Smith Said, and Not From Benevolence.

We hope you enjoy the selections above 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

The Partisan Parting of TV News

By Richard B. McKenzie

During the Golden Age of television, the news “stuck to the facts.” Fast forward to today’s digital world and it’s unclear whether the belligerence of TV news is the cause or effect of increasing political polarization in America. Gordon Tullock, argues Richard McKenzie in this new Feature, would not be surprised. Read on for McKenzie’s thoughtful economic analysis of all the shouting.

The Revanchist Right

By Arnold Kling

According to Arthur Milikh’s new edited collection, Up From Conservatism, American conservatives have been so busy defending free markets over the last few decades that, “America’s cultural and legal regime was invaded and conquered by the Left.” A new ascendency is thus in order, concerning for Kling who sees very little “politics” in this political vision.

Neoliberalism on Trial: Artificial Intelligence and Existential Risk

By Walter Donway

A New York Times op-ed recently declared that AI poses an existential threat to humanity. This is a claim close at mind to all our EconTalk listeners, as host Russ Roberts has welcomed many guests- on both sides of this divide- to discuss the promise and perils of AI. This month, Walter Donway takes this particular opinion piece to task. Just how much do we have to fear? Read on, and judge for yourself.

Interpreting Social and Economic Evolution

By Rosolino Candela

In this new Liberty Classic, Rosolino Candela digs into Ludwig von Mises’s Theory and History, exploring the relationship between the study of history and economics. To Mises, the study of human action necessarily included both- the marriage of praxeology and catallactics.

EconTalk: Conversation for the Curious

Roland Fryer on Race, Diversity, and Affirmative Action

Can economics and better measurement help us understand racial disparities and suggest how to reduce or eliminate them? Economist Roland Fryer of Harvard University believes deeply in the power of data to help us understand how the world works and how we might change it. Listen as he tells EconTalk's Russ Roberts of his devotion to this mission, what he learned from his grandmother, and what colleges can do if they really want to increase minority enrollment. Explore More.

More recent EconTalk:

• Vinay Prasad on Cancer Screening

• Anthony Gill Extra: Incentives Matter: Religion Edition

• Walter Russell Mead on Innovation, Religion, and the State of the World

• Gregory Zuckerman Extra: A Race for Millions

• Adam Mastroianni on the Brain, the Ears, and How We Learn

• Adam Mastroianni Extra: The Peril of Peers

From The Shelf with Arnold Kling

Up from Conservatism: Revitalizing the Right after a Generation of Decay

Join:
Arnold Kling, Rachel Lu and Matthew Continetti to discuss Kling’s review of Up From Conservatism.

Wednesday, September 20 from noon- 1pm EDT.

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