Mir McLuhanism

By Arnold Kling

If “the medium is the message,” how does the spread of electronic media, especially in the 21st century, affect our brains and our society?

This is the question at the front of Arnold Kling’s mind as he reviews “media ecologist” Andrey Mir’s new book.

Using Reason to Understand the Abuse and Decline of Reason

By Rosolino Candela

In our new Liberty Classic, Rosolino Candela looks at Liberty Fund’s publication of a collection of F.A. Hayek’s unfinished project, The Abuse and Decline of Reason. Hayek’s purpose “was to explain how human reason used in the natural sciences, as evidenced by the amazing scientific and technological advances of the 18th and 19th century, would later become the basis for hubris among social scientists,” and to mitigate the effects of scientism in the social sciences.

Is China Winning?

Rethinking Perceptions of Success in Central Planning

By Ryan Yonk and Ethan Yang

Is China winning a quiet war for global domination? Despite what you hear in the media and from political campaigns, new contributors Ryan Yonk and Ethan Yang urge caution about accepting such claims.  

“In virtually every area of Chinese political and economic life the disruptions of autocratic technocracy are only thinly veneered by the perception of decisive and efficient leadership.”

California Dreaming: The Effects of California's "Fast Food" Minimum Wage

By Richard B. McKenzie

On April 1, the state of California required its fast food restaurants to pay its workers a minimum of $20/hour, up from $16.

Richard McKenzie takes us on a tour of the intended and unintended consequences of this move, including some potential effects in other states.

Living with the Constitution (with A.J. Jacobs)

What does it mean to live Constitutionally in the year 2024? For a start, it means getting off social media. It also means swapping a quill pen for your keyboard, and candlelight for electricity. And don't forget the tricorn hat and musket--though maybe skip the boiled mutton. Join author A.J. Jacobs as he deep-dives with EconTalk's Russ Roberts into the centuries-old principles of the U.S. Constitution and tries to apply them to the current day. Topics include the original conceptions of our most cherished amendments, the office of the President, and the supreme court, and an explanation of how one can be an originalist and still believe in gender equity. Jacobs also shares his family's experience writing its own constitution, and explains why his research made him more optimistic about the future of American democracy.

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