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** Econlib Newsletter
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October2025
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As the air cools and the leaves turn, our conversations move deeper—toward the ideas that shape public life, policy, and human flourishing. This October, we’ve curated a selection of work that cuts to the heart of our moment: debates about markets, authority, and how we organize freedom in practice.

Our hope is that these ideas don’t just inform—they empower you to think more clearly, argue more soundly, and act more intentionally.

Here’s to a month of ideas you can live by,
The Econlib Team

* Rosolino Candela, Monopoly and Barriers to Entry: Old Wine in New Bottles ([link removed]) — Candela revisits classic market theory to make sense of today’s platform giants. If you’ve been tracking antitrust, big tech, or concentration risk, this essay will give you sharper lenses.
* Eating with Intelligence (with Julia Belluz) ([link removed]) — EconTalk episode — In a world of nutrition fads, processed foods, and regulation debates, Belluz and Russ Roberts get at the biology, social context, and incentives behind what and how we eat.
+ In the above episode, you’ll hear Roberts’ skepticism with regard to Belluz’s policy suggestions. For a different alternative, consider this timely EconLog post from Craig Richardson, Why Can’t Food Stamps be Used for a Rotisserie Chicken? ([link removed])
* The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics: Fascism ([link removed]) — With authoritarian language creeping into mainstream debate, our clear, principled entry on fascism—not as insult but as concept—helps us distinguish real threats from rhetorical abuse.
* Liberty Matters Essay Series: Women at War ([link removed]) — A multidisciplinary discussion at the Online Library of Liberty on liberty, gender, and conflict. War is often narrated through the actions of generals and states—but Women at War shifts the lens to women’s roles in conflict, resistance, diplomacy, and moral leadership.

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** Join our Community of Readers!
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** Check out our slate of upcoming Virtual Reading Groups. Discuss Ayn Rand, Harriet Martineau, Henry Hazlitt, Shakespeare and more.
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** See ALL upcoming programs. ([link removed])
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** EconTalk: Conversation for the Curious
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The Invisible Hierarchies That Rule Our World

Status isn't fixed; it's transferred and "bestowed," shaping who gets resources, attention, and opportunity. So argues author Toby Stuart ([link removed]) of UC Berkeley in his book, Anointed. He and EconTalk's Russ Roberts ([link removed]) explore why hierarchies persist--reducing conflict, allocating scarce resources, and curating our overwhelming choices--and how endorsements, blurbs, and brands quietly steer our judgments, from bookstores to wine shops and art galleries. At the end, Stuart reflects on imposter syndrome and how thinking deeply about the anointed changed how he sees success.

Explore more. ([link removed])

More Recent Episodes & Extras:
* Eating with Intelligence (with Julia Belluz) ([link removed])
* Preferences Informed by Information ([link removed]) Extra by Kevin Lavery
* Steven Pinker on Common Knowledge ([link removed])
* How Did America Build the Arsenal of Democracy? (with Brian Potter) ([link removed])
* Incentivizing Sick Cities ([link removed]) Extra by Anna Leman


** NEW Econlib Articles
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October 2025


** The Rational Bull Elk
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By Richard B. McKenzie

Richard McKenzie challenges the standard Darwinian narrative by suggesting that even animals like elk may exhibit limited rational behavior—decisions influenced by scarcity and costs, rather than pure instinct. Through vivid natural imagery and economic logic, McKenzie invites us to rethink how rational choice might extend beyond humans.
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** What China Knows
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By By Arnold Kling

Arnold Kling’s review highlights how that knowledge, more than hardware or capital, gives China a competitive advantage. He draws on insights from Arrow, Marshall, and Krugman to show how knowledge acts like capital and why the U.S. may be suffering from a “lawyerly” mindset that underinvests in engineering and building.
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