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Econlib NewsletterOctober2025 |
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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 — 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) — 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. The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics: Fascism — 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 — 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!
Check out our slate of upcoming Virtual Reading Groups. Discuss Ayn Rand, Harriet Martineau, Henry Hazlitt, Shakespeare and more. |
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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 of UC Berkeley in his book, Anointed. He and EconTalk's Russ Roberts 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.
More Recent Episodes & Extras: |
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| NEW Econlib ArticlesOctober 2025 |
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| The Rational Bull Elk 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 KnowsBy 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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| Copyright © 2025, Liberty Fund, Inc. All rights reserved.
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