EconLib Newsletter

October 2019

[link removed]

#EconlibReads
Hello, friends! We hope autumn has arrived wherever you may be, and the season finds you ready to relax and enjoy some good reading.

This past month, we were delighted to introduce a new Guide ([link removed]) to our growing and always evolving collection, #EconlibReads. ([link removed])

As you know, earlier this year, we introduced our ARG (Asynchronous Reading Group) series with EconTalk host Russ Roberts's book, The Choice. We've read three more books since then, and after each session concludes, we provide all the discussion questions in PDF form at #EconlibReads ([link removed]) . This is a terrific resource for teachers of economics, or anyone who want to add a little focus to their reading.

We'll be starting a new book soon... So stay tuned to #EconlibReads on Facebook and twitter, too!

P.S. If you missed our latest, Econlib QuickPicks yet, here's the link ([link removed]) to see past collections and subscribe. A new collection lands in inboxes each month.

EconLib Articles, October 2019


** Market Competitiveness and Rationality: A Brain-Focused Perspective
------------------------------------------------------------

by Richard B. McKenzie



Over the past half century, behavioral economists have relentlessly criticized neoclassical economics for having a flawed premise at its methodological foundation: that the people in neoclassical models, derided as “Econs” by behaviorists, are perfectly rational.

Here, I review some basic tenets of brain-focused economics, explaining how my optimal rationality is more rational than perfect rationality and how many behaviorists’ declared “irrationalities” can be construed as rational and welfare enhancing. I then apply brain-focused thinking to a question that would not occur to neoclassicists: How does the intensity of market competitiveness affect people’s brain-based optimum rationality and, thereby, the economic gains from markets? Read More. ([link removed])

Does Economics Need More Than One Lesson?

By Michael D. Thomas
A casual reader might expect that Quiggin’s own unorthodox approach to economics would make him sympathetic with what he sees as Hazlitt’s attack on the orthodoxy of Keynesian economics ([link removed]) . By the end, Quiggin succeeds in adding a leftist perspective for neophyte economists on the conversation started by Frederic Bastiat ([link removed]) and joined by Hazlitt in 1946.

Quiggin agrees with Hazlitt that opportunity costs are a defining point of economics. The second part of the book structures a response to situations where people get those opportunity costs wrong: when economies are not at full employment, have systematic market failures, or when agents are imperfectly rational. Read More. ([link removed])


** Wrangling Radicals: Intersectionality & Campus Culture
------------------------------------------------------------

by Arnold Kling


"Intersectionality is a single theory that, to its adherents, explains everything. Oppression is everywhere, and the Manichean fight against oppression is all-encompassing. If free speech permits speakers to hurt the feelings of oppressed categories of individuals, then free speech is a tool of oppression that cannot be tolerated." Read More. ([link removed])

FEATURED ECONLOG POSTS
Featured Post: Bryan Caplan, CPI Bias and Happiness ([link removed])

Our nominal income rises every year. But what about our real income – our “standard of living”? In order to answer that question, we have to accurately measure inflation ([link removed]) . If we understate inflation, we’re getting richer at a slower pace than we think. If we overstate inflation, we’re getting richer at a faster pace than we think.

More Recent Posts
* Scott Sumner, Bubble Mutual Funds ([link removed])
* Pierre Lemieux, American Sanctions: Why Foreigners Obey ([link removed])
* John Alcorn, Common Rationales for Prohibition ([link removed])
* Thomas Firey, A Trade "Level Playing Field" Isn't So Great ([link removed])
* Sarah Skwire, Buying Boots ([link removed])
* David Henderson, The Balance Sheet of Supply-Side Economics ([link removed])
* Alberto Mingardi, Globalism in 60 Seconds ([link removed])
* Scott Sumner, Can innovation be sped up? ([link removed])

FEATURED ECONTALK EPISODES
George Will on Conservative Sensibility ([link removed])
George Will ([link removed]) talks about his new book, The Conservative Sensibility, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts ([link removed]) . Will argues for a conservative vision that embraces the dynamic nature of life. Topics discussed include the current political landscape, the American founding, James Madison's vision of government vs. Woodrow Wilson's, Friedrich Hayek, and of course, a little baseball.

Don't miss Arnold Kling's August review ([link removed]) of Will's book, also at Econlib.

More Recent Episodes:
* David Deppner on Leadership, Confidence, and Humility ([link removed])
* Daron Acemoglu on Shared Prosperity and Good Jobs ([link removed])
* Dani Rodrik on Neoliberalism ([link removed])
* Sabine Hossenfelder on Physics, Reality, and Lost in Math ([link removed])

FEATURED CEE ENTRIES
Featured Entry: Economic Freedom ([link removed])

Adam Smith ([link removed]) was one of the first economists to argue for a version of economic freedom, and he was followed by a distinguished line of thinkers that includes John Stuart Mill ([link removed]) , Ludwig von Mises ([link removed]) , Friedrich A. Hayek ([link removed]) , and Milton Friedman ([link removed]) , as well as economists such as Murray Rothbard.

On the other side of this debate are people hostile to economic freedom who instead argue for an economic system characterized by centralized economic planning and state control of the means of production.
* See also Regulation ([link removed]) , by Robert Litan
* Standards of Living and Modern Economic Growth ([link removed]) , by John Nye
* Property Rights ([link removed]) , by Armen Alchian
* Milton Friedman ([link removed]) biography
* See also China's Growth: Planning or Private Enterprise? ([link removed]) by Paul Gregory
* See also Thoughts for Tigers ([link removed]) , by Pedro Schwartz
* Competing Money Supplies ([link removed]) , by Lawrence White

Visit Econlib ([link removed])
For over four decades, Liberty Fund has made available some of the finest books in history, politics, philosophy, law, education, and economics—books of enduring value that have helped to shape ideas and events in man’s quest for liberty, order, and justice. Access the online catalog here ([link removed]) .

============================================================
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** YouTube ([link removed])
Copyright © 2019, Liberty Fund, Inc. All rights reserved.

11301 North Meridian Street, Carmel, IN 46032-4564

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.