EconLib Newsletter
December 2019
Welcome back, friends. We know this is a busy time of year, so we'll keep it short. We are grateful for your continued interest in looking at the world through the lens of economics. We love to share our newest pieces and projects with you, so keep on reading to see some of the latest new content at Econlib.
And if, like us, you use the holiday season to READ, we hope you'll join us for our latest #EconlibReads online reading group, which starts TODAY. We'll be reading David Epstein's Range ([link removed]) , which was also one of the most popular EconTalk episodes ([link removed]) of this past year.
As always, if you have comments and/or suggestions for us, feel free to drop us an email at
[email protected]. We love to hear from you.
EconLib Feature Articles, December 2019
** The Economics of al-Qaeda
------------------------------------------------------------
by Anne Rathbone Bradley
Almost two decades later, we are still embroiled in the endless “War on Terror” and globally, terrorism has increased. The only way to reduce the amount of terrorism is to think through the economic and institutional questions of why terrorism seems to be an effective means for social, economics, religious or political change for some people. Before we can argue for effective policy, we must understand al-Qaeda as an emergent order in which the willing participants are voluntarily choosing to advance the mission of the organization to effect change important to them. If we know the “why” we can ask questions about what policies could help alter the incentives those individuals face. Read More. ([link removed])
[link removed]
Why Would Anyone Want Austerity?
By Michael Munger
Why would anyone want austerity? Isn’t it a bad idea? Actually, yes, it is a bad idea. So is cutting open someone’s abdomen with a razor sharp blade. But if that person’s appendix is about to burst, the knife cut is the best of bad options. Alesina, et al begin with a sensible observation: “If governments followed adequate fiscal policies most of the time, we would almost never need austerity.” Read More. ([link removed])
** The No-Demand Principle and Libertarianism
------------------------------------------------------------
by Arnold Kling
Dan Moller contends that there is a powerful case against the welfare state based on ordinary moral intuition...
In appealing to our moral intuition against committing armed robbery, has Moller found a philosophical trump card that libertarians can play against their opponents? I am doubtful. In fact, in the game of intellectual bridge, I would suggest that moral intuition is the wrong suit for libertarians to bid. Read More. ([link removed])
** Hume, Smith ... and Darwin
------------------------------------------------------------
by Pedro Schwartz
What can the social and natural sciences learn from the historic friendship between Adam Smith ([link removed]) and David Hume ([link removed]) ?
Pedro Schwartz is BACK this month, with an exploration of the two moral philosophers, with a little Charles Darwin and Dennis Rasmussen, too!
Read More. ([link removed])
FEATURED ECONLOG POSTS
Featured Post: Sarah Skwire, My Five Favorite Novels with Economic Themes ([link removed])
There is no faster way to shut down the brain of literature geeks than to ask for their “favorite book.” It’s only slightly less dangerous to ask for a short list of favorites. Acknowledging that fact, and knowing that the mere making of a list means that at the moment of publication I will remember the many works I didn’t include, here is a ridiculously biased list, in no particular order, of my five favorite novels with economic themes...
More Recent Posts
* Bryan Caplan, Can Republicans Afford to be Pro-Immigrant? ([link removed])
* Scott Sumner, Stall speed and mini-recessions ([link removed])
* Arnold Kling, Five Books on the Financial Crisis ([link removed])
* Pierre Lemieux, The Rhetoric of the Paris Agreement ([link removed])
* Alberto Mingardi, McCloskey on Liberalism and Democracy ([link removed])
* David Henderson, Fooled by Algebra ([link removed])
* Maurice Black, Inside Bill's Brain ([link removed])
FEATURED ECONTALK EPISODES
Keith Smith on Free Market Health Care ([link removed])
Entrepreneur and Anesthesiologist Keith Smith ([link removed]) of the Surgery Center of Oklahoma talks with host Russ Roberts ([link removed]) about what it's like to run a surgery center that posts prices on the internet and that does not take insurance. Along the way, he discusses the distortions in the market for health care and how a real market for health care might function if government took a smaller role.
More Recent Episodes:
* Venkatesh Rao on WaldenPonding ([link removed])
* Rory Sutherland on Alchemy ([link removed])
* Susan Mayer on What Money Can't Buy ([link removed])
A Few More on Health Care from the EconTalk Archives:
* Eric Topol on the Power of Patients in the Digital World ([link removed])
* Ed Dolan on Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance ([link removed])
* Lipstein on Hospitals ([link removed])
* Arnold Kling on the Economics of Health Care and the Crisis of Abundance ([link removed])
FEATURED CEE ENTRIES
Featured Entry: Health Care ([link removed]) , by Michael A. Morrisey
Health care is different from other goods and services: the health care product is ill-defined, the outcome of care is uncertain, large segments of the industry are dominated by nonprofit providers, and payments are made by third parties such as the government and private insurers. Many of these factors are present in other industries as well, but in no other industry are they all present. It is the interaction of these factors that tends to make health care unique.
Even so, it is easy to make too much of the distinctiveness of the health care industry. Various players in the industry—consumers and providers, to name two—respond to incentives just as in other industries. Read More. ([link removed])
* See also Health Insurance ([link removed]) , by John C. Goodman
* See also American Health Care as Viewed by an Entrepreneur ([link removed]) , by Arnold Kling
* Monopoly ([link removed]) , by George J. Stigler
* Pharmaceuticals: Economics and Regulation ([link removed]) , by Charles L. Hooper
* See also The Economics of Smoking ([link removed]) , by Pierre Lemieux
* See also A Cure for Our Health Care Ills ([link removed]) , by Charles L. Hooper and David R. Henderson
* Welfare ([link removed]) , by Jeffrey M. Jones and Thomas MaCurdy
Curious minds will love discovering Liberty Fund’s Top 10 Bestselling titles. Plus, for one day only, you can save 50% off + free shipping on the featured book of the day. Mark your calendars now for the countdown starting Dec. 9^th.
Start your list NOW at Liberty Fund Books.
www.libertyfund.org ([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])
.
