Econlib

Econlib releases three to four new articles and columns about economics every month. These fresh pieces are publicly accessible on the first Monday of each month. All the articles and columns featured on Econlib are specially created for the Library of Economics and Liberty by esteemed professors, researchers, and journalists from around the globe. Every article and column is available online for free, allowing anyone to read them. Many of these writings spark discussions and debates in our blog, EconLog. If you have any questions regarding reprints or translations, please feel free to reach out to us.

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Poor Elon Musk! - Econlib

2 weeks ago | econlib.org | Pierre Lemieux

I don’t want to sound too paternalistic, but one thing should be said: poor Elon Musk played a game he does not understand. “This is what victory feels like,” he shouted with overexcitement at Mr. Trump’s inauguration event (it is worth watching the 1.25-minute video). He had contributed more than $250 million to the Trump 2024 campaign.
Immortality: The Meaning of Buchanan's Life

3 weeks ago | econlib.org | Pierre Lemieux

An Econlib article by Peter Boettke on “Virginia Political Economy: James Buchanan’s Journey” shows how political philosophy and economics were enmeshed in Buchanan’s work, and how he made major contributions to both fields. It also reminded me of an interesting two-part video of an interview of Buchanan by Geoffrey Brennan.
Adam Smith's Economic Case Against Imperialism

3 weeks ago | econlib.org | David Henderson

Don Boudreaux reminds us that this is Adam Smith’s birthday or, at least, the birthday announced on his tombstone. For that reason, I’m sharing one of the first articles I wrote for antiwar.com. A version will appear in a book on foreign policy that I’m working on. Here it is.
TACO vs. the Game-Theoretic Art of the Deal

3 weeks ago | econlib.org | Pierre Lemieux

It is certain that President Trump’s reply to the TACO (“Trump Always Chickens Out”) accusation will not win him a Nobel prize in economics. The Wall Street Journal reports (“The ‘TACO Trade’ That Has Trump Fuming,” May 28, 2025):The president rejected claims that he is backing down on tariffs, saying his strategy involves setting a “ridiculous high number” before negotiating it down in exchange for concessions.
The Free Market Is Not a Tool for Politicos

3 weeks ago | econlib.org | Pierre Lemieux

Wall Street Journal editor Matthew Hennessey rightly criticied Vice-President JD Vance’s statement that the market is just “a tool, but it is not the purpose of American politics.” (“JD Vance Is Wrong: The Market Isn’t a ‘Tool,’” Wall Street Journal, May 26, 2025). Hennessey argues that markets are simply the way humans naturally trade and exchange without coercion:I give you this, you give me that. Simple exchange is what makes a market. Not faith, not mantras, not brick and mortar.
If Mississippi Became a Sovereign Country

1 month ago | econlib.org | Pierre Lemieux

Welcome to a little thought experiment. Suppose that Mississippi became a sovereign country. “Sovereign” means that the state apparatus can make any decision, even one that violates international law. The flip side of sovereignty is that the state can also impose its decision on the country’s residents or a portion of them, and that other states in the world have no recognized right to intervene against that imposition.
The Problem of Extreme Cases

1 month ago | econlib.org | Pierre Lemieux

John Stuart Mill famously wrote, about pushing principles to the extreme, that “unless the reasons are good for an extreme case, they are not good for any case” (On Liberty). This is not obvious, for extremes often produce antinomic or non-generalizable results.
Contradictions Can Be Revealing: A Current Example

1 month ago | econlib.org | Pierre Lemieux

Expressing a contradiction can show plain ignorance or cognitive impairment. It can also suggest a hypothesis or theory that explains the contradiction away. Consider a current example.
Mind Your Own Damn Business!

1 month ago | econlib.org | David Henderson

Vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz, of whom I am not a fan, had one very good line that he used a lot when running on the Democratic ticket last summer: “Mind your own damn business.” He didn’t really believe it. Someone who sets up a snitch line during the Covid lockdown doesn’t really believe that government should mind its own business. But, despite Walz’s hypocrisy, it’s still a good thought.
The Firm: Disco Corp. and Ronald Coase

1 month ago | econlib.org | Pierre Lemieux

For more than two decades, Disco Corp., a Japanese company with $25 billion in annual sales, has been trying to operate as if its 7,000 employees were independent contractors in the open market. The 87-year-old company now manufactures three-fourths of all the machines to cut, grind, and dice semiconductors. An interesting story in the Financial Times (Harry Dempsey and David Keohane, “Can You Run a Company as a Perfect Free Market?