Library of Economics and Liberty

What does it mean to live Constitutionally in the year 2024? For a start, it means getting off social media. It also means swapping a quill pen for your keyboard, and candlelight for electricity. And don’t forget the tricorn hat and musket–though maybe skip the boiled mutton. Join author A.J. Jacobs as he deep-dives with EconTalk’s Russ Roberts into the centuries-old principles of the U.S. Constitution and tries to apply them to the current day. Topics include the original conceptions of our most cherished amendments... Читать дальше...

First, Happy Cinco de Mayo.

Now to the content.

Backpage: A Blueprint for Squelching Speech

by Elizabeth Nolan Brown, Reason, April 29, 2024.

Excerpt:

From the beginning, this prosecution has been premised on a bogus rationale (authorities yammer on about sex trafficking though none of the defendants are charged with sex trafficking), overreaching in its scope (attempting to hold a web platform accountable for user-generated speech, in contradiction to Section 230)... Читать дальше...

For many people, a world without zoning sounds like a dystopia.  Uninformed people often assume that zoning laws protect homeowners from the risk of ugly industrial plants being built right next door. In fact, there were rules against that sort of “public nuisance” even before the first zoning laws were enacted. The actual purpose of residential zoning laws is to restrict the supply of new housing.

For those who are under the illusion that zoning is about protecting residential areas against industrial plants... Читать дальше...

American “lawmakers” and “policymakers” are responsible for the one million references to what people must do or may not do that are found in the Code of Federal Regulations. This does not include state and local regulations. The situation is not much different in other Western countries. How could economists be more useful to policymakers, asks Financial Times columnist Soumaya Keynes in “How Economists Could Make Themselves More Useful” (April 26, 2024).

Now before you get your torches and pitchforks, hear me out.

In many industries, but aviation in particular, a stellar safety record is a competitive advantage.  In High Reliability Organizations (HRO), such as airlines, safety is paramount to the success of the organization.  After all, a single accident, regardless of how rare an occurrence it is, could yield a catastrophic result, either in terms of cost of lives or liability.  Indeed, the primary, secondary, and tertiary victims are... Читать дальше...

Warning: This post, like my previous post on the subject, will involve a discussion of plot points and spoilers for the Dune series. If you haven’t seen the movies or read the books and wish to avoid spoilers, feel free to skip this one. 

In recent years, there has been a large outflow of residents from California and New York to places such as Texas and Florida.  The concept of “revealed preference” suggests that these fast growing states might be the best places to live.  But there are actually two ways of thinking about the “best place”:

This is the second in my series of posts on the social costs of drug prohibition. You can read the first post here.

A student group called Columbia University Apartheid Divest issued a statement quoted by the Wall Street Journal (“New York Mayor Says Conflict at Columbia Must End as Police Amass Nearby,” April 30, 2024):

Last month, I posted on some of the intellectual contributions of economic and business historian Robert Hessen, who died on  April 15. At the time, I didn’t have access to his contribution to Ayn Rand’s book Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal. But I got a copy from the library and found his essay. It’s titled, “The Effects of the Industrial Revolution on Women and Children.”