A free and prosperous society requires a functioning market economy at its foundation. Using a broad array of tools drawn from price theory, public choice analysis, Austrian theory, and classical empiricism, our study of economics and economic freedom explores the underpinnings of the market system, the roots of economic prosperity, and emerging threats to the same in the public policy sphere. Our work includes the measurement of freedom and providing practical economic information for people to make better decisions.
Articles
Why Democracy Needs the Rich
In his new book, John O. McGinnis makes the case for why the wealthy matter for democracy — and why attacking them may backfire.
Cloud Seeding: A Better Way to Address Water Shortages
Cloud seeding is a cost-effective, free-market alternative to billion-dollar water infrastructure projects. It can provide flexible, locally driven solutions to western water shortages.
California’s Water Crisis Isn’t a Drought—It’s Bad Policy
Decades of subsidies, mispricing, and politically protected water allocations have left households paying the highest costs while agriculture wastes the most.
What 122 Universal Basic Income Experiments Actually Show
After more than 100 pilots, the evidence shows that universal basic income does little to boost employment and risks unintended economic costs.
Can Immigration Address America’s Fiscal Nightmare? It Depends
High-skilled workers tend to strengthen government budgets, while low-skilled immigration can add fiscal pressure. The composition of immigration matters as much as the number.
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Ditches Seattle After Wealth Tax Vote
Entrepreneurs are exiting high-tax states and taking corporate revenue with them. Why spend years lobbying when you can spend an afternoon on Zillow?
China’s AI Paradox: Can Innovation Thrive in a Captive Mind?
Can a state that suppresses intellectual freedom tolerate the open inquiry that AI innovation ultimately requires?
The End of Pax Americana
America’s retreat from free trade is weakening the economic foundation that sustained Pax Americana for generations.
Entrepreneurs Take on the Funeral Monopoly: When Selling a Box Becomes a Crime
Oklahoma’s protectionist casket laws block competition and inflate costs. But some entrepreneurs are fighting back, taking their case to court to defend economic freedom.
Stop Lamenting Inequality—Start Questioning Bad Policy
Global inequality has narrowed and the poor are gaining ground. If the system feels rigged, we should look to government policies that suppress competition and reward insiders.
Research Publications
General Institutional Considerations of Blockchain and Emerging Applications
PC Earle, DM Waugh. The Emerald Handbook on Cryptoassets: Investment Opportunities and …, 2023
Decentralized Marketplaces with Privately Enforced Contracts: A Case Study of OpenBazaar.
PC Earle, M Gulker, EP Stringham. Journal of Private Enterprise 37 (4), 2022
INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS: Effective economic weapon or fundamentally flawed policy tool?
PC Earle. Financial History, 12-15, 2022
A Gay Bar and Some Polygamists Had a Fight over Zoning…
RM Yonk. Cato Institute, 2022
Achieving Ecological Reflexivity: The Limits of Deliberation and the Alternative of Free-Market-Environmentalism
J Enninga, RM Yonk. Sustainability 15 (8), 6396, 2023
Marie Springer: The politics of Ponzi schemes: history, theory, and policy: Routledge, 2020
RE Wright. Business Economics 57 (2), 89-91, 2022
The History and Evolution of the North American Wildlife Conservation Model
RE Wright. Palgrave Macmillan, 2022
The Political Economy of Modern Wildlife Management: How Commercialization Could Reduce Game Overabundance
RE Wright. The Independent Review 26 (4), 513-532, 2022
The calculus of dissent: Bias and diversity in FOMC projections
TL Hogan. Public Choice 191 (1-2), 105-135, 2022
Framing affordable housing: an experimental test of changing attitudes
M Matheis, J Sorens. Housing Studies, 1-17, 2022
Regulatory Decentralization and Stringency: The Case of Comparative Minimum Wage and Renewable Energy Policies
J Sorens. Publius: The Journal of Federalism 53 (1), 55-81, 2023
Changing Minds on Restrictive Zoning: How to Unclog America’s Home Supply
J Sorens. Manhattan Institute, Apr 1, 2022
Situating Southern Influences in James M. Buchanan and Modern Public Choice Economics
A Carden, V Geloso, PW Magness. Standard of Living: Essays on Economics, History, and Religion in Honor of …, 2022
Gordon Tullock and the Economics of Slavery
P Magness, A Carden, I Murtazashvili. Available at SSRN 4318585, 2023
How pronounced is the U-curve? Revisiting income inequality in the United States, 1917–60
VJ Geloso, P Magness, J Moore, P Schlosser. The Economic Journal 132 (647), 2366-2391, 2022
Books
