Economic Freedom

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

Thomas Savidge

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5/8/25

Do the Rich Pay Their Fair Share of Taxes?

Research Fellow Thomas Savidge digs into tax data to answer a frequently echoed question.
Nikolai Wenzel

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3/6/25

Argentina, 1500-2023: An Institutional Story

Argentina serves as a case study for the relationship between institutional environments and economic growth, as reality matches the theoretical predictions: economic freedom is a necessary condition for economic growth.
Thomas Savidge

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2/19/25

The Work vs Welfare Tradeoff Revisited

Explaining Welfare Benefits at the State Level
David Hebert

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1/27/25

Understanding Trade Balances and What to Do About Them

Prior to 1976, the United States experienced modest trade surpluses. Since then, the US has seen nothing but trade deficits.
David Bahnsen

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11/25/24

Financialization and Missed Boats

When Mythology Papers over Reality
Amity Shlaes

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11/12/24

The Economic Consequences of Populism

The Great Depression Reconsidered
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10/7/24

AIER Defends Local Control in Key New Hampshire Tax and Education Cases

AIER has submitted amicus curiae briefs to the New Hampshire Supreme Court in the combined cases Rand v. State and ConVal v. State. We took this step because our economic […]
Vanessa Brown Calder

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10/7/24

Trump’s Subsidized IVF Spells Disaster

“Trump’s plan is a disaster from the perspective of cost, incentives, and value neutrality.” ~Vanessa Brown Calder
James Hartley

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10/4/24

The Religious Idiocy of ‘Limitarianism’

“To pretend that you can have all the riches of the modern world and eliminate the ability for anyone to become wealthy is a sure sign of someone who has no understanding of how all this wealth was generated in the first place.” ~James Hartley
AIER

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10/3/24

Harwood Economic Review: Dispelling Economic Myths

Our latest issue explores why economic misconceptions persist and the vigilance required to counter them.