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
Protectionism Won’t Feed North America: Don’t Scrap the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement
Calls to weaken or abandon USMCA overlook how interconnected US, Canadian, and Mexican agriculture has become. Trade barriers hurt farmers and families in all three nations.
Claims of Housing ‘Oversupply’ Are Misleading
A few cooling markets have sparked claims that housing reform is no longer necessary. Post-COVID adjustments shouldn't distract us from the long-term problem.
How the Railway Safety Act Could Make Railroads Less Safe
Gains in safety historically came from innovation and operational flexibility on the ground. Three new studies suggest Congress is approaching rail safety backward.
Regulators Broke the ‘Spirit’ of Competition — Passengers Paid the Price
Washington blocked the merger that might have saved Spirit Airlines—then stood by as it collapsed. The result: fewer flights, higher prices, and a textbook case of policy backfiring on the…
No, AI Won’t Make Money Obsolete
Even in a world of radical abundance, scarcity, tradeoffs, and uncertainty persist — and with them, the essential role of prices.
Apple’s New CEO Has a Major Opportunity to Ditch Politics
Companies whose products and ideas change the world for the better don’t need to chase activists' applause.
Cyberattack Exposes Risks of Policy-Driven Healthcare Concentration
When one provider goes offline, others should step in. Mississippi’s experience shows how certificate-of-need laws prevent that — and why reform matters for public health.
Data Center Panic Gets Electricity Prices Wrong
Evidence shows the real culprit behind rising electricity prices isn’t AI infrastructure — it’s state energy policy.
The Knowledge Problem Dooms Municipal Grocery Stores Every Time
Without price signals and profit discipline, inefficiency isn’t a risk — it’s a guarantee. Persistent higher costs leave taxpayers with the bill.
May Day Politics Come to Classrooms
Chicago’s latest deal with its teachers union uses public-school students to advance private agendas.
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
