Free-Trade Theory No Longer Applies?

In an op-ed in the January 6 New York Times, “liberal” U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and conservative economist Paul Craig Roberts tapped into the anxiety felt by many Americans about their changing roles in the global economy. The authors argued that new economic conditions undermine the classic argument for free trade: The case for free [...]

Book Reviews – 2004/1

Book Reviews – November 2003

Adam Smith’s Marketplace of Life by James R. Otteson Cambridge University Press • 2002 • 338 pages • $70.00 hardcover; $26.00 paperback Reviewed by Robert Batemarco One of the puzzles confronting students of the history of economic thought is the apparent inconsistency of the two masterworks of Adam Smith: The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and [...]

Deregulation Caused the Great Blackout of 2003?

As I sat in New York during the blackout, I wondered who would succeed at producing the first predictable polemics blaming “deregulation.” Every crisis unsurprisingly is used to further the agendas of anyone remotely concerned. Every interest group claimed that had its agenda been accepted the crisis could have been avoided. The Northeast power outage [...]

Book Reviews – October 2003

The Illusion of Victory: America in World War I by Thomas Fleming Basic Books • 2003 • 543 pages • $30.00 Reviewed by Richard M. Ebeling Imagine how different the twentieth century might have been if Lenin and the Bolsheviks had never come to power in Russia in 1917 and had not set in motion all the cruel crimes that were [...]

Is the Marketplace Efficient?

It is tempting to defend the free market by claiming it’s efficient. But we’d better resist that temptation. It can lead to trouble. Individuals surely strive for efficiency; to the best of his knowledge, each person attempts to economize resources, time, and energy in the pursuit of goals, and each necessarily puts higher values before [...]

The Market Endangers the Arts?

Where a man sits often determines where he stands. Dana Gioia, who now sits as the head of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), is living proof of this dictum. In the course of defending a bigger NEA budget, Gioia told an approving Frank Rich of the New York Times last June: “If you [...]

Book Reviews – July 2003

Diversity: The Invention of a Concept by Peter Wood Encounter Books • 2003 • 308 pages • $24.95 Reviewed by George C. Leef Anthropologists study the origins and development of human customs and beliefs. Often that takes them to places like New Guinea, but anthropologist Peter Wood did not need immunizations or a passport to write this remarkable book. It examines [...]

Vices and Crimes

Susan Lee, of the Wall Street Journal‘s editorial board, accuses libertarians of an “annoying optimism,” but her article “Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll” (February 12) is enough to make even the most sanguine libertarian glum. It’s a little discouraging at this late date to see libertarianism yet again described as a brand of moral [...]