The Independent Review

Publisher David J. Theroux, Independent Institute Founding Editor Robert Higgs, Independent Institute Co-Editors Christopher J. Coyne, George Mason University Michael C. Munger, Duke University Robert M. Whaples, Wake Forest University Managing Edito

For the moment, assume that efficiency may be an impetus in privatizing U.S. (federal) offshore land resources.1 But what does “efficiency” mean in considering privatization of these resources? What approach to privatization would achieve efficiency

Despite maintaining strict balanced-budget requirements, U.S. state and local governments have accumulated trillions in unfunded pension liabilities (National Conference of State Legislatures 2010).1 These unfunded liabilities represent a growing eco

Economists are not outside of the economy; they are part and parcel of it.... The economist is a rational, maximizing individual, subject to the predictions of economic science. In this sense there is no way that the economist cannot be influenced by

At mid-twentieth century, the neoclassical mathematical theory of value culminated in Kenneth Arrow and Gerard Debreu’s (1954) model, which characterizes the static general equilibrium state of an economy. However, this description is unsatisfactory

Interest in Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS, Smith [1759] 1976b) has soared during the past thirty-five years. Long eclipsed by The Wealth of Nations (WN, Smith [1776] 1976a), TMS now has a popular estimation more in line with Smith’

If one is to profoundly understand a society and era, as the sociologist Max Weber superbly taught, one must grasp the character and spirit of their dominant class.1A great deal that is central to American society and history since 1965 has been shap

With worries about the coronavirus, almost daily dire reports emerging on the potentially devastating effects of climate change, never-ending turmoil in the Middle East, and Tweet-induced economic-policy uncertainty riding high in the United States,

When one of my sons does something unexpected, I like to joke: “Who are you, and what have you done with my son?” After reading Elizabeth Warren’s three books on politics, I had the same question about her. Warren has had a prolific writing career, i

Adam Smith is known chiefly for his economic treatise The Wealth of Nations ([1776] 1981). Relatively few appreciate his moral philosophy. Even fewer recognize that Smith did not regard himself as an economist. In fact, toward the end of his life he

By James R. Otteson New York: Oxford University Press, 2019. Pp. xii, 234. $35 paperback. Honorable Business: A Framework for Business in a Just and Humane Society is an ambitious and worthwhile undertaking. In it, James Otteson, director of the Euda

By Paul D. Mueller Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K.: Cambridge Scholars, 2019. Pp. viii, 189. $58.99 hardcover. The idea of writing a retrospective account of the financial crisis ten years out is a good one, and Paul Mueller’s book provides a nice overview

By Daniel Raimi New York: Columbia University Press, 2018. Pp. x, 262. $30 hardcover. The fracking debate is often framed around two themes: horror stories about the danger of fracking and stories of the glories of the American energy renaissance. Da

By Samuel Gregg Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2019. Pp. xv, 192. $28 hardcover. Ongoing conflict with and within the Middle East has spawned a significant literature regarding the “clash of civilizations” between Western liberal democracies and Islamic

By M. Todd Henderson and Salen Churi New York: Cambridge University Press, 2019. Pp. xvii, 215. $29.99 paperback. The Trust Revolution provides an account of the role that trust plays in improving human conditions and of how technology can shape that