Ideas Having Sex

Bryan Cheang argues that industrial policy is authoritarian.

Today’s book: Economic Liberalism and the Developmental State: Hong Kong and Singapore’s Post-war Development

Today’s essay: “Why mission-directed governance risks authoritarianism: lessons from East Asia”

Bryan Cheang’s email: bryan.cheang@kcl.ac.uk

Bart Wilson on how to make economics more human.

Walker Hanlon explains the rise and fall of small government in Britain.

Today’s Book: The Laissez-Faire Experiment: Why Britain Embraced and Then Abandoned Small Government, 1800–1914

Michael Huemer explains and challenges progressive claims.

Today’s book: Progressive Myths

Bryan Caplan extols the virtues of self help.

Today’s book: Self-Help Is Like a Vaccine: Essays on Living Better

Sheldon Richman makes the case for human freedom.

Today's Book: What Social Animals Owe to Each Other

John Hasnas describes the virtue and the beauty of the common law.

Today's Book: Common Law Liberalism: A New Theory of the Libertarian Society

Johan Norberg advocates radical economic freedom.

Today's Book: The Capitalist Manifesto: Why the Global Free Market Will Save the World by Johan Norberg

James Otteson claims that businesses behave honorably by creating mutually beneficial, and mutually voluntary deals.

Today's book: Honorable Business: A Framework for Business in a Just and Humane Society

Bryan Caplan explains why housing costs are so high.

Today's book: Build, Baby, Build: The Science and Ethics of Housing Regulation

Chris Coyne gives a master class in how to energize a population for war.

Today's book: How to Run Wars: A Confidential Playbook for the National Security Elite by Christopher Coyne & Abigail Hall

Marian Tupy and Gale Pooley explain how population growth INCREASES resource abundance.

Today’s book: Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet

Michael Huemer claims he is not a brain in a vat.

Today’s book: Can We Know Anything? A Debate

by Bryan Frances & Michael Huemer

Chandran Kukathas explains the threat immigration control poses to the freedom of citizens.

Today’s Book: Immigration and Freedom

Jason Brennan describes historical and contemporary debates on democracy.

Today’s Book: Democracy: A Guided Tour, by Jason Brennan

David Friedman talks about libertarian anarchism.

Today’s book: The Machinery of Freedom: Guide to a Radical Capitalism

David Lawrence argues that free will has flaws, but determinism has more.

Today’s book: Debunking Determinism: Robert Sapolsky, Sam Harris, and the Crusade Against Free Will

Bryan Caplan extols the virtues candor and authenticity.

Today’s book: You Will Not Stampede Me: Essays on Non-Conformism

Max Borders claims we don’t take “consent of the governed” seriously, but we should.  

Books by Max Borders

James Tooley shows how the world’s poorest people educate their children without government.

Today’s Book: Really Good Schools: Global Lessons for High-Caliber, Low-Cost Education, by James Tooley

Maarten Prak shows how capitalism developed from the bottom up.

Today’s Book: Pioneers of Capitalism: The Netherlands 1000–1800, by Maarten Prak & Jan Luiten van Zanden

David Beito exposes the many civil liberties abuses of FDR.

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Today’s book: The New Deal’s War on the Bill of Rights: The Untold Story of FDR’s Concentration Camps, Censorship, and Mass Surveillance by David Beito

Sean Mirski reviews the causes and consequences of early US foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere.

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Today’s book: We May Dominate the World: Ambition, Anxiety, and the Rise of the American Colossus by Sean Mirski

David Schmidtz discusses the inseparability of successful communities and successful lives.

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Today’s Book: Living Together: Inventing Moral Science

David’s university page & author page

Discussed and recommended: The Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle; The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith; A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume; Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View by Immanuel Kant; Honorable Business: A Framework for Business in a Just and Humane Society by James Otteson;

Rachel Ferguson and Marcus Witcher explain how black Americans have been held down by the state and lifted up by the market.

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Today’s book: Black Liberation Through the Marketplace: Hope, Heartbreak, and the Promise of America

Rachel Ferguson: Twitter, website,

Marcus Witcher: Twitter

Discussed and Recommended

The Poverty of Slavery: How Unfree Labor Pollutes the Economy

Financial Exclusion: How Competition Can Fix a Broken System

The Inclusive Economy: How to Bring Wealth to America's Poor

Competition an...

Michael Huemer talks about puzzles and insights in the study of knowledge.

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Today’s book: Understanding Knowledge

Discussed and recommended: Meditations on First Philosophy by René Descartes, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume, and The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell

Mike’s blog, author page, and website

James Otteson argues against wealth redistribution.

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Today’s book: Should Wealth Be Redistributed? A Debate

James’s website, Twitter, author page, university page.

Recommended and discussed: From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State: Fraternal Societies and Social Services, 1890-1967 by David Beito; Black Liberation Through the Marketplace: Hope, Heartbreak, and the Promise of America by Rachel Ferguson & Marcus Witcher; The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths by Mariana Mazzucato; & The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Cent...

Deirdre McCloskey explains how freedom and bourgeoise dignity enriched the world.

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The Bourgeoise Era Trilogy

Vol. 1 - The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce

Vol. 2 - Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can't Explain the Modern World

Vol. 3 - Bourgeois Equality: How Ideas, Not Capital or Institutions, Enriched the World

Shorter summary volume: Leave Me Alone and I'll Make You Rich: How the Bourgeois Deal Enriched the World, by Deirdre McCloskey & Art Carden

Discussed and Recommended: Four Essays on Liberty by...

Bryan Caplan discusses political irrationality, partisan loyalty, and more.

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Today’s book: Voters as Mad Scientists: Essays on Political Irrationality

Bryan’s recommendations: Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction & Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know? both by Philip Tetlock

Bryan’s Twitter, Author Page, Substack, and personal website.

Peter Boghossian talks about wokeness, scholarly corruption, and how to have impossible conversations.

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Find Peter on Twitter, YouTube, Substack, and his website.

The Reformers, Part 1: Explores the Sokal Squared Hoax, aka the Grievance Studies Affair

How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide, by Peter Boghossian and James Lindsay

The Gift of Violence: Practical Knowledge for Surviving and Thriving in a Dangerous World, by Matt Thornton

Woman expresses fear of backlash for agreeing with Billboard Chris

Matt Zwolinski reviews 200 years of libertarian intellectual history.

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Today’s book: The Individualists: Radicals, Reactionaries, and the Struggle for the Soul of Libertarianism

Find Matt on Twitter and Substack.

Matt’s Recommendations:

The Elements of Justice by David Schmidtz

The Structure of Liberty by Randy Barnett

Individualism and Economic Order by F.A. Hayek

Free Market Fairness by John Tomasi

Libertarianism: What Everyone Needs to Know by Jason Brennan

Radicals for Capitalism by Brian Doherty

Dan Moller makes a novel case for libertarianism.

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Today’s book: Governing Least: A New England Libertarianism

Dan’s new book, The Way of Bach, and other info can be found at his website.

Dan’s recommendations: Anarchy, State, and Utopia, A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World, and The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality

William Nelson describes how the common law shaped early America.

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Today’s Book: E Pluribus Unum: How the Common Law Helped Unify and Liberate Colonial America, 1607-1776

William Nelson’s Recommendation: Power and Liberty: Constitutionalism in the American Revolution by Gordon Wood

Other works by William Nelson

Fernanda Pirie shares her encyclopedic knowledge of law throughout history and around the world.

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Today’s book: The Rule of Laws: A 4,000-Year Quest to Order the World

Find Fernanda Pirie: Author Page, Oxford, Twitter

Recommended book: The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity

Robert Bryce explains how important electricity is to modern life.

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Today’s Book: A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations

Find Robert Bryce: Twitter, Author Page, Substack, Power Hungry Podcast

Recommended Works: How the World Really Works by Vaclav Smil, Renewable and Nuclear Heresies by Jesse Ausubel

Tibor Rutar analyzes the costs and benefits of capitalism using a straightforward and empirical framework.

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Today’s book: Capitalism for Realists: Virtues and Vices of the Modern Economy

Recommended and Discussed Books: Social Democratic Capitalism; Would Democratic Socialism Be Better?; In Defense of Openness: Why Global Freedom Is the Humane Solution to Global Poverty

Mike Rinder talks Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, and his own role in the highest ranks of the church.

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Mike Rinder’s book: A Billion Years: My Escape from a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology

Mike’s blog, Twitter, and YouTube

Mike’s recommendations: The Sociopath Next Door, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology, Blown for Good: Behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology, Counterfeit Dreams, Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard, and Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief

If you ar...

Jonathan Rauch describes the social norms and institutions that generate knowledge.

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Today’s book: The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth

Jonathan’s website, Twitter, and author page.

Braver Angels

Recommended works: The Logic of Scientific Discovery and The Open Society and Its Enemies by Karl Popper; The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt; Politics and the English language by George Orwell; Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media by Jacob Mchangama; HATE by Nadine Strossen

Jason Brennan argues for less democracy and less politics.

Today’s Book: Debating Democracy: Do We Need More or Less?

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Other books by Jason

Jason’s upcoming book: Democracy: A Guided Tour

Other discussed works: Uncivil Agreement; Democracy for Realists; Neither Liberal nor Conservative; The Case Against Education; I, Pencil

Jonathan Katz describes the economic motivations behind US interventions around the world.

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Today’s book: Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America's Empire

Jonathan Katz’s blog & Twitter

Jonathan Katz’s recommendations: Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump; and The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our World

Other books discussed: War is a Racket, by Smedley Butler; Overthrow; and The True Flag

Topics: Haiti, China...