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My Mercatus Center colleague Veronique de Rugy and GMU Econ PhD candidate Adam Michel argue against the taxing burdens of cronyism.

Richard Vedder reviews, in the Wall Street Journal, Joel Mokyr’s new book.  A slice:

The spinning jenny, the use of coke in iron smelting, and the steam engine did not need Newton’s calculus, Harvey’s theory of the circulation of the blood, the heliocentric approach to astronomy or other scientific advances of the day. Deirdre McCloskey’s great “Bourgeois Equality” (2016) suggests it was ultimately liberty that made England’s leap forward so unique. Middle-class folks could increasingly engage in entrepreneurial activities without being stifled by the aristocracy or the state. It became first acceptable, then profitable, to have bourgeois virtues of thrift, hard work, ingenuity and even a bit of greed. Smart craftsmen invented simple but highly productive machines in this environment of freedom and the rule of law. That said, after the Industrial Revolution had passed (say after 1870), more sophisticated technological advances required the scientific foundation that Mr. Mokyr emphasizes.

Jeff Jacoby reflects on the likely fates and continuing agenda for those who remain in the Reagan wing of the Republican party.

Steve Landsburg understandably wonders why the U.S. has a Veterans Administration.

Leon Louw interviews Johannesburg’s new libertarian mayor.

Cathy Reisenwitz warns of the economic calamity that would be unleashed by trade policy à la Trump.

Bob Murphy ponders the forthcoming presidency of Trump.

Arnold Kling weighs in on some economists’ new-found fears of monopsony power in modern American labor markets – a fear that is, I believe, completely unjustified.

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