Alberto Mingardi wrestles with the question of why intellectuals hate free markets: here, here, and here.
More broadly, Hal Gershowitz and Stephen Porter lament the demise of the respect for truth. (HT Steve Hardy)
Diane Coyle likes the new biography of the under-appreciated Edith Penrose. (HT Tyler Cowen)
Dan Mitchell explains that the U.S. government’s greed for tax revenues is a royal pain.
Tom Grennes continues to fight the good fight against the cronyist and protectionist Jones Act.
The great Sheldon Richman is correct that nothing about populist authoritarianism is rooted in, or is inspired by, libertarianism. Here’s Sheldon’s opening paragraph:
I am mystified by the claim that the long-standing libertarian critique of democracy furnishes aid and comfort to conservatives who display a taste for populist authoritarianism. Let me say at the outset that the libertarian critique has nothing to offer those who would impose legal or social disabilities on racial, ethnic, religious, and other minorities. If white supremacists see something helpful here, they are mere opportunists who would find something helpful to their cause in anything they looked at.
