Anne Rathbone Bradley

A new book explores the long evolution of the free market economy, arguing it is more myth than fact. The problem is: The author is no economist, and so his facts are more myth than reality. Free Market: The History of an Idea by Jacob Soll, a professor of history, philosophy, and accounting, attempts to trace…

An obscure maritime law hit the news recently because of catastrophic weather and its consequences. Let’s hope we never have to hear about it again. Just a few years ago, very few people knew or discussed the Jones Act. Now everyone is talking about it. In a colossal but somewhat predictable fiasco, while Puerto Rico…

To bring down the inflation rate from the highest levels in 41 years, the federal government will have to reverse two of its proximate causes: excessive government spending and loose monetary policy. Today’s inflation crisis party has its roots in the coronavirus pandemic, which created supply chain blockages, manufacturing stops and starts, and wildly volatile changes in consumer…

Had U.S. baby formula producers not been protected from foreign competition, there would have been many more options available to parents when one lab became contaminated. And a 70-year-old wartime act would have remained a trivia question. The world is an economics classroom if we allow ourselves to learn from it. Every day we’re bombarded…

Between raging inflation and declining markets, consumers have much to worry about. What they shouldn’t worry about is whether there are answers at hand. Some new books provide hope. f you attended Acton University, you saw the treasure trove of books for sale. Several of those books made it onto both my credit card and my…

It’s easier to scream about Big Oil profits and greed than it is to fix the problems that underlie runaway inflation and clogged supply chains. It’s time we make hard choices and forgo feel-good rhetoric. Yesterday, Democrats successfully but narrowly passed an anti–price gouging bill in the House to address raging prices at the pump and to…

The reason that socialism does not work in the long run—there are a couple of reasons: who are we as human beings, what are we capable of, and what are we not capable of. So I think it comes down to anthropology and economics. Read more at TIFWE

Cryptocurrency provides an exciting alternative to national currency as a decentralized alternative to fiat notes, but it’s no silver bullet. For those who’ve heard the word a lot but are still not sure what it means, cryptocurrency is a digital asset used to make purchases. It operates using a computer network, often a blockchain, a shared ledger…

What is capitalism? Capitalism is a word that I don’t like. You might say, “Wow, that’s silly because it’s on the front cover of your book.” In fact, when we were thinking about the book, I said, “I don’t think we should use the word ‘capitalism.’” But the whole point is that people are starting to…

A grasp of how basic economics contributes to human flourishing in astonishing ways gives the so-called dismal science a whole new luster. I have never been to an event or cocktail party where raising the issue of economic efficiency engendered a particularly emotional discussion or any level of enthusiasm. I have never been to a…