Does a Fall in Unemployment Lead to Stronger Economic Growth?

For most economists and commentators, a strong labor market is the key driver of economic growth. The reduction in the number of unemployed people supposedly means that more individuals can afford to increase their spending on goods and services. As a result, according to such thinking, economic growth is likely to follow. This is based on the view that an increase in the demand and spending will trigger an increase in the supply.

Government Science Is an Oxymoron

Donald Trump has been criticized heavily for cutting federal funding of science. Opponents claim that his decision threatens to undermine American innovation, weaken the nation’s economy, and diminish its global influence. Yet the assumption behind these complaints is rarely examined. It is taken for granted that the government must play a central role in supporting science if society is to progress.

Tulipmania Reconsidered, Reconciling Austrian Perspectives

Few historical episodes loom as large in the popular imagination of speculative excess as the Dutch tulip bubble of the 1630s. Tulipmania has become shorthand for irrational exuberance, a warning invoked whenever asset prices seem untethered from reality. Yet, as Austrian writers have long pointed out, the caricature of sober Dutch burghers mortgaging their estates for flowers is misleading.

Steps in the Right Deerection

[A Balance of Titans by Ivan Eland. (Independent Institute, 2025; 150pp.)]

Ivan Eland has long been a figure of respect among those who favor a less aggressive foreign policy, and he is also outstanding in his ability to come up with bold and original arguments, not only in defense studies but also in constitutional interpretation. These qualities are much in evidence in his new book A Balance of Titans, and in what follows I’ll comment on a few points of interest.

Serfdom with Palm Trees

The belief that tourism “brings money into the country” and is therefore good for “the nation” is rooted in a persistent fallacy: mercantilism—the mistaken idea that money is wealth. From this confusion springs a host of destructive ideologies.