Ask ten libertarians for a definition of libertarianism, and one is likely to receive about ten different answers.

Indeed, libertarians have something of a reputation for internecine battles over who the “real” libertarians are.

Most of the world, however, couldn’t possibly care less about these battles over how to correctly slice and dice the different types of libertarians.

Editors Note: On Thursday, the ECB announced a new stimulus plan including:

India’s economy had an annual growth of 5.0 percent in the April-June quarter, the slowest in more than six years dragged down by weak consumer demand and private investments.

A Reuters poll of economists had forecast annual growth of 5.7 percent for April-June, compared with a 5.8 percent rise the previous quarter. For April-June 2018, India reported 8 percent growth.

Last year I commented about the risks for India here.

Since the end of the Cold War in 1990, US defense spending has increased 182 percent in nominal terms, and 44 percent in inflation-adjusted terms. In inflation-adjusted terms, defense spending is now about equal with the all-time peak reached in 2011, and the White House’s Office of Management and Budget estimates that defense spending will reach an all-time high in 2020.

In a world in which there are men and women who do not know to which sex they belong, it should not be surprising that there are corporate CEOs who do not know for whom they work.

Last month, the CEOs of 181 major corporations agreed that they no longer work simply for their stockholders but also for their “stakeholders,” (i.e., for everyone affected by their companies).

Trade tensions between the US and China continue to increase. In the penultimate drama in the conflict, Donald Trump has accused China of manipulating its currency to illegitimately increase its competitiveness, and the US government has officially designated China a “currency manipulator.” Accusations that the Chinese government engages in currency manipulation are not new.

This past week Trump’s Energy Department announced a relaxation of a set of light-bulb energy efficiency standards ( EISA ) first implemented under George W. Bush and finalized under Obama. The standards were set to go into full effect in January 2020 (eliminating incandescent versions of three-way bulbs, candle-shaped, globe-shaped and reflector bulbs).

I’m happy to announce that the 2018 collection The Economic Theory of Costs: Foundations and New Directions, is now available in paperback at a substantially reduced price (see the post announcing its original publication here). This collection includes contributions from both leading and up-and-coming scholars working in the Austrian tradition. The contributors include many of the senior faculty members of the Mises Institute, as well as many of the younger fellows.