Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Intro to Economics

February 14, 2017

When Nixon tried to control prices

Note: This is post #21 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. President Nixon had a problem—inflation was out of control. So in 1971 he attempted to implement a drastic solution: he declared price increases illegal. Continue Reading...
February 07, 2017

Can prices predict the future?

Note: This is post #20 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. Prices can convey information about events. But can they even predict the future? Can we predict Middle East politics based on the price of oil futures? Continue Reading...
January 31, 2017

Is economic speculation immoral?

Note: This is post #19 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. Speculation is often considered to be morally dubious. But, can speculation actually be useful to the market process? Continue Reading...
January 24, 2017

How information and incentives solve economic problems

Note: This is post #18 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. To solve economic problems we need to solve information and incentive problems. In this video, Alex Tabarrok looks at how Nobel Prize-winner Friedrich Hayek described the price system and its approach to solving the information problem. Continue Reading...
January 17, 2017

The great economic problem

Note: This is post #17 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. How does the price of oil affect the price of candy bars? When the price of oil increases, it is of course more expensive to transport goods, like candy bars. Continue Reading...
January 10, 2017

How markets link the world

Note: This is post #16 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. Ten years ago this week, Apple unveiled the iPhone. It’s a product that was designed in California and produced by thousands of people all over the world. Continue Reading...
January 03, 2017

A price is a signal wrapped up in an incentive

Note: This is post #15 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. The price system allows for people with dispersed knowledge and information to coordinate global economic activity. The global production of roses, for example, reveals how the price system is emergent, and not the product of human design. Continue Reading...
December 13, 2016

A ‘Pinocchio’ Rating for Pope Francis

Sandro Magister, Vatican correspondent for L’Espresso, notes in his Italian blog a recent TV program that “fact checks” the pope’s economics. Here’s a translation of the blog post: In his speeches Pope Francis often puts forth original theories of dubious foundations but that, for him, are of unshakable certainty and explain everything. Continue Reading...