Journalist and author Joe Posnanski talks about his book, The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Posnanski explores the enduring fame of Houdini who remains an iconic cultural figure almost a century after his death.

I recently saw the musical Come From Away for the second time. It’s a musical about 9/11, when 38 planes were re-routed to a small town in Newfoundland, a town called Gander with a population of 9000 because US air space was closed. Suddenly, unexpectedly, 7000 people showed up needing a place to sleep and needing food and phones, love and kindness, and more.

European politicians seeking to rebuild their ravaged societies in the immediate aftermath of the second world war had their work cut out for them. The conflict had devastated the continent, leveling cities, destroying economies, and uprooting 40 million people. It had spawned a series of civil wars in which occupiers and collaborators fought resistance movements for control of soon-to-be liberated territories. 

In this essay I address the question of whether economic instruments such as tariffs, embargoes, quotas, capital controls, financial sanctions, or asset freezes can achieve national security goals—economic, political, or military—and thereby help avoid international conflict, or even preclude war. The connection between economics and national security is an ancient issue about which people have debated for a long time. Thucydides wrote about the Athenians sending out ships to collect money to finance battles, but the very act of collecting money under force could be counterproductive and lead to war.