Economist and author Don Boudreaux of George Mason University discusses the life and work of the economist James Buchanan with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Buchanan received the Nobel Prize in 1986 for his work creating and developing public choice--the field which applies the tools of economics to politicians and political behavior. After discussing the importance of public choice, Boudreaux and Roberts focus on two contrarian articles of Buchanan's where he argues for the importance of markets and life as processes rather than problems to be solved analytically.

California's electric power: from opportunity through crisis to blight.

In the final episode of the series for 2020, Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, H. R. McMaster, and John Cochrane reflect on lessons learned from the pandemic, Donald Trump’s future, the ruinous state of the Golden State, how society will differ in 2021, plus what gets them through their daily routines—a mixtape of UK punk, Philly-brand funk, and the soothing sounds of “Sweet Baby James” Taylor.

The Manhattan Institute hosted a banquet in New York City in honor of John Taylor, the George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution and the Mary and Robert Raymond Professor of Economics at Stanford University, who has been named this year’s recipient of the prestigious Hayek Prize for his book First Principles: Five Keys to Restoring America’s Prosperity (W.W. Norton 2012). “The Hayek Prize, which carries an award of $50,000, is one of the country's most significant book awards. It was established by the Manhattan Institute to recognize a work published within the previous two years that best reflects F.A. Hayek's vision of personal liberty and economic freedom,” stated James Piereson, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, chairman of the Hayek Prize Committee and president of the William E. Simon Foundation.

The congressional addiction to pork—and how the president can force the Hill to kick the habit. A primer by James C. Miller III.

A new military command takes a broad, sophisticated view of the U.S. role in a neglected continent. Its job won’t be easy. By James J. Hentz.

Erik Erlandson, a 2015 Silas Palmer Fellow and doctoral candidate in history at the University of Virginia, researches the political, legal, and economic developments that led to the White House becoming head overseer of regulatory policy. Using the James C. Miller papers at Hoover Archives, Erlandson is completing a dissertation that uncovers the first attempts by executive offices to affect bureaucratic decision-making, and shows how and why these new uses of executive power were legally ratified and politically institutionalized on the eve of the Reagan Revolution.

Glenn Hubbard, dean and Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics at Columbia Business School, reviewed his recent book with Tim Kane, Balance: The Economics of Great Powers from Ancient Rome to Modern America. 

A History Working Group seminar with Kyle Harper.