The power and importance of Aksum were paralleled by no other African civilization during the period of its existence besides Egypt writes Ibrahim Anoba in his latest installment of Ancient African economies. 

The American welfare state is expensive, of limited efficacy, and crowds out better options for alleviating poverty.

Euphemisms tend to serve as signals of political-tribal membership, but also as means to convince ambivalent voters to support one policy or the other.

Engaged buddhists too often lean progressive because they don’t understand the fundamental nature of the state that they rely on.    

There are two sides to every economic exchange, and regulations that affect one necessarily affect the other.

Sidney Parker’s thoroughgoing Stirnerite individualism set him outside and against all political and moral ideologies.

Many young conservatives favor markets and reject social intolerance without embracing an ideologically libertarian position.

Not all arguments in support of free speech are good ones.

When the American revolutionaries declared their independence, it was founded on a solid thousand years of English history.

For the Ostroms, the key insight was that we need to find ways to encourage collective action so as to avoid the need for coercion.

In an economic system characterized by consumer sovereignty, people’s values determine the outcomes markets deliver.

The common slogan that we must “get money out of politics”, when referring to campaign finance laws, has it backwards.

Krugman’s analysis of a 70% marginal tax rate forgets about consumer surplus, deadweight loss, & the difference between marginal & total value.

Anoba’s second of three pieces covers Egypt’s powerful southern neighbor(s): Nubia and Kush.

The paternalistic welfare state has failed to create a reliable social safety net. Decentralized, voluntary institutions can do the job better.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with mixing our social lives with business. The devil’s in the details.