Liberty Matters

Liberty and Civic Education

What is civic education, and why does it matter? Further, what constitutes civic education, and whose task should it be to ensure a nation's citizens are civically literate? These are the questions this edition of Liberty Matters hopes to explore, beginning with our lead essayist, David Davenport. Davenport will be joined by Mark Schug, Rachael Davison Humphries, and Lee Trepanier to discuss the fate of liberty and republicanism.

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Why We Don't Need a "New" History of Capitalism

Was a single industry – cotton – the primary driver of American economic development in the 19th century, and thus the basis of wealth today? This is the claim behind what have become known as the "New Histories of Capitalism." While the New York Times version is the most visible today, it has a long lineage. What's brought these economically suspect arguments back to the forefront of public discourse? Phil Magness leads this Liberty Matters discussion in a quest to answer these questions.

Did the American Colonies Pay Too High a Cost for Revolution? (August/September 2023)

If one leaves out petro-nations (e.g., Qatar, United Arab Emirates) and fiscal havens (e.g., Bermuda) from international rankings of income per person, one will find the United States at or near the top of the list (depending on the source used). For many, it is a short step to connect this causally to the American Revolution

Adam Smith's Emergent Rules of Justice (June/July 2023)

June 2023 marks the 300th anniversary of Adam Smith's birth. Celebrations of this tercentenary abound, notably at our sister site, AdamSmithWorks. Most often known as the father or modern economics, OLL readers know that Smith's thought was much broader than just that. In fact, political economy as we know it did not quite exist yet in Smith's time; Smith was in fact a professor of Moral Philosophy.