Is ‘social justice’ a valid concept for assessing society’s rules and norms? Or does it enable injustice, coercion, and wrongdoing? Contributors weigh in, offering insights on the right to opt out; the nature of Western justice; the moral implications of rent-seeking narratives; Hayek versus Rawls; Aristotle and Aquinas on civil society; social justice’s nominalism problem; social gains from trade; unfair societal rules, and more.

David Theroux, founder of the Independent Institute, was a serious intellectual, an enterprising organizer, and an old-fashioned gentleman of the first order. His life was centered on the idea that mankind is made for self-government. Also in this issue: the advantages of health care price transparency; Where does the fascism of Mussolini's Italy fall in the spectrum of political doctrines?; In Memoriam: Richard Stroup; here Do the Poorest Americans Stand in the Income Distribution among All People Ever Born?; and more!

The 1619 Project is a brazen polemical work that takes its cues from Marxist-leaning historians who grossly misrepresent history in order to render the modern financial industry a direct lineal descendant of slavery. Also in this issue: better systems for wildlife management, Russo-Soviet interpretations of the works of John Maynard Keynes, Roger Donway on Crony capitalism, a limited defense of factory farming, and more.

In this issue of “The Independent Review,” Alexander Rawls—the son of philosopher John Rawls—argues that the theory of “justice as fairness” does not adequately handle the question of what people actually deserve. The best a society can hope for is a set of rules that create conventions of property rights and predictable order. A theory of justice that ignores the costs of adjudicating disputes is simply an invitation to rent-seeking. This issue also contains articles from three prominent young philosophers assessing Alexander Rawls’ insights into his father's work. 

2021 marks the twentieth anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the U.S. government’s subsequent “war on terror.” This symposium explores some of the ways the government’s response has changed American life since then. The articles make it very clear that the costs of the war have been high and the consequences have been significant in areas including foreign relations, domestic policing, immigration policy, and domestic extremism.

Symopsium on Populism, Self-Government, and Liberty: “The Impossibility of Populism,” “Populism: Promises and Problems,” “American Populism in the Early Twenty-First Century: Constitutional Resistance to the New Class,” and more.  Plus “Walter E. Williams: Scholar, Teacher, and Public Intellectual”, “The Cause of the Great Depression: The Decision to Resume the Gold Standard on Prewar Terms.” Plus 23 book reviews.

Virus and Leviathan: Symposium on Public Health and Policy in a Free Society: "Economics, COVID-19, and the Entangled Political Economy of Public Health", "The Origins and Political Persistence of COVID-19 Lockdowns", "Voluntary Responses to COVID-19-Related Epidemic Externalities" and more.  Also: Free-Speech Rights versusProperty and Privacy Rights, Italy’s Season of Economic Liberalism, and The Complex Relationship between Democracy and Freedom.

Political Economy of Great Literature: Aristophanes’s The Clouds; Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe; Manzoni’s The Betrothed; Tolstoy’s War and Peace; Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin; Ellison’s Invisible Man. The works of Austen, Conrad, Kafka, & O’Connor. Plus: Wikipedia vs. Supply-Side Economics. Books reviewed: The Breakdown of Higher Education, by John D. Ellis; Unjust: Social Justice and the Unmaking of America, by Noah Rothman

Police unions versus officer accountability. Crusaders and opportunists unite to regulate Italy’s digital economy. Fixing Spencer’s principle of equal freedom. Why polycentrism matters for free societies. U.S. education needs more autonomy. Failures of central bank monopolies. Withdrawing consent as a defense against domination. How dispersed groups provided collective security. The world’s most innovative governance communities.

In this Issue: Why high-school history textbooks ignore eugenics and scientific racism. Privatization of U.S. offshore resources. Public pensions and fiscal religion. Frictions in the marketplace of ideas. Classical economics and market coordination. Adam Smith on moral philosophy and slavery. The welfare state crowds out government basics. Rise of the taking class. Polling about the next 50 years. Senator Warren’s flip-flops.

Classic works of political economy endure because they engage our critical faculties and compel us to think deeply about topics of lasting significance, often in ways foreign to current orthodoxy. Along with insights about Adam Smith, Keynes, Malthus, Marx, Mises, Hayek, and more, this issue features numerous reviews of important new books.

Evolution of “orthodoxy” in economics: from Adam Smith to Paul Samuelson; Hayek’s alternative to Universal Basic Income; Coolidge and the Great Depression; Popper’s piecemeal social engineering;  Remembering Robert Nelson;  The exploitation of labor and other union myths; Will populism kill globalization?;  10 Book reviews

Why is India a flailing state?; Berlin’s forgotten anarchist tabloid; Latin American populism; Why Native American reservations are poor; Understanding the shale boom; Remembering Harold Demsetz; Rescuing history from anti-economists; Why politicians should act on principle; Safe spaces in American politics;  Participatory fascism and popular legitimacy.

Private charity has tremendous but often neglected potential for advancing the general welfare in a free society. The symposium, “Exploring the Philanthropic Landscape,” sheds new light on a variety of contested issues related to charitable giving, comparative institutions, how government does or does not incentivize giving. Also in this issue: The philosophical origins of political correctness; Parallels of money and morality; Restructuring the House of Representatives. Plus four book reviews.

“The Road to Crony Capitalism.” Is crony capitalism endemic to the U.S. economy? This in-depth analysis examines the history of crony capitalism in America and whether free-market economies tend to lapse into cronyism and what measures, if any, could fix the problem.  Also in this issue: Antitrust in the 21st century, The late Leland Yeager,  Stephen Margolis’s contributions to economics and political economy, and Robert Higgs on the worlds of politics and nonpolitics. Plus eight book reviews.

Symposium: Gordon Tullock’s Legacy, Tullock as Praxeologist and Natural-Born Misesian, Tullock’s Scholarly Legacy: Extracting It from Buchanan’s Shadow, Tullock’s Critique of the Common Law, Tullock on Inequality and Redistribution. Also in this issue: Coase’s Theorem Applied to Markets and Government. Why the Worst Get on Top: Corruption in Democracies. Best Cases of “Actually Existing Socialism”. What Is “Actually Existing Socialism”?

Symposium on Drones: Consumer privacy in the age of drones, rules for preventing airspace conflicts, lethal use of drones, fighting terrorism with mechanized terror. Also in this issue: U.S. war-making propaganda and public choice. Explaining the National Industrial Recovery Act. China's next 10 years. Inequality and economic well-being. Gene Sharp's research paradigm for non-violence. Orwell's 'The Road to Wigan Pier'. Feedback and correction in government and the marketplace.

Blockchain innovations such as Bitcoin can foster peer-to-peer trust without the need for a third-party enforcer, including private alternatives to traditional government services.  Also in this issue: Rise of the regulatory state and the decline of markets for blood. Government incentives gone wrong. Wicksell’s influence on Buchanan and public choice economics. Is support for capitalism declining around the world? The forgotten man (and woman) on the fiscal commons. Fundamental problems with Piketty’s ‘Capital in the Twenty-First Century’. Forgotten lessons of great economists. Ideology and political divisiveness. Book review topics: The case against cash. Life in the Soviet police state. American bureaucracy. How employers rule our lives. Taxpayer pride. Political economy of public debt. Government insiders vs. the public interest.

The debate over immigration dominates today's headlines. Is immigration a source of economic growth, or does it push down wages? What are the political consequences of immigration? The Independent Review’s symposium on immigration examines these important questions.

This Fall is the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution of the Bolsheviks in Russia. Our Fall issue considers the history of the revolution and the ways in which it shaped the rest of the twentieth century. Why did the Bolsheviks gain control of Russia? How did communism affect Russia’s economic development? How did it change the lives of the Russian people? How did it affect the rest of the world? What can we learn from the revolution a century later? Pick up this issue of The Independent Review for thoughtful answers to these questions and more. 

Modern egalitarianism is deeply at odds with the American Founders’ view of human equality. How did these conflicting doctrines arise? What are their implications for the entitlements crisis? Does ‘brute luck’ make the case for wealth redistribution? Can social capital be redistributed equally? Is the New Egalitarianism elitist? Can Rawls and Hayek be reconciled? What kind of society best fosters economic and social well-being for all? For insights, see our Symposium on Egalitarianism in the Summer 2017 issue of The Independent Review.

Hamilton: An American Musical, the smash-hit Broadway show, tells a compelling tale about the first Treasury Secretary of the United States. The Spring 2017 issue of The Independent Review features a symposium about Hamilton and its potential impact on our political culture. Our contributors explore: the political uses of mythmaking about the American Founders, whether or not great art can also be great history, Hamilton’s fitness as a hero for our own age, and Hamilton’s legacy for U.S. financial history. The symposium closes with an economic historian’s critique of Hamilton the musical—in verse. Rounding out the Spring issue are articles about Canada’s economic transformation, political dysfunction and constitutional drift, the weakening of property rights in North Carolina, George Gilder’s take on where Wall Street went wrong—and six insightful book reviews.

The spiritual leader of the 1.2 billion Catholics in the world, Pope Francis may be the most influential person on earth. His call for an open conversation about the economy, the environment, and the destiny of the world is the inspiration for our special symposium in the Winter 2017 issue of The Independent Review. Also: articles about monetary rules and Thomas Piketty's view of Jane Austen.

Contributors debate intervention in US foreign policy: How should libertarians look at foreign policy? Should the United States intervene against ISIS? Why economics makes a case for not intervening abroad. What would the US military look like if US foreign policy was more restrained? Liberal hegemony is actually illiberal. Also in this issue: What can we learn from comparing Sweden and Switzerland's fiscal policies? Will China face the same economic decline as Japan did? Can the state enforce virtue? 6 book reviews.

Millennials can expect to receive much less for their tax dollars than have earlier generations, especially during their retirement years, largely due to the policy choices made by their elders. Also in this issue: Historians assessing the Harding presidency have focused too much on its scandals; The Buchanan Committee also used congressional powers to investigate political dissidents; John Stuart Mill’s political commitment was not to free-market liberalism but to socialism; U.S. drug policies in Afghanistan have undermined the goals of the war on terror; Faith in government problem-solving goes unexamined; Reflections on Douglass C. North; Book reviews

Can bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies replace government-issued monies? To do so, they must overcome several obstacles, including the lack of financial intermediaries whose liabilities are denominated in cryptocurrencies and circulate as media of exchange. Also in this issue: How tenement reform made the urban-housing problem worse. How 19th century trade restrictions led to the War on Drugs. Cuba after the Castro brothers. Regime uncertainty and the Great Recession.  Tools for cutting back government regulation. Why the standard economic model survives bad performance. Plus reviews of books on: Why the Olympics and World Cup create economic disasters for host cities. Why ‘happiness’ research shouldn’t guide public policy. The Austrian School of Economics. An alternative history of American charity. The forgotten depression of 1921. Occupational regulation. US alliances with authoritarian regimes. Debt and the entitlement crisis. 


The Future of the Economy: 19 contributors make predictions about regulation, entitlements, the sharing economy, bitcoin, the connected home, business cycles, self-fulfilling prophecies, pessimistic optimism, American liberty, and more.  Also in this issue: Alternatives to the FDIC, and Mises and Hildebrand: Remarkable Parallels. Books reviewed: How China Became Capitalist (R. Coase & N. Ning); Wealth, Poverty and Politics (T. Sowell); The Fair Trade Scandal (N. Sylla); The Hobbit Party (J. Witt & J. Richard); Asteroid Mining 101 (J. Lewis); Does Altruism Exist? (D. Wilson); The Leadership Crisis and the Free Market Cure (J. Allison); The End of Socialism (J. Otteson).

Governments have created an artificial boom in climate science with the objective of promoting a singular hypotheses to describe global climate phenomena. Also in this issue: Dodd-Frank created government entities whose powers may be setting the stage for even worse problems with the financial system. China’s 20th century population growth due to government meddling. Many classes in “critical thinking” are a brand of social criticism that rejects traditional Western critical thinking. Why technological innovation benefits workers. Donald Boudreaux exposes flaws in Piketty’s bestseller. Robert Higgs on the cost of regulatory red tape. Books reviewed: Conscience and Its Enemies; Money, Banking, and the Business Cycle; Suicide Pact; How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life; Why Not Capitalism?; A Troublesome Inheritance; We Are Better Than This.

Anthony de Jasay may be the most important theorist you’ve never heard of. In scores of books and articles, he’s challenged common assumptions about the state, social justice, and collectivism. In this issue, six scholars explore his path-breaking ideas on: alternatives to the state, the limits of constitutions, and spontaneous order. Also in this issue: cultural change and its beneficiaries; the Federal Reserve’s “independence”; remembrances of Leonard Liggio and Henry Manne; and the economic case against “gross domestic product.” Plus reviews of recent books by: Thomas Piketty, Timothy Roth, Wayne Gruden, Barry Asmus, Richard Timberlake, and Anthony de Jasay.

Basic-income guarantees were first debated decades ago, but renewed discussion is underway. Four scholars offer opposing perspectives on this controversial idea. Also in this issue: Why Anglo-American historians writing about Hitler’s Germany avoid the term “National Socialist”. The case against defending a libertarian society with a Rawlsian framework. How economists can convince the public to reject price controls even during disasters. What made the late Gordon Tullock so great. Plus reviews of books about Edward Snowden, the U.S. Constitution, the politics of banking crises, the imperial presidency, and the social order of American prison gangs.

Summer 2022

Spring 2022

Winter 2021/22

Fall 2021

Summer 2021

Spring 2021

Winter 2020/21

Fall 2020

Summer 2020

Spring 2020

Winter 2019/20

Fall 2019

Summer 2019

Spring 2019

Winter 2018/19

Fall 2018

The Independent Review is the acclaimed interdisciplinary journal devoted to the study of political economy and the critical analysis of government policy. The Independent Review is thoroughly researched, peer-reviewed, and based on scholarship of the highest caliber. However, unlike so many other journals, it is also provocative, lucid, and written in an engaging style. Ranging across the fields of economics, political science, law, history, philosophy, and sociology, The Independent Review boldly challenges the politicization and bureaucratization of our world, featuring in-depth examinations of past, present, and future policy issues by some of the world's leading scholars and experts.

Undaunted and uncompromising, this is the journal that is pioneering future debate!

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