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In the last few years, there has been a big emphasis in entrepreneurship on “ lean ” startups. Being lean basically means avoiding unnecessary costs early in the development of a new venture, thus minimizing waste and reducing the negative effects of uncertainty. For example, a common lean strategy involves using consumers to test a limited run of

The BBC is running a tragic but fascinating article about political oppression under the Ceausescu regime in socialist Romania. The article tells the story of Carmen Bugan, whose father, Ion Bugan, was repeatedly spied on, arrested, and tortured for political dissent. Since 1999, the files of the Romanian secret police, the Securitate, have been

Memorial Day provides as good an opportunity as any to reflect on the horrendous and irreversible costs of war. For most people—and rightly so—the clearest costs are those in terms of human life, which is shattered both physically and psychologically. As John Denson writes, “In looking at the costs of war we must always keep in mind the reality

Volume 15, Number 1 (Spring 2012) This paper examines several problematic aspects of George Reisman’s Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics , specifically, five problems in the economics of natural resources. I argue first, that Reisman’s work lacks sufficient grounding in economic theory. Second, his exposition neglects important arguments in the

Volume 16, No. 2 (Summer 2013)   Authors,  Ekelund  and Price have produced an engrossing and informative study of the economic life and times of Edwin Chadwick. Scholars interested in economic policy and reform, the history of industrialization, and the history of economic thought will find much of interest here.   McCaffrey, Matthew. Review of

Volume 12, No. 2 (2009)   This paper seeks to explore and to critically evaluate, from an economic standpoint, Joseph  Schumpeter’s  theory of the decline of capitalism, as put forward in his  Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy . It begins by exploring and criticizing  Schumpeter’s  entrepreneurial theory, and then explains how this flawed

Volume 13, No. 4 (Winter 2010)   Much of what is contained within this book has more to do with developing a typology of various non-market institutions than explicitly developing theories of their more complex workings. In this sense, this volume serves as a useful bibliographic source for information on this emerging field of research, and the

Many teachers know that encouraging interest in the dismal science can be difficult because students often find economics abstract and, well, dismal. It’s basically a truism then that if economists want to engage students, we should use interesting and relatable examples. And more often than not, this means mining pop culture for teaching moments

The 100 th anniversary of the beginning of World War I seems like an ideal opportunity to spread a message of peace and economic cooperation; sadly, 2014 has so far been a year of new and renewed conflict far more than one of reconciliation. By now, talk of the horrors of war is nothing new. Everyone knows about the total destruction war brings;

  The Economist ran a good article last week about the enormous difficulty of being an entrepreneur. In particular, the piece emphasizes the importance of doing away with the mythology of entrepreneurship as a life of romance, adventure, and the heroic pursuit of greatness. In reality, entrepreneurship is grueling and unforgiving, and can destroy