Sven R Larson, Ph.D., has worked as a staff economist for think tanks and as an advisor to political campaigns. He is the author of several academic papers and books. His writings concentrate on the welfare state, how it causes economic stagnation, and the reforms needed to reduce the negative impact of big government. On Twitter, he is @S_R_Larson and he writes regularly at Larson’s Political Economy on Substack.
The Lost Cause of Libertarianism

The Lost Cause of Libertarianism

More than any other ideological current in the political landscape, libertarianism exhibits a phenomenal penchant for splinter-grouping. Today, they pitch a big tent shared by abortion advocates, drug legalizers, Rothbard-inspired anarcho-capitalists, and Ayn Rand objectivists.

February 11, 2022
Inflation Continues to Rise

Inflation Continues to Rise

The ECB predicts that for the first three months of 2022, euro-zone inflation will be 3.0%. With 5.1% in January, for their forecast to become reality, a sharp deceleration in consumer prices will have to take place in February and March.

February 10, 2022
Drawing the Lines for Cold War II

Drawing the Lines for Cold War II

Today’s Russia is not yesterday’s Soviet Union. What Putin does to his country is unacceptable, but unlike the leaders of the communist state of the last century, he does not have an ideology that compels him to eliminate the economic and political system of the West.

February 9, 2022
Boris Johnson’s Policy Chief Vows Return to Conservatism

Boris Johnson’s Policy Chief Vows Return to Conservatism

Griffith explains the prime minister’s agenda going forward: grow employment, tackle the NHS backlog, control borders, make streets safer, bring down the cost of living and cut taxes to let everyone keep more of their own money.

February 8, 2022
Demoting Life to a Moral Instrument

Demoting Life to a Moral Instrument

Government says that a person is not alive until deep into the pregnancy. The motive is instrumental: when we legally sever the beginning of life from conception, we allow for another moral value to be elevated above life itself. That moral value works as an ulterior motive for the legal definition of life.

February 4, 2022
Will U.S. Neocon Doctrine Destabilize Ukraine?

Will U.S. Neocon Doctrine Destabilize Ukraine?

Nobody knows the war hawks in Moscow better than the Ukrainians, living as they do in the ominous shadows of Putin’s birds of prey. But the Russians are not the only ones throwing war-stirring rhetoric around.

February 2, 2022
UK Prime Minister in Hot Water over Lockdown Parties

UK Prime Minister in Hot Water over Lockdown Parties

The revelations about Downing Street’s parties are beginning to have political consequences. Some legislators of Johnson’s own party “will push for a non-confidence vote” should it turn out that he lied to Parliament.

February 2, 2022
EU Economy Returns to Pre-Pandemic Levels

EU Economy Returns to Pre-Pandemic Levels

Despite the strong growth rates in the 4th quarter, the European economy has only barely recovered from the pandemic.

February 2, 2022
Putin-Orbán Meeting to Benefit Bilateral Ties

Putin-Orbán Meeting to Benefit Bilateral Ties

The meeting on February 1st between President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Moscow drew criticism beforehand from Orbán’s political opposition.

February 2, 2022
Government: A Drag on the European Economy

Government: A Drag on the European Economy

Government has a negative impact on the economy through spending, taxes, and its budget deficits. The most hard-hitting impact does not come through taxes, as conventional wisdom suggests, but through spending—spending governed by ideological preferences, which determine what money is spent, where, and when.

January 30, 2022
Right, Left, and Conservative

Right, Left, and Conservative

Of the three dominant types of welfare states, it is not easy to extract one that would be palatable to both social conservatives and social democrats—it is possible though. The path to a compromise can be found by navigating the dynamics between political methodology and political theory.

January 28, 2022
U.S. Senator: Germany has De Facto Left NATO

U.S. Senator: Germany has De Facto Left NATO

Referring to Germany’s refusal to let British aircraft fly military supplies through German air space, Senator Sasse suggested that the German government had returned to a pre-NATO situation. 

January 27, 2022