Essays & News

Why free markets do not impoverish the poor Valeria Lucia Rios Sánchez Abstract The following essay analyzes one of the most controversial debates: the idea that the rich become richer at the expense of the poor. Drawing on the contributions of Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, and Israel Kirzner, the essay refutes this notion by […]

Who exploits whom? Spain’s welfare state and the return of zero-sum politics Andrés Ruiz Benito ABSTRACT Public debate increasingly frames inequality as a zero-sum process: “the poor get poorer because the rich get richer”. Proper economic theory rejects this inference for competitive markets, where voluntary exchange and entrepreneurship can expand output and allow gains to […]

Dinner for One, served by the poor? How our micro-cosmic intuitions mislead us in a macro-cosmic world Vincent Czyrnik   ABSTRACT This essay uses the familiar New Year’s Eve sketch Dinner for One as an entry point to examine a central question in political economy: why do widespread perceptions of injustice persist despite historically unparalleled […]

  Gottfried von Haberler’s contributions to international trade theory and policy have been disruptive and yet the works written by one of most prominent Austrian economists are unfairly undervalued when analysing modern events in world economy, such as the “new protectionism”. Gottfried von Haberler’s theory remains a cornerstone of modern international trade. His simple and […]

  At the Munich Security Conference, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz delivered a remarkable speech. In many respects, it was refreshing and stood out positively from the lukewarm and uninspired addresses of the past two decades. As expected at Munich, he focused on foreign and security policy, European cohesion and transatlantic relations. Notably, he projected a […]