Center for the Study of Economic Liberty

Islam, Markets and Freedom

Today, the Muslim world, a large part of the globe stretching from Morocco to Indonesia, is far from being the leading civilization in science and technology, or in political freedom and human rights. But that was exactly what it was a thousand years ago, when the medieval Islamic civilization was the home to the world’s greatest libraries, philosophers, inventors. It also offered more freedom than most of its contemporaries, including Christendom, which is why it attracted persecuted minorities such as Jews.

Mustafa Akyol calls this past era the medieval Islamic Enlightenment, and traces its roots to intellectual and economic openness: Muslims were open to discussing all ideas, including Greek philosophy, and they were open to free trade, the very profession of the Prophet Muhammad. Hence they were able to develop a robust Islamic capitalism, which had little-known impacts on Europe, but fatefully declined later in Islam itself.

It is a history which offers lessons for the future: To revitalize their civilization, what Muslims need is more openness to new ideas, and more openness to free markets.

Mustafa Akyol joins us, from The Cato Institute , Thursday, April 18, 2024 at 5 p.m. AZ MST on the ASU Tempe campus.

Registration required. Register now at specialevents.asu.edu/islammarketsfreedom.

Taxes Have Consequences

Since the United States adopted the income tax in 1913, the relationship between this tax and the fate of the economy has been clear. When tax rates have gone up, the rich have gotten less rich; they have sheltered their incomes from taxation; and the economy has faltered. The reverse has happened when tax rates have gone down: the rich have gotten richer as they sheltered less and the economy improved. The Laffer curve — proposing that a tax-rate cut can lose revenue — has been a mainstay in American economic accounts at the top echelons of income for the entire history of the income tax.

Join Brian Domitrovic, from the Laffer Center, Tuesday, March 12, 2024 at 5 p.m. AZ MST on the ASU Tempe campus.

Registration required. Register now at specialevents.asu.edu/taxeshaveconsequences.

Arizona State University (ASU - Tempe) seeks applications for a one-year postdoctoral research scholar in Economic Thought, located in the Center for the Study of Economic Liberty (CSEL) and the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership (SCETL). This position has an anticipated start of July 1, 2024.

Relevant fields include History of Economic Thought; Philosophy, Politics and Economics; and Constitutional Political Economy. The person hired would also have the opportunity to be involved in research related to CSEL’s Doing Business project, examining business regulations across the life-cycle of business (dbna.asu.edu).

Description: The ideal candidate will develop their own research, in addition to contributing to ongoing research of faculty mentor(s) within CSEL and SCETL. The postdoc may also have opportunities to teach in SCETL. Possible research topics include: history of economic thought; philosophy, politics and economics; and constitutional political economy. Strong writing skills, an ongoing independent research agenda and a record of presenting at national and international conferences are strongly desired. We anticipate that the postdoc will be an active participant in workshops, conferences and events at CSEL and SCETL.

This is a full time (1.0), non-tenure-track, benefits-eligible, fiscal year (July 1 – June 30) position for one-year with the potential for renewal based on funding and performance.

Salary is $70,000.

Application Deadline and Procedure: The application deadline is March 16, 2024; if not filled, review will continue every two weeks thereafter until search is closed. Applications will be accepted through Interfolio, at: apply.interfolio.com/140231

Apply - Interfolio

Black Liberation Through the Marketplace

If we face America’s racial history squarely, will it mean that the American project is a failure? Conversely, if we think the American project is a worthy endeavor, do we have to lie, downplay, or equivocate about our past?

In this book, we use the classical liberal lens to ask Americans on the political right to seriously reckon with America’s deep racial pain — much of which arises from violations of rights that conservatives say they deeply value, such as property rights, freedom of contract and the protection of the rule of law. We ask those on the left to take a hard look at the failed paternalism, and in some cases, thoroughgoing racism of past progressive policy. All Americans are asked to apply their concern for individual rights and constitutional order fairly to our historical record. What readers will find are deep injustices against black Americans. But they will also find black entrepreneurs overcoming amazing obstacles and a black community that has created flourishing institutions and culture.

Exhausted by extremism on both left and right, a majority of Americans — black and white — love this country and want to do right by all of its citizens. In Black Liberation Through the Marketplace, readers will come away with a better understanding of black history and creative ideas for how to make this nation truly one with liberty and justice for all.

Join Rachel Ferguson, from Concordia University Chicago, TODAY, Tuesday, February 6, 2024 at 5 p.m. AZ MST on the ASU Tempe campus.

Registration required. Register now at specialevents.asu.edu/blackliberation

Tamales and Economic Liberty

A record 1.2 million minority-owned businesses are operating in the U.S. Succeeding as an entrepreneur is tough, 20% fail in the first year, but minorities have an even steeper hill to climb. Income inequality, limited access to loans, and other biases leads to a lack of capital needed to start businesses and survive the early years in the red. A recent study shows that Arizona is the No. 32 best state for minority entrepreneurs to succeed with minorities owning 15.6% of all Arizona businesses and 18.2% of startups under two years old.

The holiday season is filled with food traditions and the Mexican tamale is a regional favorite in Arizona. Rich in tradition, tamales evoke family, ritual and cherished memories in most Hispanic cultures. While eaten year-round, tamales are truly celebrated during the holiday season when families come together to make huge batches of them to share or exchange. This part of Mexican culture has also turned some migrant families into entrepreneurs.

In 2023, the Arizona State Legislature passed HB2509 with bipartisan support. The bill, dubbed the "tamale bill", would have relaxed the rules around food products Arizonans can make in their own kitchens to sell. The bill was ultimately vetoed by Governor Hobbs in April.

While the tamale bill was just one way to remove barriers for entrepreneurs in Arizona, Elvia Díaz — Editorial Page Editor at the Arizona Republic — will sit down with Rep. Alma Hernandez and Speaker Pro Tempore Travis Grantham to discuss how we can create avenues to opportunity for the Arizona Hispanic community and improve the climate for minority entrepreneurship in Arizona.

Tuesday, November 14, 2023
5–6:30 p.m. AZ MST
Memorial Union 230, Pima Auditorium

Register now: specialevents.asu.edu/tamales

The Avenues to Opportunity (A2O) Conference is just six weeks away. Take advantage of our discounted rates before it's too late!

Early bird rates end Friday, October 20.

Rooted on the idea of our Doing Business North America (DBNA) report, the A2O Conference is a one-day policy conference focusing on how to remove the barriers entrepreneurs face and provide a context for thinking about policy reform to advance human betterment and contribute to the understanding of which regulatory environments can produce the best economic outcomes for the largest number of people.

Register now: specialevents.asu.edu/a2o.

Freedom’s Furies: How Three American Women Transformed the Politics of Freedom

In 1943 — in the midst of the Great Depression and World War II — three books appeared that forever changed how Americans thought about freedom, all written by remarkable women. Together, Isabel Paterson’s “The God of the Machine,” Rose Wilder Lane’s “The Discovery of Freedom,” and Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead” laid the groundwork for the modern libertarian movement.

Even more striking were the lives of these authors: Paterson, the brilliant but misanthropic journalist whose weekly column made her one of the nation’s foremost literary critics; Lane, a restless writer who secretly coauthored the “Little House on the Prairie” novels with her mother; and Rand, a philosophically inclined Russian immigrant ferociously devoted to heroic individualism. Working against the backdrop of dramatic changes in literature and politics, they joined forces to rally the nation to the principles of freedom that had come under attack at home and abroad. Sometimes friends, at other times bitterly estranged, they became known as “the three furies” of liberty.

Timothy Sandefur’s book “Freedom’s Furies” tells the dramatic story of the lives, ideas and influences of these fascinating women. And in this special presentation, he will examine their literary, political and cultural influences, and explore how these three writers helped that shape the destiny of freedom in America.

Join Timothy Sandefur , from the Goldwater Institute, on Tuesday, October 17, 2023 at 5 p.m. AZ MST on the ASU Tempe campus.

Registration required. Register now at specialevents.asu.edu/freedomsfuries

A Doing Business North America (DBNA) Case Study: The Cost, Time and Procedures for Filing LLC Applications and Sub-optimal Corporate Models for Startups

Limited Liability Corporations (LLCs) offer an attractive middle ground between pass-through entities and traditional corporations for liability protection and tax advantages. However, excessive costs in time and money limit their appeal and push entrepreneurs into business structures that are unsuited for their business type. State and local governments can make LLCs more attractive as a business model by reducing costs, processing times, and the number of procedures for LLC incorporation.

Learn more: csel.asu.edu/research/publications/April-2023-research-note

Our spring semester's 'Perspectives on Economic Liberty' series may have concluded but all the lectures are now posted to our YouTube channel.

Center for the Study of Economic Liberty - YouTube The Center for the Study of Economic Liberty, a joint endeavor of the W.P. Carey School of Business and the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadersh...

Today we release the 4th edition 2022 report of our signature Doing Business North America (DBNA) report!

Salt Lake City Government came out on top in the overall Ease of Doing Business rankings with a score of 84.325.

The Ease of Doing Business Score focuses on the regulatory burdens a small- to medium-sized business would face from the birth of the business to the death of the business in cities across the United States.

Visit dbna.asu.edu website to download the full raw dataset.
Questions? Email [email protected].

cc: Salt Lake Chamber

How Markets Might Solve Colorado River Water Shortages

Ongoing drought in the Colorado Basin presents severe challenges for addressing water shortfalls. This region is one of the most rapidly growing in the country; has some of the country’s most valuable agricultural production and is known for exciting recreation opportunities and natural resource splendors.

The 1922 Colorado River Compact divided river flows among Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Over time those divisions no longer address relative demand and supply and there is a need to reallocate and conserve water. The question is how to do that. Government mandates and financing are proposed as solutions. These are arbitrary, lack information on comparative values and costs, do not encourage compliance and create lobby pressure as well as political and bureaucratic incentives that have little tie to the value of water across different uses and locations. They are likely to be costly but unlikely to be successful.

Much more promising are arrangements that build on incentives to move and conserve water. These include encouraging water markets within and across states; compensating communities that will lose water and bear broad costs and encouraging tiered urban pricing whereby once basic water requirements are met with low prices, charges rise rapidly with increases in use. These arrangements promote water movement to its highest valued uses within and across states; reduce reliance on costly new infrastructure; compensate those areas that must give up traditional water uses and advance voluntary water conservation according to its values in urban areas. Only by enlisting the incentives of those directly involved in implementing needed changes in the supply and demand for water can the challenges facing the Colorado River Basin be addressed effectively.

Join Gary Libecap, from UC Santa Barbara, on Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at 5 p.m. AZ MST on the ASU Tempe campus.

Registration required. Register now at specialevents.asu.edu/watershortages

COMING SOON!

Doing Business North America
4th edition 2022 report

Visit dbna.asu.edu to learn more about the previous 3rd edition 2021 report.



cc:
Arizona State University
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership
W. P. Carey School of Business - ASU

Sugar Rush?: Evaluating the Effect of the Super Bowl on Phoenix’s Economy

The Super Bowl and other one-off sporting events are unlikely to benefit City of Glendale, Arizona - Government small businesses and economy in the long term. Short-term economic gains in the form of increased visitors and publicity are outweighed by the event's unpredictability and short duration. Glendale should focus on increasing visitor counts for smaller but longer and recurring events like the Fiesta Bowl, which would allow businesses to plan around the events and incorporate them into their business models.

Learn more: csel.asu.edu/research/publications/March-2023-research-note

Losing the Forest for the Trees: How to Confront the Wildfire Crisis

If you were to walk through the forests of the American West in the 19th century, you would see a landscape vastly different from the one that exists today. You would likely see scattered trees mixed with open meadows, mosaics of young growth interspersed with mature tree stands and fire scars from frequent, low-intensity wildfires, many of them set by Native Americans.

In much of the West, that is no longer the case. A century of fire suppression has created dense forests that fuel severe wildfires that are far more destructive than historical fire regimes. Today’s wildfires inflict significant damage on ecosystems, watersheds and nearby communities — and in some cases threaten the future of our nation’s forests.

There is growing recognition that forest restoration — including the use of controlled burns and selective thinning — can reduce wildfire damage while promoting more resilient forests. The U.S. Forest Service recently announced a 10-year plan to ramp up forest restoration on 50 million acres of federal, state and private lands. But several policy obstacles and practical barriers stand in the way of meeting that goal. This talk will explore those challenges and how to overcome them to confront today’s growing wildfire crisis.

Join Property & Environment Research Center (PERC)'s Shawn Regan on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at 5 p.m. AZ MST on the ASU Tempe campus.

Registration required. Register now at specialevents.asu.edu/losingtheforest

Children Last: The Impact of Forced Budget Cuts on K–12 Education in Arizona

Failure to raise the Aggregate Expenditure Limit (AEL) will lead to large budget cuts that will have a severe negative impact on public education in Arizona. Cuts would force school districts, like Mesa Public Schools, to layoff or furlough thousands of teachers and staff forcing districts to reimplement distance learning and exacerbate Arizona’s declining reading and math scores.

Learn more: csel.asu.edu/research/publications/February-2023-research-note

Children First: An Economic Analysis of Governor Katie Hobbs’ Child Tax Credit

Governor Katie Hobbs’ child tax credit will decrease the poverty rate among families and children, increase workforce participation among women, and lower the unemployment rate. The tax credit will also boost economic growth through increased consumer spending, increase sales tax revenues, and lessen the strain on other parts of Arizona’s social safety net.

Learn more: https://csel.asu.edu/research/publications/January-2023-research-note

The Paradox of Democratic Socialism

Many are worried that Capitalism has lost its way, or whether it was ever a good idea. These lamentations come from the Progressive Left and the Christian Right with some calling for a kinder, gentler version of a market order. They desire something that promises more stuff, more freedom and an egalitarian distribution of both. This leads to new calls for Democratic Socialism which usually ends up being just socialism with a genteel name. In this talk, we will explore whether democratic socialism is a good goal and whether capitalism needs to be abandoned for more egalitarian alternatives.

Join Anne Rathbone Bradley from The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) on Thursday, January 26, 2023 at 5 p.m. AZ MST on the ASU Tempe campus.

Registration required: https://specialevents.asu.edu/democraticsocialism

The Less the Merrier: More Thoughts on Arizona’s Flat Income Tax

Arizona’s flattening of the state income tax will likely increase economic growth, create jobs, and increase migration of high-income individuals into the state. Flattening the tax will have an uncertain impact on government finances that will depend on whether increased revenue from growing economic activity outpaces revenue lost from reduced tax receipts from higher income taxpayers. The state income tax rate will likely decrease in the coming years although it is unlikely to be eliminated entirely due to its importance in balancing Arizona’s budget.

Learn more: https://csel.asu.edu/research/publications/December-2022-briefing-paper

Rally ‘round the Family: The Potential Economic Impact of Governor Katie Hobbs’ Tax Exemption Policies

Governor Katie Hobbs’ exemption of female hygiene and childcare products from state sales taxes will improve the lives of Arizonan women, children and families. The exemption will increase their income, grow the economy, and create jobs while having a minimal impact on the state and local governments’ budgets.

Learn more: https://csel.asu.edu/research/publications/November-2022-research-note

Certainty or Efficiency: The Economic Consequences of Arizona’s Indexed Minimum Wage

Indexing Arizona’s minimum wage to inflation is an incomplete policy that should be modified. While indexing the minimum wage to inflation preserves minimum wage workers’ incomes and decreases the poverty rate, it can potentially increase unemployment and prices in periods of high inflation. Modifying the index by adding in other economic indicators such as the unemployment rate will slow these increases and minimize the rate’s negative impacts while preserving its positive ones.

Read our latest research note: https://csel.asu.edu/research/publications/October-2022-research-note

Under Pressure: Common Governance of Arizona’s Groundwater

The reduction in water supplies from the Colorado River and decreased snowpack and rainfall due to climate change will force Arizona to rely more groundwater in the coming years. Increased reliance on groundwater will have substantial effects on agriculture, businesses, and local communities as subsidence reduces long-term aquifer yield, damages buildings, destroys infrastructure, and decreases land and property values.

Increased information and transparency about groundwater use via remote sensing and agricultural statistics will allow communities to identify the biggest water users and pressure them into reducing usage

Read our latest research note: csel.asu.edu/research/publications/September-2022-research-note

Arizona’s current Colorado River water usage is unsustainable due to allotment cuts from the Colorado River Compact, a drying climate, and water demands from agriculture. Water usage in agriculture is driven by the production of water-intensive agricultural products like cotton, lettuce, cattle, and dairy products.

Incentivizing water suppliers to introduce variable agricultural water rates through water use auctions would conserve river water over time by synchronizing water usage with the seasons and push and smooth the transition to more water-efficient crops and farming techniques.

Our latest research note:

To the Highest Bidder: A Market Solution for the Conservation of Colorado River Water Arizona’s water use is unsustainable. Wells have gone dry across rural Arizona, supplies from the Colorado River are slowing to a trickle, and voluntary cuts are turning into permanent reductions. In January, Scottsdale asked its residents to voluntarily cut their water use by 5%.