What Libertarians Must Learn from Duverger’s Law

What Libertarians Must Learn from Duverger’s Law

A recent episode of Michael Malice’s “Your Welcome,” featuring guest Dave Smith, lamented Libertarian Party politics. Malice notably despises the party and made a great point that it is easier for libertarians to get elected and make some noise from within either the Democratic or Republican Parties than to change much through a third party—namely, the Libertarians. One reason for this unfortunate circumstance of American politics is Duverger’s Law. In the 1950s, sociologist Maurice Duverger noticed that electoral systems with plurality, single-member district (SMD) voting tended to have two...

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Trump saved Carrier! But what does that mean for the economy?

At this point, we don’t know exactly how Donald Trump was able to convince Carrier to cancel its plans to relocate operations in Mexico. But even before Trump takes office, he’s been praised for keeping his campaign promise for saving American jobs. What does this mean for the overall economy, though? We have to look at why Carrier would want to move in the first place. Carrier saw in Mexico a cheaper place to produce air conditioners and other goods. Relocating naturally would have meant the loss of 1,000 American jobs. So, the protectionists and economic nationalists assume that 1,000...

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Scott Duryea

Scott Duryea is the host of Essence of Economics, a podcast that teaches the classic books and articles of free market economics. He earned his PhD in international political economy from Old Dominion University. Scott can be reached at drscott@essenceofeconomics.com and his podcast can be found at essenceofeconomics.com.


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Last Rights: The Death of American Liberty

Last Rights: The Death of American Liberty

Americans today have “freedom” to be fleeced, groped, injected, harassed, surveilled, vilified, disarmed, beaten, detained, and maybe shot by federal agents. From hapless homeowners hit by SWAT raids to pandemic lockdowns pointlessly paralyzing lives, government...

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