Nerdy literature newsletter. Helping you make the most of your reading.
Refocusing classical liberalism on the arts and philosophy alongside economics.
Laws and institutions are designed to do one thing. They often do another. Regulations meant to course-correct a problem entrench it instead. Reforms meant to open an economy leave the old order largely intact. The distance between design and outcome is what I find interesting, and this is where I write about it.
"Borders have guards and the guards have guns." -Joseph Carens Border militarization, self-governance, and political economy.
Welcome to Humane Pursuits, a newsletter and podcast dedicated to revisiting the core ideas, institutions, and traditions of the American experiment on the 250th anniversary of its founding.
I care about AI governance, liberty, and seeking truth.
Dispatches on AI Governance and Emergent Order.
Data-driven analysis of institutional barriers to prosperity in Native American communities.
A newsletter on technology, culture, governance, and civilizations. "Reason is the root through which the resonant Word flourishes." St. Hildegard of Bingen.
Shruti Rajagopalan's Newsletter on Indian Political Economy.
Latest work in Substack
-
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
More Thoughts on Housing and the Business Cycle | Erdmann Housing Tracker
-
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Colorado Votes on Whether to Unwind Good Tax Policy | The Unseen and The Unsaid
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
My plea to English students. | The Common Reader
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Dutch Pension Reform Will Steepen the Euro Yield Curve | The Unseen and the Unsaid
-
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
A 5 Percent Wealth Tax Would Destroy a Lot More Than It Raises | The Unseen and the Unsaid
-
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
August 2026 Residential Construction | Erdmann Housing Tracker
-
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
August 2026 Erdmann Housing Tracker | Erdmann Housing Tracker
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
There is no such thing as a ‘text’, and if there were it would degrade literature to be treated as one. | The Common Reader
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
My new essay about Samuel Johnson | The Common Reader
-
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Future Housing Demand | Erdmann Housing Tracker
-
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
three things to look out for this week! | Space Jam
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Can phones explain PISA? | The Common Reader
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
An Aussie Way Forward for the Fed | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
-
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
why ‘pacing the frontier’? | the ends don't justify the means
-
- | F. A. Hayek Program F. A. Hayek Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Gary Becker and Michel Foucault seminars | Seeing Like Chicago
-
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
AI and the future of the humanities | The Common Reader
-
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
jam session 1: data centers in space | Space Jam
-
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Quick review of 27 years of housing | Erdmann Housing Tracker
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
What is literary criticism if it is not close reading? Art, Magic, and Common Sense. | The Common Reader
-
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
One big reason nobody’s walking to school anymore | The Argument Mag
Latest work in Substack
-
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
More Thoughts on Housing and the Business Cycle | Erdmann Housing Tracker
-
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Colorado Votes on Whether to Unwind Good Tax Policy | The Unseen and The Unsaid
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
My plea to English students. | The Common Reader
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Dutch Pension Reform Will Steepen the Euro Yield Curve | The Unseen and the Unsaid
-
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
A 5 Percent Wealth Tax Would Destroy a Lot More Than It Raises | The Unseen and the Unsaid
-
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
August 2026 Residential Construction | Erdmann Housing Tracker
-
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
August 2026 Erdmann Housing Tracker | Erdmann Housing Tracker
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
There is no such thing as a ‘text’, and if there were it would degrade literature to be treated as one. | The Common Reader
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
My new essay about Samuel Johnson | The Common Reader
-
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Future Housing Demand | Erdmann Housing Tracker
-
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
three things to look out for this week! | Space Jam
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Can phones explain PISA? | The Common Reader
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
An Aussie Way Forward for the Fed | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
-
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
why ‘pacing the frontier’? | the ends don't justify the means
-
- | F. A. Hayek Program F. A. Hayek Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Gary Becker and Michel Foucault seminars | Seeing Like Chicago
-
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
AI and the future of the humanities | The Common Reader
-
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
jam session 1: data centers in space | Space Jam
-
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Quick review of 27 years of housing | Erdmann Housing Tracker
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
What is literary criticism if it is not close reading? Art, Magic, and Common Sense. | The Common Reader
-
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
One big reason nobody’s walking to school anymore | The Argument Mag
Latest work in Substack
Latest work in Substack
Latest work in Substack
Latest work in Substack
Latest work in Substack
-
- | Financial Markets Financial Markets
- | Podcast Appearance Podcast Appearance
Excessive Fiscal Deficit Not Fed’s Job to Fix, Will Put Pressure on Warsh and FOMC | Central Bank Central
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
Philip Hensher: How Can You Kill a Book Like That? | The Common Reader
-
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
Bart Wilson on Humanomics | Humane Pursuits
-
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
Reviewing a Season on Arts and Liberalism with Benjamin Brophy | The Pursuit of Liberalism
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
Eric Claeys on Property Rights | Humane Pursuits
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
F. A. Hayek and the Heart of Viennese Intellectual Culture with Erwin Dekker | Pursuit Of Liberalism
-
-
- | Financial Markets Financial Markets
- | TV Appearance TV Appearance
U.S. unemployment rate drops to 4.2% | BNN Bloomberg
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
Do the dead have to go unburied before Britain accepts economic reality? | Pursuit Of Liberalism
-
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
Tony Williams on the Declaration of Independence | Humane Pursuits
-
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
Chaïm Soutine and the Extremes of Art with Celeste Marcus | Pursuit Of Liberalism
-
-
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
Zena Hitz: Gulliver's Travels and the Failures of Human Understanding | The Common Reader
-
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
Henry Adams, Democracy, and the Morality of Politics with Christopher Scalia | Pursuit of Liberalism
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Mercatus Podcasts Mercatus Podcasts
Oliver Traldi: Jane Austen and the Defence of Virtue | The Common Reader
Latest work in Substack
Latest work in Substack
-
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Colorado Votes on Whether to Unwind Good Tax Policy | The Unseen and The Unsaid
-
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
More Thoughts on Housing and the Business Cycle | Erdmann Housing Tracker
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
My plea to English students. | The Common Reader
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Dutch Pension Reform Will Steepen the Euro Yield Curve | The Unseen and the Unsaid
-
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
August 2026 Residential Construction | Erdmann Housing Tracker
-
- | Government Spending Government Spending
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
A 5 Percent Wealth Tax Would Destroy a Lot More Than It Raises | The Unseen and the Unsaid
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
There is no such thing as a ‘text’, and if there were it would degrade literature to be treated as one. | The Common Reader
-
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
August 2026 Erdmann Housing Tracker | Erdmann Housing Tracker
-
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Future Housing Demand | Erdmann Housing Tracker
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
My new essay about Samuel Johnson | The Common Reader
-
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
three things to look out for this week! | Space Jam
-
- | Monetary Policy Monetary Policy
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
An Aussie Way Forward for the Fed | Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Can phones explain PISA? | The Common Reader
-
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
AI and the future of the humanities | The Common Reader
-
- | F. A. Hayek Program F. A. Hayek Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
The Gary Becker and Michel Foucault seminars | Seeing Like Chicago
-
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
why ‘pacing the frontier’? | the ends don't justify the means
-
- | Emerging Scholars Program Emerging Scholars Program
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
What is literary criticism if it is not close reading? Art, Magic, and Common Sense. | The Common Reader
-
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Bleak House as a liberal novel | Pursuit Of Liberalism
-
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
Quick review of 27 years of housing | Erdmann Housing Tracker
-
- | Housing Housing
- | Expert Commentary Expert Commentary
One big reason nobody’s walking to school anymore | The Argument Mag