Professor James Stacey Taylor of the College of New Jersey discusses the contributions of philosopher and economist Adam Smith to the Scottish Enlightenment. Smith is best remembered as the father of modern economics, but he also made important contributions to philosophy in his book "The Theory of Moral Sentiments".

Professor James Stacey Taylor of the College of New Jersey discusses the contributions of philosopher, historian, and economist David Hume to the Scottish Enlightenment, with a particular focus on sentimentalist philosophy.

Professor James Stacey Taylor of the College of New Jersey discusses the contributions of philosopher Francis Hutcheson to the Scottish Enlightenment, especially his contributions to the sentimentalist approach to morality.

If you were a government official trying to raise revenue, who would you tax? Pick whether to tax cigarettes, luxury goods, or oil and gas in this interactive game and Professor Art Carden of Samford University will explain how the market will react.

Today people often believe that classical liberalism is all about free market economics, but according to Dr. Stephen Davies of the Institute of Economic Affairs, this definition misses the mark. In this lecture, Dr. Davies explains three key insights from classical liberalism and how the ideology has influenced how we approach subjects like history, economics, and even psychology.

The US government debt is now bigger than the debt of any other government in human history. It is so big, that it is hard to comprehend just how big it is. This immersive 360 degree video helps illustrate the scale of the debt while Professor Antony Davies from Duquesne University breaks down the debt and explains its implications.

Between 1840 and 1860, fur trappers used to say there was no law west of Leavenworth, Kansas. So how did more than 300,000 people avoid bloodshed and chaos when they crossed the American plains on the Oregon Trail? In this video, professor and cattle rancher P.J. Hill explains how the pioneers used contracts resolve disputes and keep the peace.

Income inequality in America is a serious issue. People are worried about a widening gap between the rich and the poor in the United States. But is the global story the same? In this video, Professor Tyler Cowen of George Mason University explains how globalization is affecting income inequality worldwide.

The question of income inequality has become a key issue in contemporary politics. What caused the distribution of wealth in America to become so lopsided in favor of the 1%? What are the best ways to even the playing field? How can society best help its poorest? Does inequality even matter? The Institute for Humane Studies asked two professors-- Professor Steve Horwitz, economist at St. Lawrence University, and Professor Jeffrey Reiman, philosopher at American University- to answer questions about wealth, fairness, inequality in the United States. This is their debate.

Is private property just? In this lecture, Professor Chris Feiman of the College of William and Mary presents some of the major philosophical challenges to private property.

In this video, Professor Art Carden of Samford University simplifies the laws of supply and demand into short haikus.

Edward Snowden's revelations about government surveillance of private citizens sparked debate around the world about the trade off between privacy and security. The Institute for Humane Studies invited Professor Ronald Sievert of Texas A&M and Cindy Cohn, legal director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation to answer questions about government data collection. This is their debate.

Where do rights come from? In this lecture, Dr. Bill Glod of the Institute for Humane Studies explains the two approaches that philosophers use to derive rights, consequential and deontological, and their ability to provide a strong argument in favor of rights.

Economics assume that exchange happens voluntarily, but sometimes exchange results in spillover effects called externalities. In this video, Professor Sean Mullholland of Stonehill College defines externalities and explains both public and private solutions to the problem.

Robert Nozick was one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century, but according to Professor Chris Freiman of the College of William and Mary, he is frequently misunderstood. In this lecture, Professor Freiman gives an overview of Nozick’s political philosophy.

Paradoxically, while natural disasters clearly destroy wealth, they also seem to create wealth and employment when the damages are repaired. But 19th century French economist Frédéric Bastiat argued that this idea is a fallacy and fails to take opportunity costs into account. In this video, philosophy professor Dan Russell of the University of Arizona defines opportunity costs and explains the importance of Bastiat’s realization on contemporary economics.

In this lecture, Professor Howie Baetjer of Towson University explains how the market process generates improvements in the human condition, highlighting how profit and loss serve to help people channel their activities in creative and socially useful directions.

In 1838, poet, essayist, and lecturer Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote a letter to President Martin Van Buren protesting the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation from its land in Georgia to modern-day Oklahoma. In this extended excerpt from his letter, read by Professor Amy Sturgis from Lenoir-Rhyne University, Emerson demonstrates that people at the time were aware that the Trail of Tears was a grave injustice. Emerson's was only one of many voices protesting the government's treatment of the Cherokee people, but these protests fell on deaf ears. The Trail of Tears remains a blemish on U.S. History.

Governments don’t work the way most people think they do. In this lecture, Professor Antony Davies of Duquesne University explains public choice theory, a branch of economics that explores how voters, politicians, and bureaucrats actually make decisions.

Why do politicians never seem to cut government spending? Using public choice economics, Professor Ben Powell of Suffolk University explains why it's difficult to cut policies with concentrated benefits and dispersed costs.