December 10, 2022
Chris Coyne is one of the clearest writers in the social sciences and he is writing on some of the most important issues. His most recent book on the “folly of American empire” is no exception.
No less than Bill Easterly concurs:
“Christopher Coyne has long been the leading voice in economics on the folly of American military interventions overseas. In his remarkable new book, In Search of Monsters to Destroy, he gives unpopular but deeply compelling arguments why such interventions are a threat to liberal values both at home and abroad.”
And if David Gordon likes it, well, then, you’ve written a good book:
“Coyne deserves our gratitude for his carefully argued case against American empire.”
I’m not an expert, as Coyne is, on the economics of foreign policy, war, and nation-building. But this book was a joy to read for the clarity of its exposition, not to mention all the economics you learn along the way. What makes Coyne so worthwhile is his trademark way of applying the economic way of thinking to some of the most intractable questions of political economy. In “Monsters,” Coyne contextualizes his inquiry by exploring the economics of Hobbesian jungles, which are said to provide a rationale for a “liberal hegemon.”
“Monsters” finds such arguments unconvincing, a conclusion bolstered by a litany of foreign policy boondoggles, ultimately illustrative of the knowledge and incentive problems government faces. In his most recent entry, Coyne proves himself a worthy successor to the mantle of Robert Higgs. Here’s to many more fruitful decades of illuminating political economy from Coyne’s pen.