Book Forum

Socialism Sucks: Two Economists Drink Their Way through the Unfree World

(Regnery Publishing, 2019)

July 31, 2019 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM EDT

Hayek Auditorium, Cato Institute

Featuring the authors Robert Lawson, Director, O’Neil Center for Global Markets and Freedom Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University; Benjamin Powell, Professor of Economics at Rawls College of Business, Texas Tech University; and Matt Kibbe, President, Free the People; moderated by Ian Vásquez, Director, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute.

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Socialism has failed every time it has been tried, yet it still appeals to parts of the American public that have little or no experience with it. Irreverent but honest economists Robert Lawson and Benjamin Powell will describe what they saw when they visited real‐life examples of socialism in Cuba, North Korea, and Venezuela and other countries that are living with the socialist legacy. Using anecdotes and informed by scholarship, they will explain why socialism is often catastrophic, why Sweden is not an example of socialism, and why many of the claims of socialist politicians in America are so wrong‐headed. Matt Kibbe will describe how young Americans’ views on socialism have evolved in recent years.