Dr. Michael Makovi

Degrees, Certificates and Certifications

PhD, Texas Tech University
MS, Texas Tech University
BA, Loyola University, New Orleans

Why I am at NU

I am an advocate of free enterprise as the number one means of promoting peace and harmony among humankind, and improving the welfare of the least well off among us.

I share my dream with Richard Cobden, who said in 1846, “I see in the Free-trade principle that which shall act on the moral world as the principle of gravitation in the universe,—drawing men together, thrusting aside the antagonism of race, and creed, and language, and uniting us in the bonds of eternal peace. . . . when man becomes one family, and freely exchanges the fruits of his labour with his brother man.”

Selected Publications

“Two Opposing Literary Critiques of Socialism: George Orwell Versus Eugen Richter and Henry Hazlitt,” The International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education (IJPEE) 7:2 (2016), pp. 116-134.
“George Orwell as a Public Choice Economist,” The American Economist 60:2 (2015): 183-208.

Consulting or Research Specialties

Public choice
Constitutional political economy
Applied econometrics

Latest by Dr. Michael Makovi

The Federal Government’s Debt Ceiling Needs More Teeth

Congress has repeatedly demonstrated it is not constrained by the debt ceiling (which is the total amount of debt the federal government can legally borrow). Every time the federal debt approaches the limit, Congress raises it. Ergo the debt ceiling does not meaningfully prevent the government from borrowing and spending more money than it has. ...

By Dr. Michael Makovi

Right-to-repair is both unjust and economically unjustified

Many people understandably resent it when they must pay a higher price for manufacturer repairs and parts when a third-party could have repaired their product for less. Therefore, many people support right-to-repair laws that would require the manufacturer to make parts and service manuals available to third-parties, and which would forbid the manufacturer from restricting...

By Dr. Michael Makovi

Competition and monopoly

It is generally acknowledged — at least by those with a basic familiarity with economic theory — that markets will usually function well when there is sufficient competition. If one firm tries to profit by charging a price that is far above the cost of production, competing firms will seek to undercut them by charging...

By Dr. Michael Makovi

The Federal Government’s Debt Ceiling Needs More Teeth

NOTE: A version of this essay was published in the November 2021 edition of When Free To Choose. Merely raising the debt limit one more time will not solve America’s fiscal crisis. Congress has repeatedly demonstrated that it does not perceive the debt limit as a binding constraint on its spending. Every time the accumulated...

By Dr. Michael Makovi