In Crisis and Leviathan: Critical Episodes in the Growth of American Government (1987), Robert Higgs provides a detailed explanation for the growth of government in the twentieth century. His insights and the applicability of the ratchet effect model have yet to be fully appreciated and there are many important ways in which the framework and its implications have been left under- or unexplored. This symposium investigates some of these neglected areas and demonstrate avenues for further inquiry.

Abigail R. Hall is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute, and an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Tampa.
Twitter     
Ryan M. Yonk is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and Senior Research Faculty at the American Institute for Economic Research.
American HistoryGovernment and PoliticsGovernment PowerLaw and Liberty
Other Independent Review articles by Abigail R. Hall
Spring 2025 The Nuclear Ratchet: Crisis, Leviathan, and Atomic Weapons
Spring 2023 How to Run Wars: A Confidential Playbook for the National Security Elite
Fall 2021 Militarized Extremism: The Radical Right and the War on Terror
[View All (11)]
Other Independent Review articles by Ryan M. Yonk
Spring 2025 The China Ratchet: Extending Higgs’s Model to Explore Foreign Policy
Spring 2024 Conservation, Ecology, and Growth in For a New Liberty
Summer 2017 From Equality and the Rule of Law to the Collapse of Egalitarianism
[View All (4)]