This book covers several areas of economic theory and political philosophy from the perspective of Austrian Economics and libertarianism. As such, it deals with Epistemology and Methodology, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Labor Economics, International Economics, Political Philosophy, Law and Public Policy, all from the Austro-libertarian perspective. Hence, this book offers an integrated view of libertarianism and Austrian economics in the light of recent debates in the areas of economic science and political philosophy. Moreover, it builds from the foundations of the Austrian approach (epistemology and methodology), while the latter material deals with its application to the individual from the microeconomic perspective, which in turn allows an exploration of subjects in macroeconomics. Additionally, this work applies Austro-libertarianism to law, politics, and public policy.

This book provides a timely and unique contribution to current debates on how effectively voluntary party quotas address the persistent underrepresentation of women in legislatures. Using a most similar case design and a mixed-methods approach, the authors draw attention to the ways in which electoral systems and party regulations interface with voluntary party quotas in Germany and Austria. All quota parties in these countries support the goal of equal participation of women and men in elected office, and quotas are presented as a means to precisely that end. In order to assess parties' commitment to their declared goals, and the effectiveness of quotas, the book introduces the concept of the post-quota gender gap and defines it as the difference between a party's adopted quota and the actual share of women in legislative bodies at the national and regional level. Complementing the existing literature on recruitment and socio-cultural legacies, the authors argue that the problem of voluntary party quotas lies at the intersection of party quota design and electoral law. Either parties need to design quotas that actually work within a given electoral system, or we need legislative action geared toward advancing parity not just in candidate selection, but in the composition of legislatures.

At a time when the media are facing a severe loss of trust, what is needed above all is education. How does media work? What are the economic dependencies? How is media content created and how is it consumed? What challenges does digitization bring, and why is it more important today than ever to understand the world of media?  It is questions of this nature that this book addresses, with the aim of helping interested readers understand how the media works. Especially in relation to social media and digitalization, knowing how it works is important - to be able to distinguish which media are trustworthy and to understand why independent journalism is so important.

This book investigates policies for the promotion of housing affordability in the rental sector of attractive cities in Europe. Affordability links the housing situation to the economic situation of households, referring to conditions of access to housing and to the role of housing in determining poverty or wealth. The book examines the current affordability crisis and frames it in the ongoing process of urban restructuring and devolution of welfare. From the perspective of the Foundational Economy, the book calls for a proactive and effective role of public administrations in making the rental sector an affordable and stable alternative to housing financialization and commodification. By intertwining theory construction and real-world data collected through case studies in Milan and Vienna, the book provides an original framework for the analysis of public policies that promote rental affordability in a multi-level setting. Through the analysis, it highlights critical nodes of thedifferent (housing, urban, and social) policy domains at stake in the promotion of rental affordability in attractive cities.