Abigail R. Hall Blanco
Abigail R. Hall is a Professor of Economics at the University of Tampa in Tampa, Florida, USA. She is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland California, a Senior Affiliated Scholar with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, a Public Choice and Public Policy Fellow with the American Institute for Economic Research, and a Non-Resident Fellow with Defense Priorities. She holds a PhD in Economics from George Mason University.
Hall is the coauthor of Austrian Economics: An Introduction (2026, Polity Press), How to Run Wars: A Confidential Playbook for the National Security Elite (2024, Independent Institute), The Political Economy of Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and the War on Terror (2023, Cambridge University Press), Manufacturing Militarism: U.S. Government Propaganda in The War On Terror and Tyranny Comes Home: The Domestic Fate of US Militarism (2021, 2018, Stanford University Press). Her broader research interests include Austrian Economics, Political Economy, and Defense and Peace Economics. Her work includes topics surrounding U.S. national defense and militarism, including, police militarization, domestic extremism, propaganda, technology in warfare, and the impacts of foreign conflict on domestic institutions.
She works extensively with the media. Hall and her work have been featured in outlets such as Forbes, Newsweek, Fortune, The Los Angeles Times, as well as a variety of local, national, and international outlets.
-
•
There’s No Such Thing as Free Breastmilk
“We can learn many things from the formula shortage. For example, perhaps it’s time to examine the FDA restrictions on imports. But at least let’s stop treating breastfeeding as though it were free.” ~ Abigail R. Hall Blanco
-
•
The Sunk Cost Fallacy in the War on Terror
“A sunk cost is an outlay (monetary or otherwise) that cannot be recouped once made. In economics, we teach our students that sunk costs should not factor into our decision-making.” ~ Abigail R. Hall Blanco
-
•
There’s No Such Thing as Free Breastmilk
“We can learn many things from the formula shortage. For example, perhaps it’s time to examine the FDA restrictions on imports. But at least let’s stop treating breastfeeding as though it were free.” ~ Abigail R. Hall Blanco
-
•
The Sunk Cost Fallacy in the War on Terror
“A sunk cost is an outlay (monetary or otherwise) that cannot be recouped once made. In economics, we teach our students that sunk costs should not factor into our decision-making.” ~ Abigail R. Hall Blanco