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This essay suggests that a state's economic engagement with a potential military aggressor can be understood as an attempt to increase its deterrent capability. It first introduces the concept of economic deterrence and derives three strategies of economic deterrence from classic deterrence theory: (1) punishment, (2) denial, and (3) diminution. Next, it suggests that economic engagement can be employed to advance the ability, credibility, and communication for economic deterrence, as well as to create favorable conditions to adopt the three economic deterrence strategies. Finally, the essay discusses the requirements for effective employment of engagement policy for economic deterrence.

In this paper, I explore the politically contested association between the degree of capitalism, captured by measures of economic freedom, and the risk and characteristics of economic crisis. After offering some brief theoretical considerations, I estimate the effects of economic freedom on crisis risk in the post-Cold War period 1993-2010. I further estimate the effects on the duration, peak-to-trough GDP ratios and recovery times of 212 crises across 175 countries within this period. Estimates suggest that economic freedom is robustly associated with smaller peak-to-trough ratios and shorter recovery time. These effects are driven by regulatory components of the economic freedom index.