Educational Gimmickry by Sheldon Richman October 1, 1998 The coming controversy in the debate in education policy — actually, it's here already — will be over the matter of equality of funding. In several states, the courts or legislatures have decided that it is unfair for communities with higher-priced real estate to have better schools than communities with lower-priced real estate. Their solution is to have the ...
More Federal Lies on Guns by James Bovard October 1, 1998 The Clinton administration is continuing to portray the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 as the key to national salvation. However, once again, the administration's claims are as bogus as a $3 bill. The Justice Department announced on June 21, 1998, that presale handgun background checks ...
Inequality of Wealth and Incomes by Ludwig von Mises October 1, 1998 The market economy — capitalism — is based on private ownership of the material means of production and private entrepreneurship. The consumers by their buying or abstention from buying ultimately determine what should be produced and in what quantity and quality. They render profitable the affairs of those businessmen ...
Book Review: In Praise of Commercial Capital by Richard M. Ebeling October 1, 1998 In Praise of Commercial Culture by Tyler Cowen (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1998); 278 pages; $29.95. One of the most persistent views in many intellectual circles is that capitalism and the market economy are antagonistic to refined culture and artistic appreciation. On the one hand, the general public, it is claimed, is too uneducated and narrow-minded to understand either ...
The Conservative Commitment to Educational Socialism by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 1998 It would be difficult to find a better model of socialistic central planning than public (government) schooling. Public schooling entails a central board of elected or appointed government planners, either at a national, state, or local level. Attendance is mandated by compulsory-attendance laws. Government-approved schoolteachers, using government-approved textbooks, ...
Monetary Central Planning and the State, Part 21: The Keynesian Revolution and the Early Critics of Keynes by Richard M. Ebeling September 1, 1998 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 ...
Eliminate, Don’t Reform, the IRS by Sheldon Richman September 1, 1998 Yet again, a taxpayer "bill of rights" has been enacted into law. And so, after all the recent revelations of Internal Revenue Service abuse of peaceful citizens, we can all now be confident that the tax collector will respect the rights and dignity of every American. Right. And pigs have started ...
The Legalization of Prostitution by James Bovard September 1, 1998 Prostitution has long been illegal in the vast majority of the United States. Unfortunately, laws against prostitution often bring out the worst among the nation's law-enforcement agencies — and pose a growing threat to public health. As fear of the spread of AIDS rises, the legalization of prostitution offers ...
In Praise of Working People by Wendy McElroy September 1, 1998 A prominent difference between the 19th-century libertarian movement and the contemporary one lies in their attitudes toward working people. These are people who are not primarily interested in reading economic or political theory but who focus their energies instead on making a decent living or raising a healthy family. These are intelligent people who understand the impact of laws ...
Book Review: Free-Market Feminism by Richard M. Ebeling September 1, 1998 Free-Market Feminism by David Conway (London: Institute of Economic Affairs, 1998); 96 pages; £7.00. The Soviet Union may be gone, but the Marxian mindset still dominates the intellectual climate of the world. Many of the fashionable fads of our time are merely variations on Marx's conception of class conflict. The residues of socialism also still dominate the general understanding ...
Protectionism: Rearing Its Ugly Head Again by Jacob G. Hornberger August 1, 1998 One of the principal tenets of libertarianism is the right of people to freely trade their goods and services with others. The reasoning is based on moral principles underlying private property and individual freedom. Each of us has the right to sustain his life by utilizing the talents and abilities with which we have been endowed by the Creator. ...
Monetary Central Planning and the State, Part 20: Keynesian Economics and the Hubris of the Social Engineer by Richard M. Ebeling August 1, 1998 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 ...