Explore Freedom

Keynes and the Assault on Savings, Part 2

by Gregory Bresiger November 1, 2009

Part 1 | Part 2 The reason, I believe, that Keynes’s anti-saving, consume-more philosophy is politically popular is simple: Consumption is immediate and usually enjoyable. Saving requires self-discipline and patience. Also, the philosophy is remarkably bi-partisan. It fits in with the ideas of a massive and ever-growing welfare/warfare state. This ... [click for more]

The Evil of Sanctions, Part 1

by Brian Cloughley November 1, 2009

Part 1 | Part 2 When strong governments wish to impose their will on weaker regimes, they often resort to sanctions. The effects have included the death or debilitation of millions of innocent people. Two good examples are Cuba, on which draconian U.S. sanctions have been enforced since 1960, and Iraq, where brutal sanctions were enforced from 1990 to ... [click for more]

Intervention and Economic Crisis

by Thomas E. Woods Jr. November 1, 2009

No supporter of the market economy could have been surprised when the recent financial crisis was inevitably blamed on “capitalism” and “deregulation.” The free market, we were told, was a recipe for financial instability. “Advocates of the free market must confront the fact that both the Great Depression and the current financial chaos were preceded by years of laissez-faire ... [click for more]

The CIA, Assassination, and the War on Terrorism

by Jacob G. Hornberger October 1, 2009

In late July, the New York Times disclosed a secret plan by the CIA to assassinate suspected terrorists around the globe. According to the Times, the agency decided against implementing the plan, possibly because of the risk of being prosecuted for murder in countries in which the assassinations would take place. Actually, it’s not at all clear yet that the CIA is ... [click for more]

Democratic Misrepresentation

by Sheldon Richman October 1, 2009

If you want to know how representative government works not in airy theory but on the ground, contemplate these facts: (1) Except perhaps for the rarest exception, no member of Congress will have read the entire final 1,000-plus-page bill that seeks, in the New York Times’s words, to “reinvent the nation’s health care system”; and (2) in July the ... [click for more]

The Bogus Anti-Terrorist Crackdown on Financial Freedom

by James Bovard October 1, 2009

In the post–9/11 era, federal officials are treating cash as they would a suspected weapon of mass destruction. They have created legions of new restrictions and reporting requirements for citizens’ money. But the new controls have done nothing to make Washington any more competent at protecting Americans from real threats. Federal experts estimated that Mohamed Atta and the other 18 ... [click for more]

Langdon, Stark, Bennington, and the Triumph of a Private Army, Part 2

by Scott McPherson October 1, 2009

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 At the end of June, Burgoyne struck south with more than 7,000 men: 3,700 British regulars, 3,000 German mercenaries, 470 artillerymen, 400 Indians, and approximately 250 Canadian and American loyalists, and with the optimistic hope of gaining more Indian and loyalist troops as they went. As his forces approached the ... [click for more]

Keynes and the Assault on Savings, Part 1

by Gregory Bresiger October 1, 2009

Part 1 | Part 2  In the long, run we are all dead. — John Maynard Keynes, A Tract on Monetary Reform There are men regarded today as brilliant economists, who deprecate saving and recommend squandering on ... [click for more]

The Supreme Court’s Attacks on Freedom, Part 2

by George Leef October 1, 2009

Part 1 | Part 2 | The Dirty Dozen: How Twelve Supreme Court Cases Radically Expanded Government and Eroded Freedom by Robert A. Levy and William Mellor (Sentinel, 2008); 299 pages. Bennis v. Michigan (1996) This case gave Supreme Court approval to ... [click for more]

Ten Tenets of Freedom, Part 2

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 2009

Part 1 | Part 2 This two-part essay discusses ten tenets of freedom toward which we must continue to strive in our efforts to restore freedom to our land. Part 1 of the essay discussed the first five tenets and this part covers the other five tenets. 6. Gun control It would have been more appropriate to have made the Second ... [click for more]

Welcome to Post Office Health Care

by Sheldon Richman September 1, 2009

America’s health-care system has problems — all traceable to government intervention — but it could be worse. And if the so-called reform emerging in Congress is enacted, it will be worse. The nub of the plan is that everyone must have health insurance and that all but the smallest employers should provide it. If someone doesn’t have coverage, he’ll be ... [click for more]

How George W. Bush Redefined American Freedom

by James Bovard September 1, 2009

George W. Bush is gone from Washington but his legacy, like an abandoned toxic waste dump, lingers on. Like President Franklin Roosevelt before him, President Bush helped redefine American freedom. And like Roosevelt’s, Bush’s changes were perversions of the clear vision the Founding Fathers bequeathed to us. What did freedom mean in the era of George Bush? In Iraq in ... [click for more]