The Nanny State by Laurence M. Vance October 1, 2008 Whenever some new perceived crisis comes along, Americans typically look to the state as a problem solver. Are we running out of oil? The government should increase CAFE standards so that cars are more fuel-efficient. Is gas too expensive? The government should limit the profits of oil companies. Is the planet getting warmer? The government should mandate reductions in ...
Who Are You Calling Selfish? by Michael Tennant October 1, 2008 In an early episode of the television series Bewitched, Harold Harold (Paul Lynde), a highly nervous driving instructor, tries to teach Samantha Stephens (Elizabeth Montgomery) how to drive a car. At one point in the lesson he instructs her to go the wrong way in a traffic circle. Samantha, however, ...
The Authoritarianism of American Labor Law by George Leef October 1, 2008 American labor law is a dank miasma of special-interest legislation that tramples on the rights of some citizens in order to advance the interests of others. The main beneficiaries are labor-union officials who lobbied for and received extraordinary and unique powers from compliant politicians. The victims are business owners and workers who prefer to have ...
A Revolutionary Manifesto by Anthony Gregory October 1, 2008 The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul (New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2008); 173 pages. Ron Paul’s grassroots campaign — a decentralized undertaking that always had much more to do with the principles of the American Revolution, liberty, free enterprise, and peace than with narrowly defined electoral success — has ...
Milk Protectionism by Gary D. Barnett September 22, 2008 The headline recently in Missoula, Montana’s, daily newspaper, the Missoulian, was “Cheaper milk from Washington pulled from Missoula shelves.” Angry customers know this is obvious protectionism, but Montana milk producers say they only want a “safe” product for Montanans. Yeah, right! Certain stores in Missoula on Friday ...
Government Failure by Sheldon Richman September 19, 2008 To hear the media pundits and presidential candidates tell it, you’d think Adam Smith has been president for the last eight years and, with a Congress full of free-market advocates, had enacted an agenda of full-blown laissez-faire. Had that been the case, we would not be in the mess we are in economically. Alas, it has not been the case. Politicians ...
Threatened by the Census Bureau by Gary D. Barnett September 15, 2008 I just received an official letter from the U.S. Department of Commerce threatening me with prosecution and fines if I do not comply with its Economic Census. The letter came from the Office of the General Counsel/Office of the Chief Counsel for Economic Affairs in Washington, D.C., and was sent to ...
Secession and Slavery by Scott McPherson September 12, 2008 An interesting commentary, “Lincoln, Secession, and Slavery” by Tibor Machan, published by the Cato Institute on June 1, 2002, was recently brought to my attention. I should say at the outset that I have long been a fan of Machan, and have the utmost respect for ...
McCain’s Self-Righteous Fakery by Sheldon Richman September 10, 2008 If John McCain keeps up that self-righteous fakery about wanting to be our servant, were in for two rather tedious months until election day. First of all, he also says he wants to be our leader. How can he be both our leader and our servant? We know whats really going on here. The servant shtick is phony humility intended ...
The Government’s War on Money Laundering by Gary D. Barnett September 3, 2008 As a provider of financial services, once again I am required to attest (i.e., declare to be correct and true or genuine), by using the Compliance Attestation System, that I have read and understand and agree to the third-quarter anti–money-laundering training information. I have no effective choice. I can’t disagree. I ...
Seven Years of Darkness, Tyranny, and Oppression by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 2008 The year 1989 was a year of a great celebration. For that was the year that that hated and reviled symbol of tyranny, empire, and oppression, the Berlin Wall, came crashing down. Not only were the people of East Germany and Eastern Europe celebrating the demise of the Wall, so were ...
The Scope of Public Choice Theory by Tibor R. Machan September 1, 2008 Prague, Czech Republic. In October 1985 (I think it was) Professor James Buchanan, now at George Mason University's Department of Economics, received the Nobel Prize in his discipline for his pioneering work — in collaboration with Professor Gordon Tullock — in what came to be called public choice theory. The ...