Explore Freedom

Liberty and the State: A Virginia Political Economy Perspective (video)

by Charles K. Rowley November 7, 2011

Charles K. Rowley is Professor of Economics at George Mason University and General Director of The Locke Institute in Fairfax, Virginia. Editor (Joint) of Public Choice since May 1990. Member of the Mont Pelerin Society. Listed in Mark Blaug's Who's Who in Economics (since 1986). Honorary Lifetime President of The European Public Choice Society. Founding Editor of ... [click for more]

Eliminate Medicine Shortages with Imports

by Fergus Hodgson November 4, 2011

Pharmaceutical drugs are in scant supply in the United States relative to their demand — a “serious and growing threat to public health,” says President Obama’s latest executive order. The number of prescription-drug shortages, the order continues, has almost tripled in the past five years, and half of pharmacists and purchasing agents are utilizing “gray-market” dealers. According to ... [click for more]

Ron Paul’s De-Stimulus Plan

by Tim Kelly November 4, 2011

Congressman Ron Paul has put forth an economic plan that calls for serious cuts in the size, budget, and power of the federal government. He has also proposed policies that would end the Fed-driven inflation responsible for the global economic meltdown. This is truly a de-stimulus plan. Paul’s plan would immediately cut $1 trillion from the federal budget by closing ... [click for more]

Opponents of Occupy Wall Street Harm the Cause of Freedom

by Sheldon Richman November 4, 2011

After many weeks, Occupy Wall Street and its kindred demonstrations around the country are still a source of headline controversy — even aside from the police manhandling of protesters. And yet the disparate coalition of discontent with contemporary America has not coalesced around a single set of aims. Unfortunately, the loudest voices call for more government management of the ... [click for more]

A Libertarian Who Stood on Principle When It Mattered

by Wendy McElroy November 1, 2011

A common accusation hurled at libertarians is that they do not champion or, indeed, care about the rights and status of minorities. A common misconception is that the Left has historically been the defender of the oppressed. Those who wish a more accurate view should heed the tale of the Masuda family. On May 26, 2002, the Orange County Register (California) carried ... [click for more]

The Problem with Public Education

by Laurence M. Vance November 1, 2011

In the wake of the shootings in Phoenix, Arizona, earlier this year, a bill was proposed in the Arizona legislature that would allow faculty members at universities and community colleges to carry a concealed weapon while working on campus. Naturally, this was a polarizing topic among students and faculty. Had it passed, Arizona would have been the second state ... [click for more]

Prosecutors Gone Wild

by George Leef November 1, 2011

One Nation Under Arrest: How Crazy Laws, Rogue Prosecutors, and Activist Judges Threaten Your Liberty edited by Paul Rosenzweig and Brian W. Walsh (Washington, D.C.: Heritage Foundation, 2010); 268 pages. A good case can be made that the overcriminalization of the law is among America’s most serious national problems. True, America’s economic troubles are ... [click for more]

No End to the Shameful Treatment of Omar Khadr

by Andy Worthington November 1, 2011

This week, Omar Khadr, the Canadian citizen and former child prisoner, was supposed to leave Guantánamo after nine years and three months in U.S. custody. No one thought that he would return to Canada as a free man because he has another seven years to serve in a Canadian jail as part of a plea deal he made at ... [click for more]

Imperialist Attacks on Freedom of Speech

by Rich Schwartzman October 31, 2011

The US House Judiciary Committee passed a bill earlier this month that — should it become law — could put me in jail for a joke I made years ago. Back when I still had hair on my head, some friends and I loved Wednesday night at the Deer Park, a bar and restaurant in Newark, Delaware. Wednesday was Nacho ... [click for more]

Anything That’s Peaceful Means Anything That’s Peaceful

by Laurence M. Vance October 31, 2011

Leonard Read (1898–1983), opponent of Roosevelt’s New Deal and founder of the Foundation for Economic Education, was one of the twentieth century’s great champions of individual liberty, private property, the free market, and limited government. He counted among his friends and advisors such luminaries as Ludwig von Mises and Henry Hazlitt. Although he authored numerous collections of essays, Read’s ... [click for more]

Censoring Cash

by Wendy McElroy October 28, 2011

If “money talks,” then a global campaign is being waged to silence it or, at least, to let cash speak only with permission. The Economic Collapse blog states, “All over the world, governments are either placing stringent reporting requirements on large cash transactions or they are banning them altogether. We are being told that such measures are needed to ... [click for more]

Ron Paul’s Radical Deal

by Tim Kelly October 28, 2011

Several Republican presidential candidates have rolled out economic plans they claim will jumpstart the moribund U.S. economy and narrow the nation’s yawning fiscal gap. Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s plan creates an optional 20 percent flat income tax, restricts federal spending to 18 percent of GDP, and seeks a balanced budget by 2020. His plan also calls for lowering the corporate ... [click for more]