Economics

Liberty, Legislation, and Law (video)

by Don Boudreaux October 10, 2010

On October 4, 2010, Donald J. Boudreaux gave the following speech at The Future of Freedom Foundations Economic Liberty Lecture Series. The speech can viewed below in its entirety. Professor Donald J. Boudreaux was the Chairman of the Department of Economics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, from August 2001 to August 2009. Previously, he was president of ...

War Does Not Produce Prosperity

by Sheldon Richman October 8, 2010

Many bad ideas go under the rubric “Keynesian economics,” but perhaps the worst is that government spending — no matter what kind — can genuinely stimulate of an economy and increase the general welfare. To see how ridiculous this idea is, have a look at what the leading Progressive Keynesian, Paul Krugman, and leading conservative Keynesian, Martin Feldstein, agree on: ...

The Addled Theories of John Maynard Keynes

by George Leef October 1, 2010

Where Keynes Went Wrong: And Why World Governments Keep Creating Inflation, Bubbles, and Busts by Hunter Lewis (Axios Press, 2010); 384 pages. In the wake of the bursting of the housing bubble and the resulting financial collapse, many politicians and high-profile economists (such as Nobel winner and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman) have missed no opportunity to push ...

Federal Make-Work Jobs Betray Teenagers

by James Bovard June 1, 2010

Politicians now pretend that government spending can solve any and all ills. Sloshing out federal funds for local summer job programs exemplifies this delusion. Uncle Sam first began bank-rolling summer jobs for urban teens in 1964. It was decided that government should hire any low-income teen who couldn’t find a job on his own. Soon, with the usual bureaucratic imperialism, ...

Immigration Socialism versus Freedom and the Free Market

by Jacob G. Hornberger May 7, 2010

Let me begin by making a very simple, direct point: There is one — and only one — solution to the so-called immigration crisis: freedom and free markets. Every other measure, including the recently enacted immigration law in Arizona, will accomplish nothing more than continue the “crisis” and actually exacerbate it. After all, how many times have we been here ...

Liberalism Is the Enemy of the Poor

by Jacob G. Hornberger May 1, 2010

I was a liberal back in my late 20s. I was practicing law in my hometown of Laredo, Texas, where I was serving on the board of trustees for the local Legal Aid Society, a government agency that provided free legal services for the poor. I also served as the local representative for the ACLU. I believed that government’s ...

Capitalism and the Free Market, Part 1

by Sheldon Richman May 1, 2010

Part 1 | Part 2 Writing in the Guardian last January under the headline “Caribbean Communism v. Capitalism,” respected journalist Stephen Kinzer began his article like this (https://tinyurl.com/y8wfrxb): Visiting unhappy Cuba is especially thought-provoking for anyone familiar with its unhappy neighbours. Cubans live difficult lives and have much to complain about. So do Jamaicans, Dominicans, Haitians, Guatemalans, Hondurans, Salvadorans, and ...

Why Do Daily Kos and Alternet Support a Racist Program?

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 28, 2010

With the possible exception of the war on drugs and public (i.e., government) schools, it would be difficult to find a government program that is more damaging to inner-city poor people, especially blacks, than the minimum wage. Yet, liberals, who have longed claimed to love the poor, needy, and disadvantaged, especially racial minorities, continue to steadfastly support this vicious ...

Economic Ignorance and Liberal Hypocrisy at Dailykos.com

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 19, 2010

A liberal named John Sumner, who goes by the pseudonym Devilstower, has weighed into the debate originally inspired by my article “Liberal Delusions about Freedom.” Sumner’s article, “What Conservatives Mean When They Say ‘Libertarian’,” which appeared yesterday on the liberal website Dailykos.com, reveals a lot about the liberal mindset as well as the ...

The New Road to Serfdom and the Continuing Relevance of Austrian Economics (video)

by Richard M. Ebeling April 10, 2010

On April 5, 2010, Richard Ebeling gave the following speech at The Future of Freedom Foundations Economic Liberty Lecture Series. The speech can viewed below in its entirety.

The Disaster of Government-Run Businesses, Part 2

by Jim Powell April 1, 2010

Part 1 | Part 2 In the 1870s, the Japanese had many government-run businesses — among them, mining, shipbuilding, railways, and silk production. According to economic historians Johannes Hirschmeier and Tsunehiko Yui, they “were a heavy burden on government finance, and on the whole were running in the red.” The government couldn’t even make money with silk production, something ...

John Maynard Keynes, Defunct Economist

by Edmund Contoski April 1, 2010

John Maynard Keynes, who rose to prominence in the 1930s, wrote, “The ideas of economists and political philosophers ... are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men ... are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority ... are usually distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of ...