Economics

The Corporate State Fails

by Sheldon Richman October 1, 2008

According to popular myth, the current financial turmoil is the result of Bush administration deregulation. One problem with that theory: there was no deregulation. The last banking deregulation, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley bill, was signed by President Bill Clinton in 1999. Oops. Gramm-Leach-Bliley undid the New Deal-era Glass-Steagall ...

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 ...

Private Roads Work

by Bart Frazier September 1, 2008

The issue of private roads stymies those who might otherwise be diehard libertarians. They can see how abolishing public education makes for better citizens and respects parental rights. They understand that Medicare, Social Security, and other government transfer programs are immoral abominations. They might even be so enlightened as to think that people should be ...

Restoring the Republic Is More Important than Ever

by Jacob G. Hornberger August 13, 2008

In 2007 and 2008 The Future of Freedom Foundation hosted two important conferences, “Restoring the Republic: Foreign Policy & Civil Liberties.” The final collection of 45 speeches — delivered by a unique combination libertarians, conservatives, and liberals — is possibly the greatest collection of talks giving the libertarian case on ...

Pickens Plan Is Based on Ignorance

by Sheldon Richman August 8, 2008

Can a person be a good businessman but a lousy economist? Yes. Take T. Boone Pickens, for example. Hes all over television touting his plan for wind power as a substitute for foreign oil, a plan that calls for massive government subsidies. This should immediately make us suspicious. If wind is so good, why does it need subsidies? In trying ...

Memoirs of a Longtime Libertarian

by Ross K. Anderson July 30, 2008

Who is he? What makes him tick? Why should anyone else care? I’m the one who cares and this is why I’m what I am. I am an individual and there is no one like me. Some individuals question some of the thoughts I have so I’ll give some of my background and ...

Ominous Parallels

by Chloe Kissinger July 28, 2008

The economic situation in Zimbabwe is dire. A hamburger costs billions of dollars. Vending machines are breaking down from the sheer volume of coins needed to vend a single soda. Zimbabwean workers can barely make ends meet. Their earnings are not rising fast enough to keep up with the prices, which ...

The War No One Mentions

by Jacob G. Hornberger June 1, 2008

With all the campaign talk about the various wars in which America is involved — the war on Iraq, the war on drugs, the war on poverty, the war on illiteracy, the war on terrorism, and the war on Afghanistan — there is one war that goes unacknowledged and unspoken about ...

The Legacy of Milton Friedman, Part 2

by Doug Bandow April 1, 2008

Part 1 | Part 2 Milton Friedman also was adept at proposing practical solutions to practical problems. He believed strongly in liberty, but he recognized that he needed to promote it practically. Nowhere was his ability in this area more evident than in his work on the All-Volunteer Force (AVF). He served on the official ...

The Government’s Chickens Are Back

by Sheldon Richman March 14, 2008

When a private company screws up, there is no shortage of people demanding more government intrusion in the marketplace. But when the government screws up, they don’t call for less government. They call for more. The economy is slowing down, and the government is at fault. But, if anything, the policymakers ...

The Legacy of Milton Friedman, Part 1

by Doug Bandow March 1, 2008

Part 1 | Part 2 It has been more than a year since Milton Friedman passed from our lives. What a world he departed. The desire for liberty burns ever brightly. The forces of statism resist ever strongly. How we miss his presence. Although he has left us, his ideas live ...

The Oil-Addiction Fallacy

by William L. Anderson February 1, 2008

Watch any talking head, and when the subject comes to energy, one can expect to hear the mantra, Americans are “addicted” to oil, and especially “foreign oil.” This is repeated as though the repetition is proof that the premise is true. Thus, American taxpayers are currently being forced to contribute billions of dollars — and will be dunned many billions ...