Free Market

Should There Be Equal Pay for Equal Work?

by Laurence M. Vance July 1, 2021

Although I rarely watch cable television, I happened to tune in to an episode of Mysteries at the Museum on the Travel Channel the other day. The segment I saw was about Mary Elizabeth “Lizzie” Murphy (1894–1964), the first female professional baseball player. The diminutive first baseman from Warren, Rhode Island, who was known professionally as Spike Murphy, billed ...

Free Labor Markets vs. Biden’s Push for Compulsory Unionism

by Richard M. Ebeling January 29, 2021

We have now entered the Joe Biden presidency in the United States. Calling for a restored unity among the American people, the new president has come out of the starting gate with a plethora of executive orders and legislative policy proposals being sent to the Democratic Party-controlled Congress. Virtually all of them involve increased government spending, regulation, and planning ...

Don’t Confuse Free Markets with the Interventionist State

by Richard M. Ebeling December 4, 2020

When most people put on their “reality” hats about politics, there are few among them who do not cynically see the power-lusting, the corruption, and the hypocrisy in most of what is said and done by those running for or sitting in political office. A constant point of dispute and disagreement is over how and why it is that ...

The Legacy of Thanksgiving Is Free Enterprise

by Richard M. Ebeling November 25, 2020

Thanksgiving is normally a time of family festivities, when relatives and good friends come together for a fine meal, catching up with what has been happening in everyone’s life, and a general good cheer. A month later Christmas and New Year’s brings an end to the old year and the start of another. But things are very different this ...

The Lesson of a Crash that Cured Itself

by Wendy McElroy April 3, 2020

If a government wishes to alleviate, rather than aggravate, a depression, its only valid course is laissez-faire—to leave the economy alone. Only if there is no interference, direct or threatened, with prices, wage rates and business liquidation, will the necessary adjustment proceed with smooth dispatch. — Murray Rothbard, America’s Great Depression The economic disruption caused by ...

To Kill Markets Is the Worst Possible Plan

by Richard M. Ebeling March 19, 2020

Momentous events usually leave strong memories on those who have lived through them, and those memories often become passed on to later generations in the form of historical interpretations of why and what had happened in the past. This has certainly been so in the cases of the Great Depression, the Second World War, the Civil Rights Movement, the ...

The Mixed Economy Is a Mess

by Richard M. Ebeling February 5, 2020

Election years tend to polarize people’s views about political parties, proposed social and economic policies, and the candidates running for high governmental office. This presidential election cycle is not only no different, it is far more so.  This shows itself especially in how many younger Americans view the political, economic and social system under which they live. According to a ...

Are Uber Drivers Underpaid?

by Laurence M. Vance February 1, 2020

After its initial public offering (IPO) in May 2019, Uber’s shares closed their first day of trading at $41.57 — 7.6 percent below the company’s offering price of $45. On November 6 — the day of the highly anticipated six-month “lockup” period following its IPO ended — early investors and employees looking to sell their stock for a big ...

U-Haul’s New Hiring Policy Should Be the Norm

by Laurence M. Vance January 30, 2020

They’re everywhere, and have been for as long as I can remember: U-Haul trucks, trailers, towing devices, moving boxes, and self-storage units are ubiquitous. U-Haul International, the creator of the do-it-yourself moving industry, has “a network of 22,000 locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces.” The company’s fleet has grown “to approximately 167,000 trucks, ...

In Defense of the Quid Pro Quo

by Richard M. Ebeling January 1, 2020

For a good part of the second half of 2019, the news has been filled with Donald Trump’s perceived quid pro quo with the Ukrainian government over U.S. military aid in return for investigating Joe Biden, a potential campaign opponent, and his son, Hunter, to give the incumbent president an edge in the coming presidential election. It culminated in ...

The Miracle of the Free Market

by Richard M. Ebeling December 17, 2019

One of the great fallacies arrogantly believed in by those in political power is the notion that they can know enough to manage and command the lives of everyone in society with better results than if people are left to live their own lives as they freely choose. The fact is, there is far more in the world that successfully ...

Should There Be a Federal Cap on Interest Rates?

by Laurence M. Vance December 5, 2019

Although every state has laws that limit the rate of interest that can be charged on loans, there exist broad exemptions, exceptions, and loopholes based on the type of lender or borrower, the loan amount, the nature of the loan contract, or the subject of the loan contract. Some lenders have found a way to get around those laws. According to ...