Regulation Policy & Welfare

“Bad Money Drives Out Good”

by Charles Adams December 1, 2003

This is what has been called Gresham’s Law. It was formulated by Sir Thomas Gresham to explain to Queen Elizabeth I what was happening to the English shilling. Her father, Henry VIII, had been adulterating the English shilling, the basic coin of the realm, by replacing 40 percent of the silver in the coin with base metals — a ...

Book Review: Dependent on D.C. by Charlotte A. Twight

by George Leef December 1, 2003

Dependent on D.C.: The Rise of Federal Control over the Lives of Ordinary Americans by Charlotte Twight (St. Martins Press, 2002); 422 pages; $26.95. I have often thought about how different the United States of today is from the United States my grandfather knew. A century ago, he was a young man embarking on a business career. He and all other ...

Will Work for Less

by Scott McPherson November 1, 2003

“Thought I’d get a piece of meat,” . “Got all kinds,” he said. “Hamburg, like to have some hamburg? Twenty cents a pound, hamburg.” “Ain’t that awful high? Seems to me hamburg was fifteen las’ time I got some.” “Well,” he giggled softly, “yes, it’s high, an’ same time it ain’t high. Time you go on in town for a ...

Vice Laws: A Lethal Cure in Search of a Disease

by Lawrence M. Ludlow November 1, 2003

People sometimes accuse libertarians of being immoral or amoral because we do not define vices as crimes. At its most harmless, the accusation is groundless and based on ignorance. At worst, however, it is an act of deliberate deception — the first step in a chain of thinking that leads to the proliferation of genuine crimes that cause great ...

Book Review: Government Creep

by Paul Armentano November 1, 2003

Government Creep: What the Government Is Doing That You Don’t Know About by Philip D. Harvey (Port Townsend, Wash.: Loompanics Unlimited, 2003); 159 pages; $12.95. Shopping for a new car? For your “protection,” it will come equipped with airbags. Don’t want airbags in your vehicle? Tough. Not only is it impossible to buy a new ...

Legal Plunder in Alabama

by Sheldon Richman October 13, 2003

Most Americans would take umbrage at the suggestion that they are serfs rather than citizens of the United States. But that just shows how far removed from political reality they are. How many people would be surprised to learn that the government can take their homes if it decides ...

The Fraud of Insider-Trading Law, Part 2

by Sheldon Richman October 1, 2003

Part 1 | Part 2 It is virtually unquestioned in America today that insider trading in the securities markets is a dastardly act. We must make a distinction here between trading by insiders and trading by insiders on the basis of nonpublic information. Insiders are legally allowed to buy and sell stocks. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires ...

Price Controls Are No Answer to Isabel

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 19, 2003

Five states have declared a state of emergency as a result of Hurricane Isabel. Citizens in the affected states should hope that government officials don't do what they often do during such emergencies — impose price controls, especially on important items, such as water, ice, batteries, candles, and building supplies. During ...

The Fraud of Insider-Trading Law, Part 1

by Sheldon Richman September 1, 2003

Part 1 | Part 2 This article was originally intended as a discussion of the Martha Stewart case. But instead it will be a discussion of insider trading. Many people think those are one and the same issue. But that is incorrect. After more than a year of associating Martha Stewart with insider trading, the U.S. Justice Department declined to ...

Central Planning of Electricity Must Fail

by Sheldon Richman August 20, 2003

Central economic planning was discredited in the old Soviet Union and every other country that attempted it. What the great economist Ludwig von Mises showed in theory in the 1920s was then demonstrated in practice in subsequent decades: central economic planning is impossible. Most people will agree when the ...

Two Great Books

by Sheldon Richman August 1, 2003

Libertarians love books. They hunger for reading material and are always eager to hear of new works dealing with the broad and deep subject of individual liberty and its social and economic implications. In my opinion, two books in particular belong on every libertarian’s shelf. I mean this literally because these are books that libertarians will want to consult often. One, ...

I Support Economic Regulation!

by Scott McPherson June 20, 2003

The evils which men perpetually call on the State to cure by superintendence, themselves arise from non-performance of its original duty. — Herbert Spencer, Over-Legislation (1853) On a recent camping trip with my brother-in-law and his family, my wife expressed doubt that the British rail service could ever reach ...