Daily Articles

Reasons for Anti-Capitalism: Ignorance, Arrogance, and Envy

by Richard M. Ebeling April 2, 2018

Why is the free enterprise or capitalist economic system so widely disliked, hated and opposed? Given the success of the competitive market economy to “deliver the goods,” it presents something of a paradox. An economic system that has either radically reduced or even in some instances virtually eliminated poverty, that has created widely available opportunities for personal, social and ...

The Tyranny of Immigration Controls

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 1, 2018

Imagine the following conversation: John: Oh, my head hurts so bad. I don’t know what I’m going to do. Jack: If you stopped beating your head against that wall, your headache would go away. John: You libertarians are always so impractical and extreme. My headache has nothing to do with the fact that I am beating my head against this wall. I ...

The Bundy Ranch Case Explains Westerners’ Distrust of Washington

by James Bovard April 1, 2018

The Justice Department was caught in January in another high-profile travesty of due process. On December 20, federal judge Gloria Navarro declared a mistrial in the case against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and others after prosecutors were caught withholding massive amounts of evidence undermining federal charges. Two weeks later, she dismissed all charges against Bundy and his sons. Navarro ...

Dress Codes, Discrimination, and a Free Society

by Laurence M. Vance April 1, 2018

A restaurant and nightclub in Washington, D.C. changed its dress code earlier this year after a complaint that it engaged in discrimination against non-whites. The incident serves as a valuable example of the place of dress codes and the practice of discrimination in a free society. Sneakers It was not the night before Christmas, but it was the Saturday night before. ...

Open Borders: Trade, Migration, Entrepreneurship, and Property

by Ken Schoolland April 1, 2018

For good reason people ask how nations can become more prosperous. Usually the start is “Why is there poverty?” But the real question should be “Why is there wealth?” Poverty is the natural condition of all peoples of the world throughout history. Only in the past couple hundred years have we seen an astounding rise in the amount of ...

Nightfall on the American Empire

by Matthew Harwood April 1, 2018

In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of U.S. Global Power by Alfred W. McCoy (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2017). In August of 2007, David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States and director of the Government Accountability Office, delivered a speech remarkable for its plainspoken nature to the Federal Midwest Human Resources ...

If You Really Want to Save Lives, Take Aim at Government Violence

by John W. Whitehead March 28, 2018

“It is often the case that police shootings, incidents where law enforcement officers pull the trigger on civilians, are left out of the conversation on gun violence. But a police officer shooting a civilian counts as gun violence. Every time an officer uses a gun against an innocent or an unarmed person contributes to the culture ...

The Libertarian Angle: Free Banking and Bitcoin

by Future of Freedom Foundation March 27, 2018

Special guest Larry White, senior fellow at the Cato Institute and professor of economics at George Mason University, joins Jacob Hornberger and Richard Ebeling to discuss Bitcoin and what a free market in money would look like. Go to the podcast https://libertarianangle.libsyn.com/.

Mises the Man and His Monetary Policy Ideas Based on His “Lost Papers”

by Richard M. Ebeling March 26, 2018

One day in 1927 Austrian economist, Ludwig von Mises, stood at the window of his office at the Vienna Chamber of Commerce, and looked out over the Ringstrasse (the main grand boulevard that encircles the center of Vienna). He said to his young friend and former student, Fritz Machlup, “Maybe grass will grow there, because our civilization will end.” ...

Libertarian Angle: Come to Our Charleston Conference! (video)

by Future of Freedom Foundation March 21, 2018

Jacob Hornberger and Richard Ebeling discuss the upcoming conference in Charleston, SC, co-hosted by the Ron Paul Institute and FFF. Register today.

Collectivism’s Progress: From Marxism to Race and Gender Intersectionality

by Richard M. Ebeling March 19, 2018

By many objective signs and indicators the world is becoming a far more materially comfortable place. Over the last thirty years, tens of millions of people have been raised out of poverty in various parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America. At the same time, new technologies have been transforming communications and conveniences of everyday life. Yet, present political ...

Real Educational Freedom

by Laurence M. Vance March 14, 2018

The federal secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, is calling on Americans to embrace a vision of “education freedom” that empowers students and parents with a “multitude of pathways” toward new opportunities. DeVos made her remarks at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) — held February 27–March 2 outside Washington, D.C. — during a ...