Daily Articles

The Jacob Hornberger Show: February 10, 2013 (video)

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 11, 2013

  The Jacob Hornberger Show airs live every Sunday evening at 6:30 p.m. eastern on the Future of Freedom Foundation’s Ustream channel.

TGIF: Does the Market Exhibit Cooperation?

by Sheldon Richman February 8, 2013

The American Heritage Dictionary defines the verb cooperate as “To work or act together toward a common end or purpose” and “To form an association for common, usually economic, benefit.” Note that these definitions seem to require awareness about some joint effort to achieve a common objective. This would seem to leave little room for the social cooperation that libertarians ...

Who is Mentally Ill?

by Wendy McElroy February 8, 2013

The current push toward gun control is being presented in a particularly dangerous and dishonest manner. It is being framed in terms of mental health and packaged in a way that almost guarantees victory for the advocates of control. The debating point proffered is, “How do we keep guns away from the mentally ill?” Thus far, President Obama’s answer has ...

Religious Obstacles to Democratization in the Middle East: Past and Present

by Timur Kuran February 8, 2013

On February 5th, 2013, Timur Kuran gave the following speech at The Future of Freedom Foundation’s “Economic Liberty Lecture Series.” The speech can viewed above in its entirety.  

The Calling: “Who Gets What” Is Only Half the Problem

by Steven Horwitz February 7, 2013

When we economists talk about the role of prices in a market economy, one of the points we often make is that prices determine who, among the many who would like to have a particular good, are actually able to obtain it. In other words, we must decide “who gets what.” In a world of scarcity, the wants of human ...

On Terrorism, America Has Lost Its Way

by Andy Worthington February 7, 2013

Last week at Guantánamo a farcical dance played out, as it does every six months or so. Representatives of the U.S. mainstream media — and other reporters from around the world — flew to the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to witness the latest round of the seemingly interminable pre-trial hearings in the cases of Khalid Sheikh ...

Hagel’s Retreat

by Sheldon Richman February 6, 2013

Some observers are mystified by Chuck Hagel’s pathetic showing at his Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, but there should be no mystery about it. He performed as he did for one simple reason: He wants to be the next secretary of defense, and he (along with the White House) must have calculated that standing up for his past positions ...

The New Scramble for Africa

by Tim Kelly February 6, 2013

The deployment of French troops to Mali has put that large and impoverished African nation in the media’s spotlight. We are being told France’s intervention, which the US military is supporting, is necessary to prevent the country from being overrun by Muslim fanatics and terrorists. However, the intervention by a former colonial power into the affairs of yet another African ...

The Federal War on Marijuana

by Laurence M. Vance February 5, 2013

Barack Obama and Joe Biden were not the only winners in the November election. Even including the election of the members of both houses of the U.S. Congress, it is on the state level where the vast majority of elections take place. One thing that is unique about state elections is the inclusion of ballot questions — initiatives, referendums, legislative ...

“Hurry Up and Die”: The Inescapable Outcome of Socialized Medicine

by Michael Tennant February 4, 2013

Japan’s “universal” health-care system, like all such systems the world over, is in trouble, with costs rising and the population aging. Nearly 25 percent of Japanese are over the age of 60, a proportion expected to increase to 40 percent over the next 50 years. Since the old generally require more — and more expensive — medical treatment than ...

The Jacob Hornberger Show: February 3, 2013

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 4, 2013

  The Jacob Hornberger Show airs live every Sunday evening at 6:30 p.m. eastern on the Future of Freedom Foundation's Ustream channel.

TGIF: Economy or Catallaxy?

by Sheldon Richman February 1, 2013

That the champions of the free market have always understood it, first and foremost, as the most basic form of social cooperation is evidenced by a dissatisfaction with the term economy itself. In volume 2 of Law, Legislation, and Liberty, F.A. Hayek claimed that we cannot properly comprehend the market order unless we free ourselves of the misleading ...