Daily Articles

The Demise of Conscience, Part 2

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 1, 2008

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 The demise of conscience among the American people is even more pronounced in the context of the warfare state than it is in that of the welfare state. The best example of this phenomenon can be seen in the invasion and occupation of Iraq. By examining Iraq, we can see ...

GOP Statists

by Sheldon Richman April 1, 2008

Any remaining pretense that the Republican Party is the party of free markets has been blown to smithereens in the election season. Even the lip service to free enterprise has become scarce, as the major candidates threw their arms around flagrantly statist economic proposals. This is vividly illustrated by the Bush-Pelosi “stimulus package,” which was ...

The Capsizing of American Democracy

by James Bovard April 1, 2008

American democracy is capsizing as a result of the vast increase in the number of government dependents and government employees. This has created a voting bloc that overwhelms every other potential force. H.L. Mencken quipped in the 1930s that the New Deal divided America into “those who work for a living and those who ...

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 ...

Open Borders Work, Part 2

by Philippe LeGrain April 1, 2008

Part 1 | Part 2 Opponents of immigration marshal a battery of objections to opening up borders. They claim that it would cost jobs, pose a huge welfare burden, and threaten Americans’ way of life — even their security. Yet these fears are mostly nonsense. Critics argue that low-skilled immigration is harmful because the newcomers are poorer and ...

The Root of All Evil, Part 1

by Gregory Bresiger April 1, 2008

Part 1 | Part 2 He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their Substance. — The Declaration of Independence   You may think you’re safe from ...

A History of Libertarianism

by George Leef April 1, 2008

Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement by Brian Doherty (Public Affairs, 2007); 741 pages; $35. With Radicals for Capitalism, veteran libertarian journalist Brian Doherty (whose work is most often found in Reason) gives the world what he calls a “freewheeling history of the modern American libertarian ...

America’s Anti-Militarist Tradition

by Sheldon Richman March 28, 2008

The Right went apoplectic at the skepticism that greeted Gen. David Petraeus’s recent testimony about the success of the military escalation in Iraq. It was as though a member of the military was incapable of engaging in spin to support his commander in chief’s war policy. How could anyone even for ...

Foreword to Tethered Citizens: Time to Repeal the Welfare State

by Ron Paul March 26, 2008

Sheldon Richman’s Tethered Citizens: Time to Repeal the Welfare State is precisely the type of scholarly work needed to wake up the American people to the dangers posed by the welfare state. Richman demolishes the popular myth that the welfare state was a natural outgrowth of the Founding ...

FFF Speaker Spotlight: David R. Henderson

by Jacob G. Hornberger March 21, 2008

We are extremely honored to have David Henderson speaking at our upcoming June 6-8 conference “Restoring the Republic 2008: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties.” Not only is David one of the most brilliant economic thinkers in the country, he is also among those who is devoting his intellectual energy to moving ...

Government-Made Crises

by Jacob G. Hornberger March 17, 2008

A fascinating aspect of government intervention is how it induces people (1) to get embroiled in the crisis environment that the intervention produces, and (2) to feel a vested interest in coming up with a solution to the crisis. Consider price controls, an intervention that governments traditionally turn to in response to their own debasement of the currency. As prices ...

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 ...