Socialism and Immigration by Scott McPherson March 7, 2003 In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, it has become increasingly fashionable and popular to loudly proclaim the dangers, threats, costs, and consequences of immigration. If the constant ranting from editorial pages is any gauge, one would think that virtually every ill our society faces can be laid ...
“What We Say Goes” by Sheldon Richman March 7, 2003 President Bush tells us that Saddam Hussein alone will determine whether Iraq burns, but the president is increasingly unable to conceal his smugness when he says such things. The fact is that Bush decided to go to war long ago and every step he takes is calculated to bring ...
Free-Market Environmentalism by Bart Frazier March 7, 2003 One of the most important lessons that economics teaches is that incentives matter. Economics is not a field that is normally associated with the environmental movement, but the recognition of the importance of incentives has led to a schism in the movement — between those environmentalists who turn to the state ...
Why War with Iraq? Follow the Money by Richard M. Ebeling March 5, 2003 Financial Times columnist Martin Wolf recently argued that America’s coming war with Iraq would provide a “public good” for the world. The world economy runs on oil. Any disruption in oil supplies or unstable swings in oil prices threaten the economic well-being of every oil user around the globe. Regimes such ...
The Rot at the Center of the Empire (commentary) by Jacob G. Hornberger March 3, 2003 View the many reader responses to this article. Last weekend’s announcement that the U.S. government had relied on fake and false evidence in the attempt to secure approval of its upcoming invasion of Iraq was, by and large, met by a collective yawn from the American people, especially the members of Congress. It’s just one more example ...
Make Mine a Freedom Muffin by Sheldon Richman March 2, 2003 I don’t eat freedom muffins anymore (I’m on a low-carbohydrate diet), and my stepdaughter has a freedom bulldog. What are freedom muffins and freedom bulldogs? You know them as English muffins and English bulldogs. But as long as we’re removing the word “French” from things, we might as well remove the word “English” too. For heaven’s ...
Nuke Germany Instead by Jacob G. Hornberger March 2, 2003 Last February, Robert Higgs published an essay on LewRockwell.com entitled “Nuke France”. Higgs has it all wrong. We need to nuke Germany instead. After all, let’s not forget: The Germans started both world wars! And everybody knows that there’s something inherently aggressive about all Germans. Do I need to remind anyone that prior to U.S. entry into ...
Economic Liberty and the Constitution, Part 10 by Jacob G. Hornberger March 1, 2003 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Table of Contents An analysis of the Gold Clause Cases, decided by ...
The Hubris of the Central Banker and the Ghosts of Deflation Past, Part 2 by Richard M. Ebeling March 1, 2003 Part 1 | Part 2 In spite of the fact that the monetary policies of the Federal Reserve System in the United States and the European Central Bank (ECB) have been highly expansionary during the current economic downturn, central bankers at both institutions have taken the time to deliver addresses assuring their listeners that there is no need for ...
The Poisoning of “States’ Rights” by Sheldon Richman March 1, 2003 Schadenfreude. That’s what I felt watching former Senate majority leader Trent Lott twist in the wind over his expressed wish that Strom Thurmond had won the presidency in 1948. “A malicious satisfaction in the misfortunes of others.” Lott is a typical Republican leader. He occasionally talks about limiting government power, but his actions are those of a conservative big-government wheeler-dealer ...
Government’s License to Inflict Injustice by James Bovard March 1, 2003 Sovereign immunity is one of the most dangerous concepts to freedom. And the larger and more powerful governments become, the more sovereign immunity becomes a black hole where citizens’ rights can vanish. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes declared in 1907, “A sovereign is exempt from suit there can be no legal right as against ...
Ending the Anachronistic Korean Commitment, Part 2 by Doug Bandow March 1, 2003 Part 1 | Part 2 In the aftermath of the 2000 inter-Korean summit, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon explained, “We intend to remain a force for stability in that area as long as we are needed.” But U.S. forces weren’t needed even before the summit. South Korea (the Republic of Korea, or ROK) has upwards of 40 times the GDP and ...