Daily Articles

Ten Thousand Czars

by James Bovard September 1, 2000

The Founding Fathers sought to build a government that was constrained both by law and by the Bill of Rights. Modern legislators and bureaucrats have completely forgotten the reasons coercive power must be confined in narrow boundaries to avoid becoming a public curse. Instead of the rule of law, we have one new government czar and petty dictator after ...

Abolish NHTSA

by Sheldon Richman September 1, 2000

Purely for the sake of discussion, let’s assume the worst about Firestone and Ford: that someone’s gross negligence led to the production of tires that endangered drivers of Ford Explorers. The common law tort process should be allowed to take its course. If there’s evidence of ...

Economic Crimes and Cuban Cigars

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 2000

Two years ago, a prominent New Yorker restaurant owner who had never been in trouble with the law was arrested and charged with a federal felony. What was the man’s crime? Selling cigars at his restaurants. Well, not just any cigars. Cuban cigars. You know, Cohibas and Montecristos. The good stuff! Why is ...

Is Mexico Asking the Right Questions?

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 2000

In order to solve a problem, it is necessary to ask the right questions. During his recent visit to Washington, Mexican President-elect Vicente Fox asked the wrong questions: "How can we narrow the gap in income on both sides of the border?" and "How can we put together a fund for development?" The ...

Book Review: Power and Prosperity

by Richard M. Ebeling September 1, 2000

Power and Prosperity: Outgrowing Communist and Capitalist Dictatorships by Mancur Olson (New York: Basic Books, 2000); 233 pages; $28. MANCUR OLSON, who died in 1998 at the age of 62, was one of the most insightful economic analysts of the political process. His most original and important work was The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of ...

CAPSULE COMMENTARY: “Bush and Gore Debate Our Allowance”

by Jacob G. Hornberger August 27, 2000

"The debate between presidential candidates George W. Bush and Al Gore over income-tax cuts reflects how far Americans have plunged with respect to their understanding of individual rights. Bush calls for larger income-tax cuts (and assures us that, unlike his father, he really means it) and Gore calls for smaller ...

The Constitution: Liberties of the People and Powers of Government, Part 1

by Jacob G. Hornberger August 1, 2000

Part 1 | Part 2 The most radical experiment in history is the Constitution of the United States of America. Throughout history, people had accepted the commonly held notion that government’s powers over the citizenry were supreme. In 1787, however, for the first time ever, the American people announced to the world that the liberties of the people were ...

Imagining Freedom for the 21st Century: A Presidential Candidate’s Press Conference, Part 3

by Richard M. Ebeling August 1, 2000

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 The New York Times: In a recent public opinion poll, 71 percent of the respondents said that the protection of the existing Social Security system was important in evaluating a presidential candidate. Yet you seem to be calling for the abolition of ...

The Bankrupt Anti-Gun Movement

by Sheldon Richman August 1, 2000

IF THE CHARACTER of the anti-gun-rights forces was in doubt before the Million Mom March last spring, there is no longer any doubt. The statements of the leading participants vividly revealed them as demagogues who seek only to play on blind emotion in order to push an agenda that would violate a basic individual right: the right to defend ...

An Echo, Not a Choice

by Sheldon Richman August 1, 2000

Must the Republicans' abandon every semblance of principle in order to save us from a Gore presidency? In the minds of the GOP leaders, the answer seems to be yes. Apparently, a decision has been made that victory is so essential that the party will say anything to avoid offending anyone. ...

CAPSULE COMMENTARY: “Cuban and American Statists Think Alike”

by Jacob G. Hornberger August 1, 2000

"Libertarians are often challenged by statists on two points: first, whether it would be morally proper to terminate such government programs as public schooling, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and public housing for the poor, as libertarians argue should be done. And second, that an immediate termination of such programs would ...

CAPSULE COMMENTARY: “Illiteracy Emergency”

by Jacob G. Hornberger August 1, 2000

"Both George W. Bush and Al Gore have declared illiteracy a 'national emergency.' What better indictment of the results of public schooling? After all, throughout the 20th century, Americans were required, under pain of fine and imprisonment, to send their children to a government-approved school. To comply with the law, ...