Daily Articles

Don’t Blame the Termometer for the Fever

by Sheldon Richman January 1, 1999

When communism collapsed a few years ago, people thought the last grand ideological debate over political economy had finally ended. Supposedly, we were all capitalists now. But this is clearly not the case. The world's political leaders show no signs of a commitment to capitalism, if by that term we ...

The Mexican Heritage in the American Southwest

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 1, 1999

For decades, the federal government has waged war against Mexican immigrants attempting to enter the United States. They have shot and killed them in violent confrontations. They have jailed them in detention centers. They have spent millions of dollars building a fortified wall along the California-Mexico border. They have ...

Open Borders: A Gift from the Founders

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 1, 1999

Americans are a fortunate people. More than 200 years ago, our Founding Fathers had the wisdom and foresight to protect us from the government officials of today. The Framers of the Constitution ensured that the respective states of the Union would be forever prohibited from implementing trade restrictions and ...

The Spanish-American War: The Leap into Overseas Empire, Part 2

by Joseph R. Stromberg January 1, 1999

Part 1 | Part 2 In February 1899, uneasy relations between U.S. forces and the Filipino insurgents turned into actual fighting. America was now to learn the sorrows of empire along with its joys. Rallying under the slogan " No hay derecho a vender un pueblo como se vende un saco de patatas " ("There is no right to ...

A Better State of the Union Address

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 1, 1999

"My fellow Americans, I, William Jefferson Clinton, am pleased to report on the state of the union on the eve of the millennium and to propose a different direction for our country. "For most of the 20th century, the primary role of the federal government has been to take care of ...

Book Review: Problemas Economicos de Mexico

by Richard M. Ebeling January 1, 1999

Problemas Economicos de Mexico by Ludwig von Mises (Mexico City: Instituto Cultural Ludwig von Mises); 125 pages; $20. In December 1941, Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises was invited by Luis Montes de Oca, a former director of the Mexican central bank, to deliver a series of lectures in Mexico during January and February 1942. The Mexico visited by Mises was ...

Thought Crimes and Presidential Tantrums

by Sheldon Richman December 2, 1998

In an era of "hate crime" legislation, which makes it an added offense to think certain bad things when committing a real crime, we have a new forbidden thought: that President Clinton launched a savage attack on Iraq to delay, if not scuttle, the impeachment effort in the House of Representatives. As with Mr. Clinton's ...

Patriotism along the Southern Border, Part 1

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 1, 1998

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Not long ago, the patriotism of Mexican-Americans was called into question at an international soccer match in Los Angeles. Anglo-Americans were outraged that Mexican-Americans booed during the playing of the American national anthem and then cheered for the Mexican, rather than the American, soccer team. It wasn't so much that the ...

Monetary Central Planning and the State, Part 24: Milton Friedman’s Framework for Economic Stability

by Richard M. Ebeling December 1, 1998

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 ...

The Best Peace Money Can Buy?

by Sheldon Richman December 1, 1998

The phrase "peace at any price" has a new meaning. These days it means the American taxpayer will be forced to pay any price to make the president of the United States look good at a peace conference. This is how our Middle East policy goes. A president has domestic problems. What to do? War is always ...

Financial Privacy: R.I.P.

by Sheldon Richman December 1, 1998

Okay, this is going too far. According to the Federal Register of December 7, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) wants a new way to snoop on us. It proposes a mandatory program for insured nonmember banks called "Know Your Customer." This is not some friendly way for banks to serve ...

Toying with the Free Market

by Sheldon Richman December 1, 1998

Here's a noteworthy story from the Washington Post last September: "Toys 'R' Us Inc., the world's largest toy retailer, announced a major restructuring yesterday in an effort to shore up the chain's sales and profits, which have flagged as a result of growing competition from discounters and changes in the ...