“I am so great an advocate of freedom that I would have everything done voluntarily.” – Lydia Maria Child
One of the most egregious misunderstandings about trade is that the government of country A should allow its people to trade freely with peoples of other countries only if governments of, and producers in, other countries “play by the rules” – which usually means “plays according to the rules that the rulers and politically powerful […]
Trump-style economic nationalism, like the more full-throated fascism with which it shares much, aims to bring back the mythical glory days of the nation. But if we really want to make America great (again), we should learn the lesson of history, as well as economic theory, that prosperity comes from the free movement of goods, services, and people regardless of arbitrary political lines.
Commerce brings out the best in human beings by providing incentives to care about others. Those who can’t rise above focusing on their short-term narrow needs have little ability to meet the needs of others.
In today’s globally connected world with dynamic global supply chains for raw materials and inputs, and global marketplaces for final sales, it’s an economic fact of the modern world economy that: a) exporters are importers and b) importers are exporters.
The free-market concept is simple — private property owners should be able to preside over whatever policies they want.
Among the great misconceptions of the free economy is the widely-held belief that “laissez faire” embodies a natural tendency toward monopoly concentration.
Make it your goal, therefore, to bring at least one person over to the cause of liberty in 2017, and if we all do this we will have, at a minimum, doubled the friends of freedom in this New Year.
Every year the number of regulations, dictates, rules, decrees, guidelines, statutes, laws, and bylaws in the United States grows by leaps and bounds.
I was still a Soviet citizen when I first read some of the international documents on human, economic, and political rights.
Trump’s base will be hurt the most by his wealth-destroying and punitive trade policy.
Market economies have continually driven down the real cost of food, enabling more and more people to consume more calories and a wider variety of higher quality food.
The most far-fetched myth that I’ve encountered recently is that the wealth of the modern Western world, especially that of the United States, is the product of slavery.
So here it is — halfway through December already! That friendship you started at last year’s ISFLC, FEE seminar, or IHS conference has miraculously lasted. You are happy, and maybe even in love. And now you need a gift for your liberty-loving partner.
“I learned in economics that in ‘perfect competition’ profits are zero, so any actual profits come from some kind of monopoly power. So how could profits be good?”
When fans of Star Trek or Harry Potter write their own stories or make their own films or music set in those universes, are they hurting the original art or its creators? Or are they in fact making new art and adding something positive to the world?
Would you give up air travel for $100,000? What about foregoing automotive travel for $500,000? Why or why not?
Imagine a society that always encouraged you to make the right choices without forcing to make those choices.
The petty tyrants that occupy county zoning offices or health departments are exactly why we can’t have nice things.
Two front-page stories in the Metro section of Monday’s Washington Post depict protected service providers desperately trying to fight off innovations that might serve customers better and threaten the comfortable incomes of the established providers.
In my mind, then, Castro is a lot like the minimum wage: something we must stubbornly decry even though there are far greater ills in the world.
Recycling is one example of an action that we take in the present to benefit a group in the future.
Have you ever stopped and looked around the grocery store? There are thousands of products neatly arranged and conveniently located just for you.
If we want the market order to survive, we will have to continue to treat it both in theory and practice as a realm of moral and virtuous behavior.