For many, a “helping hand” is supposed to come from the government, especially when it comes to things related to health care. But innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship are proving that this is not always the case. In the video below, University of Rochester Professor and e-Nable founder Dr. Jon Schull shows how invention and crowdsourcing […]
April Fools! Learn Liberty is back in charge, and everything the Department of Careful Communications (DCC) said about censoring and redacting our content is moot. Learn Liberty believes that the most effective way to challenge assumptions and refine ideas in a free society is to engage in respectful but frank dialogue—conversations in which we are […]
April Fools! Learn Liberty is back in charge, and everything the Department of Careful Communications (DCC) said about censoring and redacting our content is moot. Learn Liberty believes that the most effective way to challenge assumptions and refine ideas in a free society is to engage in respectful but frank dialogue—conversations in which we are […]
It’s March, which means the deadline to pay your taxes is just around the corner. That makes it a great time to reflect on the complexity, and sometimes the absurdity, of the U.S. tax code. The federal tax system alone is over 10 million words long, and each state has a tax code with its […]
This month, President Obama visited Cuba, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to do so since 1959. The President has been criticized for normalizing the U.S. relationship with Cuba, in light of the country’s Communist regime and human rights abuses. That list of abuses, according to a 2015 report by Human Rights Watch, includes arbitrary […]
Recently the hearts and minds of internet users have been captivated by a simple yet radical sentiment expressed in meme form. Step aside “taxation without representation,” there’s a new taxation meme in town: Taxation is Theft. The following are the best taxation is theft memes we here at Learn Liberty have come across so far. […]
Do you feel like you’re looking for love in all the wrong places? Are you sick and tired of swiping to the left, when all you want is a few good swipes to the right? You have a great personality. You’re smart, and gainfully employed. You’re also incredibly good-looking and even bathe daily — twice […]
Markets can be regulated by the figurative force of competition or by the literal force of government. Which better protects buyers and sellers? Contrary to popular belief, regulation by competition usually renders regulation by government either unnecessary or counterproductive. Regulations are usually presented to the public as a matter of guarding the public interest and […]
Two members of the student government at Bowdoin College faced impeachment proceedings for committing an “act of ethnic stereotyping” because they attended a party where some guests wore tiny sombreros. It’s the kind of story that will make you want to reach for the tequila. But it’s also one that is unfortunately all too common […]
For decades, the debate around health care has centered on access. No question access to health care is important. But this focus has ignored — and come at the expense of — topics that are much more important, namely quality and price. In the video below, Robert Graboyes, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, […]
Liberty lovers have another bracket to fill out and obsess over this March. The Institute for Humane Studies is hosting its own version of March Madness, featuring the top thinkers of the liberty movement. The competitors represent four quadrants of liberty thought: Nobel Prize winners, classical thinkers, Austrian Economists, and radical thinkers. Vote for your […]
Has the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, worked? It’s a difficult question to answer given that there is so much politicking around the issue. In the new Learn Liberty video below, Duquesne University Professor Antony Davies cuts through the politics to give an honest assessment of the law’s performance. “Politicians promised that the […]
You hear the words “socialism” and “capitalism” thrown around a lot, but what do they really mean? And what are the pros and cons of each system? In this special On Demand program, we take an honest look at these concepts and explore the practical and philosophical issues behind them. Is socialism a fairer system […]
A report released last Friday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services confirmed that the number of Obamacare enrollees fell to 8.8 million last year, down from 11.1 million who signed up. That’s a 25 percent decline. It’s a big deal, and it’s a pattern that is very likely to repeat in 2016. While […]
A lot of people – especially the kind of people who read blogs like this! – have very strong views about politics. This is especially true when our political views are based on moral views. If we think that universal health care is a good idea because we think it’s likely to result in more […]
Editor’s note: This blog post contains descriptions of rape and sexual assault. Reader’s discretion is advised. I lived in Erlangen, Germany for much of 2009, getting around on a bicycle. After the big April beer festival, the “Bergkirchweih,” my lock was cut and my bike was thrown down a hill and set on fire (it […]
Mr. Sanders: In last-night’s debate you said: “I was on a picket line in the early 1990s against Nafta, because you didn’t need a Ph.D. in economics to understand that American workers should not be forced to compete against people in Mexico making 25 cents an hour.” I’m told that you’re a principled man who […]
With all the excitement of the 2016 presidential election ramping up, it’s even more important to think critically about proposed government policy. Not only are voters biased, they’re often swayed by policies which sound good, but which don’t always have good results. Randal O’Toole, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, illustrates the careful balancing […]
If you want to get experience (and maybe even some cash) this summer, it’s not too late to apply to summer internships! We’ve compiled a list of just a handful of great organizations with upcoming summer internship deadlines. Manhattan Institute (New York) Deadline: March 15 Mackinac Center (Michigan) Deadline: March 31 Ayn Rand Institute (California […]
You might have heard some news stories about how the FBI wants Apple’s help to get into the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters. But what’s the big deal with this story, anyway? What’s going on The FBI has asked for Apple’s help to break into a locked iPhone which belongs to one […]
Wouldn’t it be great if seeing a doctor was as quick and as easy as calling an Uber? That’s the question that Mercatus Center Senior Research Fellow Adam Thierer asks in the new Learn Liberty video on Permissionless Innovation. This concept states that people should be allowed to innovate and make products that improve our […]
Sure, you did well in Econ 101, but what does that have to do with your day-to-day life if you aren’t an economist? You probably glazed over terms like “opportunity cost” and “gains from trade”, and we really couldn’t blame you. But what if you could apply those concepts to the things you do for […]
What do we learn if immigrants lower the wages of American high school dropouts? That we should restrict immigration? No. We shouldn’t. First, if immigrants reduce the wages of high school dropouts, it sends a very clear message: don’t drop out of high school. Indeed, this is how people have responded to competitive pressure from […]