Learn Liberty Blog
We tackle big questions about what makes society free or prosperous and how we can improve the world we live in.
Blog Posts in Focus
FIVE MYTHS ABOUT HEALTHCARE
April 1, 2022 | Nazlican Kanmaz
Healthcare in the United States is Pandora’s Box: even the mere thought of it releases physical and emotional curses upon policymakers.
Legends of Liberty: Lysander Spooner
November 18, 2021 | Learn Liberty Team
As we witnessed during the 2020 election season, and as we are sure to witness during the upcoming holiday season, the United States Postal Service doesn’t exactly instill confidence.
The organic industry is a case study in rent-seeking.
February 5, 2018 | Henry I. Miller
If businesses get government subsidies to make their products cheaper, or “capture” regulation to hurt their competitors, that’s rent seeking.
Blog Posts
The dirty word that gives us our freedom
October 18, 2017 | Lauren Hall
Competition is often considered a dirty word, with many critics of free market ideas emphasizing the cutthroat competition of Wall Street as an example of how competition brings out the worst in people, encourages us to cut corners, and undermines our altruistic tendencies.
3 reasons why the NRA is so powerful
October 16, 2017 | Michael Munger
Organized interest groups are able to control a lot of policy making, even if most people in the unorganized public disagree with them.
Looking at randomness but seeing conspiracies
October 10, 2017 | Michael Munger
The wary cat has a theory of the world: “Stove burns you. Stay away from stove.”
Do NFL players have the right to take the knee?
October 9, 2017 | Ninos Malek
We need to be careful about arguing that players have a First Amendment right to protest peacefully on the field.
Is the USA really the highest-taxed nation in the world?
October 6, 2017 | Jason Sorens
President Trump has repeatedly claimed that the United States is the highest-taxed country in the world. The data people are using to fact-check him are misleading.
Why compassionate people should reject Bernie’s single-payer health care plan
October 5, 2017 | Lauren Hall
The government has been ruining US health care since 1946.
Notes from the bubble
October 4, 2017 | John Hasnas
We treat those we believe to be ill-motivated as adversaries to be defeated, and we frequently have no compunction about excluding them from our “disinterested pursuit of truth.”
There's one situation where classical liberals can justify foreign intervention.
October 3, 2017 | Steve Davies
For any kind of libertarian/classical liberal, the question with foreign policy is which course of action is going to most maximize liberty, both in the country that is potentially doing the intervening and the part of the world where the intervention might take place.
How Obamacare fails breastfeeding mothers
October 2, 2017 | Lauren Hall
Without government interference in my insurance plan, where would I be today?
The timber industry illustrates exactly what's wrong with international trade restrictions.
September 28, 2017 | Art Carden
It is an easy mistake to think that restrictions on international trade that help one industry “grow and prosper” will help all industries “grow and prosper.”
This is the best way to provide relief after a hurricane.
September 27, 2017 | Anne Bradley
When we experience a large decrease in supply, or an increase in scarcity, the price mechanism helps us know what to do next.
Prices are the moral rationing agents of market exchange.
Ilya Somin on Game of Thrones and voter ignorance — highlights from his AMA
September 26, 2017 | Ted Wray
Professor Ilya Somin recently joined us on Reddit for an “Ask Me Anything” conversation as part of our Learn Liberty Reddit AMA Series. He answered your questions about Game of Thrones, voter ignorance, and the prospects for bipartisan reforms in the direction of liberty. Fans of Learn Liberty will recognize Professor Somin as the star of our popular video, I Can’t Breathe: […]
Stop saying that! Limited liability does not mean what you think it means.
September 25, 2017 | John Hasnas
The next time someone starts explaining to you how government regulation is needed because corporations have the special privilege of limited liability, please channel Count Rugen.
What’s wrong with being a rich kid with rich parents?
September 22, 2017 | Jason Sorens
In partly free societies, more intergenerational mobility isn’t always a good thing.
Who are the most generous helpers in the wake of Hurricane Irma?
September 21, 2017 | Joy Buchanan
The media rarely celebrate ordinary people doing jobs for which they get paid. But the man selling several generators can be more impactful than the man giving one away.
The real reason young people can’t get jobs in Africa
September 20, 2017 | Karol Boudreaux
Given that Africa has the world’s youngest population, the lack of steady, formal-sector jobs is an enormous political and economic risk factor. Unemployed youth are more likely to be criminals, may be lured into militant groups, and contribute to political unrest.
Permissionless innovation: The fuzzy idea that rules our lives
September 19, 2017 | Michael Munger
People sometimes ask me, “What is the most important concept in political economy?” The answer is easy, but subtle …
What politicians really mean when they say they're pro-business
September 18, 2017 | Matthew Mitchell
Whenever a politician claims to be pro-business, stop to look at what they actually mean by it. The approach makes all the difference.
FEMA should not favor zoos over houses of worship
September 15, 2017 | Mark David Hall
It is a bedrock American principle that governments cannot discriminate against religious citizens and institutions.
Of Confederate monuments and tinfoil Christmas trees
September 14, 2017 | John Hasnas
The current controversy over the removal of Confederate monuments from public spaces is producing a great deal of rancor and strife.
What most Americans have never heard about extreme poverty
September 13, 2017 | Jeremy Horpedahl
Why did poverty decrease so much over the past 200 years, and especially over the past 30 years? Let’s look at one key example; then we’ll zoom out to the broader research.
Reddit AMA with Professor Ilya Somin of George Mason University
September 12, 2017 | Ted Wray
Ilya Somin is Professor of Law at George Mason University. His research focuses on constitutional law, property law, and the study of popular political participation.
How the government makes natural disasters so much worse
September 11, 2017 | Barry Brownstein
Many of the most expensive flood and storm disasters in US history have occurred in recent decades. The glib response is to blame the severity of these catastrophes on climate change, but are we looking in the wrong direction?
Will voters punish Republicans for not changing health care?
September 8, 2017 | Andrew Taylor
President Donald Trump claimed Senators who voted against Obamacare’s replacement, the AHCA, had “let down Americans.”