On this morning after the third presidential debate, ask yourself: am I assessing my favored candidate objectively, or simply as a function of what I want or expected?
The Democrats and Republicans have largely been the only two choices in presidential and congressional elections since the Civil War. It’s for that to change.
Trump’s trade policies miss one of the most fundamental economic concepts: When two parties engage in trade, they are both better off.
Here are some links to close our September. Happy Fall everyone! Police body cameras are already failing their communities. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton sparred in the first of three presidential debates. The officer who fatally shot Terrence Crutcher in Tulsa, OK has been charged with 1st degree manslaughter. The U.S. Congress overrode a presidential […]
Learn Liberty reviews the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
The really radical idea behind the rule of law is that the lawmakers themselves are not above the law. It is “the law” that rules, not those who make and enforce the law.
Your chances of encountering a lethal refugee are about 1 in 3.64 billion. Pardon me if I’m not quaking in my boots at those odds.
Duke University’s great historian of thought and Hayek scholar Bruce Caldwell sent the following e-mail to me, which I share here with Bruce’s kind permission (link added): Has anyone in the blogosphere noticed the chilling similarity between Hayek’s description in the Road To Serfdom (in the chapter titled “Why the Worst Get on Top“) of […]
When Donald Trump declared his candidacy for president a year ago, Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight political blog said he had “a better chance of cameoing in another ‘Home Alone’ movie with Macaulay Culkin—or playing in the NBA Finals—than winning the Republican nomination.” With a net favorability rating of -32 percent according to FiveThirtyEight and “exactly zero” […]
This piece was originally published at the L.A. Times. Foreign trade took a beating at both major party conventions, with speakers blaming free-trade agreements for all but wiping out U.S. manufacturing and eliminating millions of middle-class jobs. Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have promised to renegotiate or abandon trade agreements with key U.S. trading […]
Is there any issue that divides people more than immigration? It’s an emotional topic that pits competing factions between and within parties against each other. As a result, it’s a high-profile issue this election cycle. Where do the candidates stand? In the new Learn Liberty video below, George Mason University Professor Donald Boudreaux addresses where […]
Disagreeing with what someone has to say but defending his or her right to say it is the foundational defense of free speech. English writer Evelyn Beatrice Hall sums it up well when she says: I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”] This view […]
In 1954, Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized Operation Wetback, a project that rounded up hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants and deported them. Now policy leader Donald Trump is proposing that we do something similar—on a much larger scale. Think 11 million immigrants deported in two years. Now, many argue that if immigrants are coming to the […]
What’s the difference between a plurality and a majority in a democratic system? Professor Donald Boudreaux explains the huge difference in a recent post at Cafe Hayek by comparing the different voter preferences if Donald Trump wins 40 versus 60 percent of the votes in the Republican primaries. As Boudreaux writes: It’s a common (and […]
The presidential campaign has brought up several economic issues, and international trade has been front and center of the debate. So, as I look at my Donald Trump tie that was made in China and my Donald Trump shirts that were made in Bangladesh and Indonesia, I want to clarify some basic economic concepts dealing […]
There was an amazing, squirmingly funny Saturday Night Live skit (Season 10, 1984), with Eddie Murphy, called “White Like Me.” In it, the Eddy Murphy character dresses in “white face,” and travels around New York City. He finds that the disparity in racial treatment is even larger than he expected—and it takes the form not […]
The 2016 presidential election season is in full swing: get your popcorn ready! As public choice economist, I absolutely LOVE this particular election season! Why, you might ask? I love this election because my training in public choice—a field of economics which applies the basic principles of economics to politics—leads me to look at our […]
Professor Donald Boudreaux has an excellent piece over at Cafe Hayek, where he rebuts a common argument he’s been hearing lately in support of Donald Trump: Trump has proven time and again he knows his stuff when it comes to economics. He has a personal wealth of $10Billion proving his understanding. Hard to argue with […]
In a recent Politico story, Matthew MacWilliams identified the one trait which predicts if you’re a Trump supporter. It wasn’t gender, race, age, income, or religion. It’s authoritarianism. Max Borders has broken down what makes someone authoritarian over at FEE’s blog in a great piece: Beware Your Inner Authoritarian. He explores the foundations of people’s […]