Poverty | Learn Liberty

How occupational licensing oppresses the poor

December 19, 2023 | Post

Imagine having to pay and jump through hoops for the government to allow you to work. That’s essentially how occupational licensing works.

Occupational licensing is a system that disproportionately burdens and oppresses the economically disadvantaged, hindering social mobility.

To address poverty, we must forget about inequality

December 18, 2023 | Post

Looking at inequality doesn’t tell us anything substantial about prosperity in a given country. Is inequality the real problem, or is it poverty?

How minimum wage laws harm and exclude

December 1, 2023 | Post

Instead of elevating living standards and safeguarding workers from poor conditions and low pay, minimum wage laws lead to unemployment and limit job opportunities. Let’s look at how…

Why trade wars are wars on the poor

November 14, 2023 | Post

In the not-so-distant past, political leaders from both sides of the aisle in the United States held a general consensus on the benefits of free trade.

During their presidential campaigns in 2000, Al Gore and George Bush, despite their differences, at least agreed on the merits of fostering open markets.

Fast forward to the present day and we find Joe Biden and Donald Trump endorsing staunchly protectionist policies.

Let’s explore what caused this complete 180 and who bears the brunt when trade is restricted.

What would Adam Smith write about now?

October 6, 2023 | Post

In the pantheon of economic thought, Adam Smith stands as a colossus, a philosopher whose seminal work, The Wealth of Nations, fundamentally shaped our understanding of free markets and the power of individual self-interest to fuel societal progress. But what would he write about today’s issues?

Why is Africa poor? Is colonization the root cause?

June 16, 2023 | Post

“Colonization is why Africa is so poor” is something I hear all the time. But it was not until recently that I realized: This impulsive defense of Africa is far from the full truth.

How gun control might be seen 100 years from now

June 1, 2023 | Post

The book Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen was assigned to me during my senior year of high school. I still reflect on its lessons and have found them applicable not just to the past, but, in some cases, to the future. Here is how hypothetical, sweeping new gun control legislation might be seen 100 years from now…

What is capitalism?

February 8, 2023 | Post

Capitalism can be viewed as an economic system that has been a driving force in many advanced economies, fostered growth and innovation, enabled people to lift themselves out of poverty, and greatly improved living standards. But it also has many staunch critics, who will argue that, regardless of outcomes or track records, it is a deeply harmful and exploitative system. So, to clear up any confusion, what really is capitalism, and what isn’t it?

Why is Latin America so corrupt?

April 28, 2021 | Video

Ahead of his panel on Corruption and Poverty in Latin America at LibertyCon Europe, Juan Carlos Hidalgo, former policy analyst at the Cato Institute talks about why Latin America has so many cases of corruption, the recent protests in Chile and other countries around the world.

What most Americans have never heard about extreme poverty

September 13, 2017 | Post

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.

Who has Walmart shareholders’ wealth?

July 3, 2017 | Post

Many good people condemn the free market system on the mistaken belief that the wealth of the wealthy benefits only the wealthy.

Why libertarians should oppose the Universal Basic Income

March 24, 2017 | Post

Here’s my opening statement for my Students for Liberty debate with Will Wilkinson. Enjoy. Libertarians have a standard set of fundamental criticisms of the welfare state. Forced charity is unjust. Individuals have a moral right to decide if and when they want to help others. Forced charity is unnecessary. In a free market, voluntary donations […]

What should we do about luck?

March 17, 2017 | Post

What should we do about the fact that some people are able to earn more money than others? Should government redress the resulting disparities in income? The answer is often believed to hinge upon our conclusion about the role of luck in affecting income-earning abilities. Those on the political left emphasize factors beyond the individual’s […]

Why aid programs are harder to evaluate than dessert shops

February 22, 2017 | Post

Recently, at a Center for Global Development conference, attendees criticized a wide swath of development programs that, these experts say, provide no evidence they are achieving their objectives.

The many faces of means-testing

February 19, 2017 | Post

Isn’t a Universal Basic Income just another name for a negative income tax, such as Tax = -$10,000 + .3*Income? If so, isn’t a Universal Basic Income means-tested by definition?

Better market-oriented proposals that reduce income inequality

February 15, 2017 | Post

I was initially excited to see that progressive Dean Baker has written a piece on “Eight Market-Oriented Proposals That Reduce Income Inequality” for AEI. It begins promisingly by criticizing overly strict occupational licensing for high-skilled workers. But it then studiously avoids the really big wins. Namely: 1. Immigration. High-skilled immigration reduces conventionally measured inequality by […]

William Graham Sumner Part 4 – Charity, Liberty, and Social Justice

February 12, 2017 | Post

Zwolinski concludes his series on William Graham Sumner with the question of how we ought to help the poorest among us.

William Graham Sumner Part 3 – The Forgotten Man

February 12, 2017 | Post

Zwolinski examines William Graham Sumner’s critique of “social justice.”

Over-Criminalization Nation — 5 Blood-Boiling Cases of Government Overreach

December 28, 2016 | Post

Every year the number of regulations, dictates, rules, decrees, guidelines, statutes, laws, and bylaws in the United States grows by leaps and bounds.

Is culture the key to poverty?

December 20, 2016 | Post

A personal story about Vance’s climb from poor, white Appalachia to a Yale law degree and a white-collar career, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis will make you laugh, cry, and think carefully about the importance of culture for economic wellbeing.