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You Shouldn't Need a Licence to Show Someone Around a House | Tim Worstall
A reasonable and useful reading of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations is to see it as a railing against the guilds and their control of the medieval economy, followed by an insistence that we must instead have a market economy, one with free entry into lines of work and production.
It's Time to End Double Taxation for US Citizens Abroad | Ross Marchand
A move to territorial taxation for citizens would ensure that US citizens abroad have a wider range of choices and consider an eventual move back to America. By nixing an absurd and cumbersome system, policymakers can restore fairness and decency for citizens everywhere.
"It profits me but little, after all, that a vigilant authority... averts all dangers from my path... if this same authority is the absolute master of my liberty and my life."
"The Federal Constitution... disavowed beforehand the habitual use of compulsion in enforcing the decisions of the majority."
"True friends of liberty... ought constantly to be on the alert to prevent the power of government from lightly sacrificing the private rights of individuals to the general execution of its designs. At such times no citizen is so obscure that it is not very dangerous to allow him to be oppressed; no private rights are so unimportant that they can be surrendered with impunity to the caprices of a government... [because] men accustom themselves to sacrifice private interest without scruple and to trample on the rights of individuals in order more speedily to accomplish any public purpose."
-Alexis de Tocqueville, 19th Century French Political Philosopher
Why Bolivia Is Not a Socialist Success Story | Brittany Hunter
Since Bolivia's economy has experienced a 3.8 percent growth rate over the last year, many socialists see this as airtight proof that socialism can work and that Venezuela is merely a result of mismanagement and fiscal irresponsibility on Maduro's behalf.
"A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people’s business."
"The quality of ideas seems to play a minor role in mass movement leadership. What counts is the arrogant gesture, the complete disregard of the opinion of others, the singlehanded defiance of the world."
"The frustrated, oppressed by their shortcomings, blame their failure on existing restraints. Actually, their innermost desire is for an end to the 'free for all.' They want to eliminate free competition and the ruthless testing to which the individual is continually subjected in a free society."
- Eric Hoffer, 20th Century American Philosopher
How the Gig Economy Empowers Unschoolers | Kerry McDonald
The gig economy and unschooling share common traits. Independent contractors who choose freelance work are often frustrated by traditional work arrangements and rigid schedules and are seeking more freedom, flexibility, and autonomy. Similarly, many unschooling parents find conventional classrooms to be highly standardized, test-driven environments and want their children to have the freedom, flexibility, and autonomy that they as adults also value.
Sacramento lying in wait for worker freedom movement after Janus ruling
Public employee unions are rubbing a purple bruise, inflicted by the U.S. Supreme Court when it ruled in Janus vs. AFSCME that government workers don't have to pay unions to keep their jobs. But the unions and their partners in Sacramento aren't going to let a little Supreme Court decision get in the way of a cushy arrangement they've enjoyed for decades.
Why Does the Left Want Universal Health Care? Britain's Is on Its Deathbed
The U.K.'s government-run healthcare system, the National Health Service, turns 70 this month. There's not much to celebrate. The NHS is collapsing. Patients routinely face treatment delays, overcrowded hospitals, and doctor shortages. Even its most ardent defenders admit that the NHS is in crisis. Yet American progressives want to import this disastrous model.
Basic Income Comes to Stockton
Just six years after declaring bankruptcy due to a 15-year spending binge, Stockton is now exploring creative new ways of spending again. This time, it's a one-year experiment to give several dozen Stockton families $500 a month, with no strings attached.
4 Reasons Private Property Is Superior to Communal Property, According to Aristotle | Paul Meany
In " The Communist Manifesto ," Karl Marx aptly summarized the implications of a communist society, stating that "the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property ." As an institution, private property has been a crucial factor in the flourishing of Western society and its political thought.
How Socialists Make Economics the "Dismal Science" in Spite of Rising Prosperity | Kevin Villani
Eighteenth-century economist Thomas Carlyle called economics a dismal science not just in reaction to economist Tomas Malthus' view that economic stagnation and collapse due to population growth was inevitable but also to John Stuart Mill's calls for individual liberty (and as a consequence freeing the American slaves) as the way to improve aggregate economic well being.
Criticism of Tax Cuts Grows More Incoherent | Brian Riedl
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) remains controversial, with public opinion evenly split and many Democrats campaigning on repeal. However, the Democratic critique of the tax cuts has grown increasingly incoherent. The party excoriates the "tax cuts for the rich" while trying to tilt them even further to the wealthy.
Collectivism's Progress: From Marxism to Race and Gender Warfare | Richard M. Ebeling
Enter the new variation on the old Marxist theme. For most of the last two hundred years, the socialists and communists insisted that the great human conflict centered on "social classes." But how do you sell "class warfare" when most in society view themselves as "middle class"?
What if We Treated Public Schools as Monopolies? | Kevin Currie-Knight
If commercial monopolies are bad because their power gives them the ability to do bad things, it seems strange to treat government monopolies any differently.
Can Americans Remember the Virtue of Independence (and the Corrosiveness of Dependence)? | Barry Brownstein
Many virtues help maintain freedom, beginning with keeping our word and honoring our contracts. Deceit corrodes liberty. Essential to freedom is respect for the rights and property of others-our rights are only as strong as our respect for the rights of others.
Supreme Court Rules Against Mandatory Union Dues in Janus v. AFSCME
The Supreme Court decided several incredibly important things this session, and the last one to be handed down was a major win for free speech. In the case of Janus v. AFSCME, SCOTUS ruled 5-4 that government employees who choose not to join a union cannot have union dues forcibly removed from their paychecks.
New Issue Brief: State Anti-Poverty Programs Are Well-Intended, Yet Not Very Successful in Reducing Poverty
SAN FRANCISCO - California policymakers should reform government anti-poverty programs to remove incentives against work while expanding job opportunities in the state's poorest communities, according to a new issue brief released today by the non-partisan California-based think tank, the Pacific Research Institute.
Seven Principles Of Sound Public Policy | Lawrence W. Reed
Free people are not equal. When people are free to be themselves, to be masters of their own destinies, to apply themselves in an effort to improve their well-being and that of their families, the result in the marketplace will not be an equality of outcomes.
Union-Free Contracts and the Freedom of Association | Gary M. Galles
The just-announced Janus decision that mandated union fees for government employees were unconstitutional is a blockbuster decision increasing liberty in the labor market. However, it was not this term's only decision defending worker freedom. In an important case, the Supreme Court just held, 5-4, in Epic Systems v.
Italy's Taxes Drive Its Economy Underground | Daniel Di Martino
Italy's corporate, capital gains, gift, and myriad other taxes are passed on to individuals and borne directly by workers. These high taxes have led to a growing shadow economy where people underreport work to avoid paying taxes.
India's Economy Is Booming. Deregulation Is the Next Important Step. | Patrick Tyrrell
With reported growth of 7.7 percent in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2017 and 6.7 percent annual growth projected for 2018, India now boasts the world's fastest-growing economy. The question now becomes how to preserve the momentum.
Social Security Has Been Swelled, Not Looted. | James D. Agresti
Social Security is not a savings plan but a government social program that provides benefits to the aged and disabled mainly by taxing people who are working. Some upshots of this reality are that certain people get nothing from Social Security after paying taxes for their entire working lives, while others receive far more from the program than they pay in taxes.
As a Tax Accountant, I Can Tell You Tax Reform Is Helping Small Businesses | Kalena Bruce
As we enter the summer, Republicans and Democrats continue to debate the merits of the tax cuts. Lost in this partisan bickering is the genuine and long-overdue relief the tax cuts offer small businesses. Sadly, the media reporting on small business tax cuts has been heavily politicized, complicating rather than clarifying the issue.
"No cause, ever, in the history of all mankind, has produced more cold-blooded tyrants, more slaughtered innocents, and more orphans than socialism with power."
-University of Pennsylvania history professor Alan Charles Kors
Why Do People Become Communists, and Why Do They Stick With It?
For as long as I can remember, I've puzzled about why people become communists. I have no doubt about why someone would stop being one. After all, we have a century of evidence of the murder, famine, and general destruction caused by the idea. Ignoring all this takes a special kind of willful blindness to reality.
3 Government "Solutions" That Harm Minority Communities | Jordan Setayesh
Many politicians often cite their motives as focused on protecting historically marginalized groups from exploitation and oppression. I don't think anyone objects to this goal. The question is not if we should attempt to maximize opportunities for minorities, but rather if government is a suitable mechanism for achieving those aims. It is no coincidence that minorities often struggle the most in domains of social and economic life where the government is most involved.
How the Market Can Redeem the University | Rod Hewlett
Markets and public research partnerships have served America well in medicine, law, engineering, applied science, and mathematics. New solutions are on the horizon. Let us seize the challenge and expand the idea of a university and a degree through market-based experimentation and rigorous measurement of results.
Taxi Drivers Are Persecuted by Regulation, Not Innovation | Bill Wirtz
That being said, the only reason the taxi industry is angry is because ride-sharing apps are generating tremendous success, which is cause for consumer celebration. The mere fact that taximen are steaming at the thought of Uber and Lyft indicates that yes, your fares are getting cheaper and yes, your service is improving.
"The development of capitalism consists in everyone’s having the right to serve the customer better and/or more cheaply."
-Ludwig Von Mises, Historian & Economist
What Happens When an MBA Student Raised in Communist China Reads Hayek | Barry Brownstein
In the spring of 1999, I taught an MBA economics class to a cohort of 30 Chinese students. The class was split between students from Beijing and Shanghai. Students from Shanghai-having more experience with the beneficial impact of liberalizing markets-were much more willing to embrace the ideas of classical liberalism.
Poverty, the Welfare State, and the Failure of Centralized Government
As we get deeper into an election season, many politicians feel compelled to discuss how to deal with poverty. And some of them may even be serious about trying to improve the system. This hopefully will lead to big-picture discussions of key issues, such as why the poverty rate stopped falling in the mid-1960s.
Debt Doesn't Matter, Because "We Owe It to Ourselves"? Why Krugman and Keynes Are Wrong about This | Bart Remes
When Japanese business leaders questioned their government's policy of reckless racking up of debt, Nobel Prize laureate Paul Krugman immediately rose to the occasion. He wrote an article in the New York Times humbly titled "The economic wisdom-or lack thereof-of business leaders". It is a shocking read.
Collectivism's Progress: From Marxism to Race and Gender Warfare | Richard M. Ebeling
Enter the new variation on the old Marxist theme. For most of the last two hundred years, the socialists and communists insisted that the great human conflict centered on "social classes." But how do you sell "class warfare" when most in society view themselves as "middle class"?
Under Socialism, Morality Is Scarcer than Bread | Marian L. Tupy
Defending capitalism as a morally sound economic system is important. One of the questions from the audience concerned the morality of capitalism. "You have shown that capitalism creates more wealth than socialism," a young man conceded. "But is it moral?" he asked.
Free Trade Isn't Killing Jobs | Pierre Lemieux
Even assuming that the number of jobs is a good indication of welfare, the populist objection is not valid. Although some workers can, like other producers, be harmed by competition, free trade does not destroy net jobs. At least as many new jobs appear as old ones disappear.
3 Myths of Socialism Debunked by Venezuela's Nightmare | Barry Brownstein
Kurmanaev grew up in Russia in the 1990s and witnessed "corruption, violence and degradation." "Venezuela's collapse has been far worse than the chaos" he experienced in Russia. In my FEE essay, "Venezuela's Road to Literal Serfdom," I cover delusions people have about socialism.
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How Government Wrecked the Gas Can - Jeffrey Tucker - Liberty.me
It happened again but to tell the story I have to admit something a bit embarrassing. My gas meter on my car doesn't work. I could get it fixed but it seems like a waste when I only need to calculate gas use carefully.
Quit Rates Suggest Teachers Are Doing Just Fine | David Youngberg
Across the U.S., teacher unions say it's because teaching is hard and students deserve the very best. They say higher salaries are needed so they can attract good teachers. They say because teachers are underpaid, current teachers will leave for greener pastures. But the quit rates say otherwise.
How Imperial Socialism Shattered the Roman Empire and Led to Feudalism | Will Durant
The Edict was, until our time, the most famous example of an attempt to replace economic laws by governmental decrees. Its failure was rapid and complete. Tradesmen concealed their commodities, scarcities became more acute than before, Diocletian himself was accused of conniving at a rise in prices, riots occurred, and the Edict had to be relaxed to restore production and distribution.
Venezuela's Economic Collapse Is Linked to Its Socialist Policies | Kristian Niemietz
Shortages have sporadically appeared with items from milk to coffee since early 2003, when Chavez began regulating prices for 400 basic products. One cannot identify any one specific "wrong turn" in Venezuela's economic history. It is more a matter of economic distortions building up over time, and compounding each other.
As Long As People Are Free, There Will Be Inequality | Antony Davies, James R. Harrigan
If there's something that progressives agree on, it's that inequality exists and that it's a problem. But what do we mean when we say "inequality"? Is it that some people have more "stuff" (money, goods, access to services) than others? Is it that some people are more skilled, more talented, better looking, or just plain luckier than others?
What 19 in 20 Americans Don't Know About World Poverty | Chelsea Follett
An overwhelming majority-95 percent-of Americans are confused about the state of global poverty. A survey from the late Hans Rosling's web project Gapminder assessed the public's knowledge on the subject. The survey asked twelve thousand people in fourteen countries if, over the last two decades, the proportion of the world's population living in extreme poverty has a) almost doubled, b) stayed the same, or c) almost halved.
“No person is so grand or wise or perfect as to be the master of another person.”
“Government never has and never can humanely and effectively manage men’s affairs.”
“Will men continue to submit to rule by politics, which has always meant the power of some men over other men?”
“Each man is the absolute owner of his life, to use and dispose of as he sees fit.”
-Karl Hess, 20th Century American Political Philosopher
Seattle's 'Eat the Rich' Economic Strategy Won't Solve Its Underlying Problems | Jarrett Stepman
Beautiful and desirable places such as Seattle and San Francisco can withstand a certain amount of dysfunction before people bail on those cities. Such cities may very soon be testing those limits, as big companies and productive citizens look to greener pastures and local governments that don't use them as an ATM for their failed schemes.
Why "Gig Work" Is Attractive to Companies and Workers Alike | Trey Kovacs
Renowned labor expert and Harvard professor Benjamin Sachs argues over at OnLabor.org that he's had enough with what he calls the "flexibility trope" of worker classification and job flexibility. Sachs calls out comments made by Jianming Zhou, CEO of SherpaShare, on the California Supreme Court's decision in the case and how it would impact sharing economy companies and workers.
How Media Outlets Misinform the Public about Teacher Pay | James D. Agresti
During recent teacher walkouts in Oklahoma that captured national attention, many major media outlets reported misleadingly small figures for teacher pay. By failing to reveal all aspects of teacher compensation, these outlets hid the true costs to taxpayers-which now amount to an annualized average of about$120,000 for every public school teacher in the United States.
In the Wake of Mass Shootings, Parents Reconsider Mass Schooling | Kerry McDonald
As psychologist Peter Gray writes, "The increased time, tedium, and stress of schooling is bringing many kids to the breaking point or beyond, and more and more people are becoming aware of that. It can no longer be believed that schooling is a benign experience for children.
Environmentalists Are Sounding the Alarm: You're Flying Too Much | Bill Wirtz
In Europe, air travel has been a blissful example of how the free market can lower transport costs for consumers. But now, it is coming under fire from environmentalists. Whenever you book a flight and look at your receipt, you'll find that a large portion of what you paid happens to be taxes.
“Once wide coercive powers are given to government agencies…such powers cannot be effectively controlled.”
“The argument for liberty is…an argument…against the use of coercion to prevent others from doing better.”
“A society that does not recognize that each individual has values of his own which he is entitled to follow can have no respect for the dignity of the individual and cannot really know freedom.”
“The system of private property is the most important guarantee of freedom, not only for those who own property, but scarcely less for those who do not.”
“There is no justification for the belief that, so long as power is conferred by democratic procedure, it cannot be arbitrary…it is not the source but the limitation of power which prevents it from being arbitrary.”
“Equality of the general rules of law and conduct…is the only kind of equality conducive to liberty and the only equality which we can secure without destroying liberty.”
“Under the Rule of Law…the individual is free to pursue his personal ends and desires, certain that the powers of government will not be used deliberately to frustrate his efforts.”
- F.A. Hayek, Classical Economist of the Austrian School of economics
The Remarkable Fall in China's Suicide Rate | Chelsea Follett
As more Chinese have left farms in the countryside to work in factory cities, the suicide rate has plummeted. This may be shocking to many people in rich countries. That is because many people who enjoy post-industrial prosperity worry about "sweatshop" conditions and exploitation in factories.
Ride-Sharing Services Aren't a Problem, They're a Solution | Aeon Skoble
According to The New York Times, app-based rideshare services are a serious problem in need of a regulatory solution. While their editorial is about New York City, the fallacious thinking behind it is universal. Most people who have used Uber or Lyft might wonder what exactly the problem is, never mind what sort of solutions might be warranted.
Toys *Were* Us. Now Let's Build Something Better! | Seamus Coughlin
Since Toys 'R' Us declared bankruptcy and announced that it will be closing all of its stores, it has seemed like no retail store is safe. Are people nowadays too lazy and obsessed with convenience to appreciate the inherent goodness of traditional brick-and-mortar stores? Ehh.
The IMF's Reprehensible Campaign for Continued Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa | Daniel J. Mitchell
I thought it was scandalous that the IMF was systematically agitating for taxes in a region that desperately needs more investment and entrepreneurship. And my six examples were proof of a continent-wide agenda! But it turns out that I wasn't exposing some sort of sinister secret.
No, CEOs Don't Make 350 Times More Than Their Employees | Mark J. Perry
Just like last year, the CEO-to-worker pay ratio reported by the AFL-CIO gets my annual "Biggest Blindly Accepted Statistical Fairy Tale of the Year Award." Well no, it's actually a tie with the gender wage gap myth and the incessantly repeated "77 cents on the dollar" statistical falsehood.
Who Needs the WHO? Not the World's Poor | Fred Roeder, Bill Wirtz
The World Health Organization is a large and antiquated United Nations body that is expensive unnecessary and counterproductive to its own cause of "public health." It's time to take the appropriate measures and defund it. Over 2,500 people died from Ebola in Guinea, but rather than addressing the important health concerns, the WHO focused on cigarettes.
The UK Seeks to Fix Its "Broken Down" Redistribution System by Adding a New Layer of Redistribution | Daniel J. Mitchell
The problem in the U.K. is the same as the problem in the United States. And France. And Germany. And Japan. Simply stated, the welfare state is becoming an ever-larger burden in large part because the elderly population is expanding in developed nations compared to the number of potential taxpayers.
Starbucks Is the Latest Victim of Pseudoscience | Tirzah Duren
For coffee drinkers in California, health warnings on their morning fix will soon be commonplace. Earlier this month, a legal battle involving Starbucks and the Brad Barry Company was brought to a close. Unfortunately, coffee regulation in California is the latest example of pseudoscience influencing public policy.