By Gary Wolfram William Simon Professor of Economics and Public Policy Hillsdale College Whenever I watch media coverage of another Occupy Wall Street event I am reminded of an exchange between Jewish protesters in the 1979 Monte Python movie Life of Brian. One of the protesters asks another what the Romans have brought to the [...]
Category Archives: Free Markets
Does U.S. Economic Inequality Have a Good Side?
Richard Epstein, the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Law and Senior Lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School, is one of the most brilliant legal scholars and “the sharpest libertarian thinkers currently alive today,” according to Peter Boettke. I have and am benefiting from reading his books, which include How Progressives [...]
The Real Meaning of Thanksgiving: The Triumph of Capitalism over Collectivism
Written by Richard M. Ebeling Monday, 24 November 2008 00:00 This time of the year, whether in good economic times or bad, is when we gather with our family and friends and enjoy a Thanksgiving meal together. It marks a remembrance of those early Pilgrim Fathers who crossed the uncharted ocean from Europe to make [...]
Even Obama’s Make-Believe Jobs Are Not Real
In general, I am a hopeful and optimistic person when it comes to everyday life, relationships and life’s trials. However, I have become very skeptical and cynical when it comes to politics and political leaders (of all stripes). Since George W. Bush “suspended his free-market principles” to save the free-market economy by launching the huge [...]
Also posted in Economics 101, Fascism Tagged Budget, Cato, Dan Mitchell, Economic Stimulus, Jobs Saves, Obama, The Washington Examiner 1 Comment
Free Trade Is At Risk…Here Is Something We Can Do About It Now!
“The proof of the enormous economic benefits of free trade is all around us, not least in the impoverished third world that has already benefited mightily from so-called globalization. It is immoral and irresponsible, or just plain stupid, that politicians, and the special interests they protect, would sacrifice this humanitarian improvement in welfare for their [...]
When We Make The Case For Capitalism, We Are Defending The Political Principle Of Freedom
In an excellent article, by Janet Daley, entitled, “G20: If capitalism is ‘overthrown’, we’ll lose our political freedom,” Daley discusses the importance of understanding what is really at stake at the G20 Summit. “The question we are wrestling with now,” writes Daley, “– and which the G20 will certainly fail to resolve – is how [...]
Also posted in Democracy, Economics 101 Tagged Democracy, Europe, free markets, Freedom, G20, Janet Daley, Socialism Leave a comment
Economic Freedom Is A Necessary (But Not Sufficient) Condition For Political Freedom: A Note From My Capitalism, Socialism, & Democracy Course
Posted by Dave Prychitko Considering both economic theory and the historical record, it is reasonable to believe that if a society tries to abolish the market economy it will find that it abolishes the wealth-generation and long-run growth that only a market system can provide, and, on top of that, it will become more undesirably [...]
Freedom, Prosperity, and Government Obstruction
Adam Smith, who lived in the eighteenth century, provided the philosophical and most systematic arguments for the underpinnings of a laissez-faire economic system in his book “The Wealth of Nations.” Smith makes the argument that it was only the interference of government which disrupted the natural working of economic society and created poverty and decay [...]
Posted in Free Markets Tagged Adam Smith, liberty, Obama Administration, The Wealth of Nations 1 Comment
“FOR THE GOOD OF OTHERS”*
By Leonard E. Read A professor writes, “It seems to me that it is quite an unworthy goal for businessmen to go to work for the sake of bringing profit to the stock-holders.” The head of a large corporation bemoans the bad image of business and contends that the first consideration of American business is, [...]
Also posted in Economics 101 Tagged Adam Smith, Foundation for Economic Education, Leonard Read, The Freeman, The Wealth of Nations, Thomas Jefferson Leave a comment
