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 [...]
Tag Archives: Adam Smith
“Occupy Wall Street Crowd Blind to Benefits of Capitalism”
Posted in Free Markets Also tagged Friedrich Hayek, Hillsdale College, Ludwig von Mises, Market Capitalism, Media Research Center, Occupy Wall Street, Socialism 1 Comment
We Should Be Free Because We Are Equal
The Calling | Steven Horwitz Posted July 07, 2011 at The Freeman Last week’s column, “The Other Principle of Classical Liberalism,” generated some interesting comments, as did similar arguments I made at Bleeding Heart Libertarians and on my Facebook page. One criticism raised was that libertarianism has little to do with equality because it’s all [...]
Posted in Classical Liberalism, Equality, Uncategorized Also tagged Classical Liberalism, David Levy, Equality, John Stuart Mill, Libertarian, Steve Horwitz, The Freeman Leave a comment
The Constitution of Liberty, by F. A. Hayek
Reviewed by Irving Kristol From issue: April 1960 It is generally forgotten that Edmund Burke and Adam Smith were both Whigs. In our textbooks of political theory, they are segregated from, and opposed to, one another: the romantic exponent of tradition, authority, and the organic community, as against the individualist liberal who believed in laisser-faire. [...]
Posted in Austrian Economics Also tagged Edmund Burke, F. A. Hayek, Irving Kristol, THe Constitution of Liberty 4 Comments
The Role of Private Property in a Free Society
By Peter Boettke, Ph.D. “The true foundation of republican government is the equal right of every citizen in his person and property and in their management.” –Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval, 1816. Few concepts have been more important for human survival, yet maligned as unjust by intellectuals, as the concept of private property rights. Since [...]
Posted in Economics 101, Private Property Also tagged American Revolutionaries, Aristotle, Classical Economists, David Hume, Entrepreneurial, F. A. Hayek, George Washington, James Madison, Ludwig von Mises, Peter J. Boettke, Private Property, Private Property Rights, Scottish Enlightenment, Socialism, Thomas Jefferson, Wealth of Nations, Western Civilization 2 Comments
Time for U.S. to declare bankruptcy
Scott Beaulier, and , Peter L. Boettke, Commentary: East Valley Tribune.com November 16, 2009 – 11:47AM The Treasury Department — whose mission has ostensibly expanded to include management of government finances, the promotion of economic growth and stability, and the provision of safety, soundness, and security in financial systems — will hit its debt ceiling [...]
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 [...]
“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, [...]
Posted in Economics 101, Free Markets Also tagged Foundation for Economic Education, Leonard Read, The Freeman, The Wealth of Nations, Thomas Jefferson Leave a comment
