Sheldon Richman | The Libertarian Institute

TGIF: FDA Targets Black and Other Minority Smokers

by Sheldon Richman | May 14, 2021 | Economics, Justice, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

Just when we are reminded that unnecessary conflict between the police and the people, especially in poorer black communities, is a poison to be eliminated forthwith, the Biden administration has moved in the wrong direction. Late last month the administration signaled that it wants to ban menthol cigarettes, which are especially popular with black smokers. "Banning menthol—the last allowable flavor—in cigarettes and banning all flavors in cigars will help save lives, particularly among those disproportionately affected by these deadly products," Acting Food and Drug Administration...

TGIF: A Refreshing Way to Think about Immigration

by Sheldon Richman | May 7, 2021 | Justice, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

What I'm going to say about Chandran Kukathas's latest book, Immigration and Freedom, does not constitute a book review. Think of it instead as a book alert. Even having read only the preface and a couple of chapters, I am confident it is a book that fans of liberty will be interested in. You can tell by the title. Kukathas is a classical liberal professor of political science at the School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, whose previous books have argued that monopoly government, as opposed to a polycentric legal order, is inimical to human diversity (The Liberal...

TGIF: Bust the Conservative “Trust Busters”

by Sheldon Richman | Apr 30, 2021 | Economics, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

When right-wing leader Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) recently declared that "liberty and monopoly do not go together," I fantasized that he had become a free-market anarchist. When I hear monopoly, I think government because what's the most literal of monopolies (or source of monopoly power) than the state? Imagine my disappointment when I realized that, quite the contrary, he was embracing expanded government power over consensual interaction in the marketplace. He was introducing his aggressively named Trust-Busting for the Twenty-First Century Act. Hawley wants to be the our day's Theodore...

Beware Political Creationists

by Sheldon Richman | Apr 23, 2021 | Blog, Economics

"With few exceptions, the tribe of academic scientists and hospital doctors which now controls our government has literally never heard such arguments [the unplanned order of thee market process]. Their worldview is a top-down one: they assume things happen because somebody ordains that things happen. Spontaneous order is a foreign concept to them. This is surprising, given that it is the essence of evolution, but when it comes to society they are in thrall to intelligent-design theories. They are political creationists." --Matt Ridley, "Britain Is in Danger of Repeating Its Post-War...

TGIF: Does Nearly Everyone Favor Industrial Policy?

by Sheldon Richman | Apr 23, 2021 | Economics, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

Over the years I've heard countless arguments about which word best describes the American economic system. Some insist it is essentially socialist, while others favor the word fascism. (Fascism is socialism with a private-property and market veneer.) Still others describe the system as a mixed, or interventionist, economy. We need not decide among these because the huge system has many facets, at least some of which at some time or other have fit one or more of these terms. One term we might all agree on, however, is industrial policy. That's because it is general enough to cover almost...

TGIF: Are Organizations Unlibertarian?

by Sheldon Richman | Apr 16, 2021 | Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

A few weeks ago YouTube suggested that I watch a 1988 episode of William F. Buckley's PBS TV show, "Firing Line," featuring Ron Paul, who at the time was the Libertarian Party candidate for president. I had to chuckle right at the top when Buckley introduced Rep. Paul by striking an ironic pose: while "libertarians specialize in non-organization...," Buckley said, "to run for president of the United States, which Dr. Paul is doing on the Libertarian ticket, does require organization, to be sure uncoerced." (Emphasis added.) Buckley flashed his trademark impish smile while his guest remained...

Under Biden, Eminent Domain and the Border Wall Continue

by Sheldon Richman | Apr 15, 2021 | Blog

The Biden administration has gone back on its word to cease construction of Donald Trump's border wall and the associated eminent-domain actions for property that stands in the way of that wall. Although candidate Biden promised to stop the wall and end the land-seizure lawsuits, President Biden seems to have forgotten. We know this because a federal judge has ordered a Texas landowner to surrender land at the border. Reason magazine reports that during the campaign Biden told NPR, "There will not be another foot of wall constructed in my administration." About eminent domain Biden further...

TGIF: The Fraught World of Second-Bests

by Sheldon Richman | Apr 9, 2021 | Economics, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

When discussion turns to how to make government "better," however any particular person would conceive that condition, libertarians understand that we are in the fraught world of second-bests. In other words, because of the nature of the state, no solution that merely attempts to reform it will be or could be truly satisfying. The system will continue to feature exploitation, rent-seeking, public-choice and knowledge problems, and worse. We have an example of this in a recent Soho Forum Debate in which political scientist Terry Moe of Stanford University and Gene Healy of the Cato Institute...