Sheldon Richman | The Libertarian Institute

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...

TGIF: Targeted Advertising Violates No Liberty

by Sheldon Richman | Apr 2, 2021 | Economics, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

Last week I modestly attempted to show that no injustice takes place when A sells B the opportunity to pitch its product to C. This is the principle behind print, television, and radio advertising, and it is no different in the era of social networks like Facebook. In principle, the commercial act I've described is similar to many other commercial acts. Someone has a megaphone and rents it to someone else, who then uses it to convey product messages to others. Where's the objection? But this does not dispose of the matter because many people are bothered that the social networks collect...

TGIF: The Bias against Advertising

by Sheldon Richman | Mar 26, 2021 | Sheldon Richman, TGIF

People who dislike markets harbor a special animosity toward advertising as cynically controlling. This is not new. In the mid-20th century John Kenneth Galbraith and other market opponents condemned advertising as business's way to manipulate people into buying things they had no real need for and actually didn't want. To hear them tell it, the consumer is not an agent but a puppet, with advertisers as the puppet masters. This position was and is wrong--Galbraith and his colleagues, I suspect, did not think they were helpless buyers--and it was debunked by sensible people, including Israel...

My Appearance with Nate the Voluntaryist

by Sheldon Richman | Mar 22, 2021 | Blog, Economics, Libertarianism

Nate the Voluntaryist and I talked about free markets and capitalism on his podcast. Listen here.

TGIF: What’s Wrong with the Welfare State

by Sheldon Richman | Mar 19, 2021 | Economics, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

Let's start with what is not wrong with the welfare state. Much criticism of the welfare state focuses on how it encourages dependence not only on the government, but dependence on others per se. In some circles the wish for a social safety net is disparaged as a moral flaw encouraged by people who want to subvert humanity in general and the original liberal, or libertarian, project in particular. The welfare state is said to clash with such alleged and desirable virtues as rugged individualism and radical self-reliance. In this view the welfare state robs human beings of their essential...

TGIF: Does Nearly Everyone Favor Industrial Policy?

TGIF: Are Organizations Unlibertarian?

Under Biden, Eminent Domain and the Border Wall Continue

TGIF: The Fraught World of Second-Bests

My Appearance with Nate the Voluntaryist

TGIF: What’s Wrong with the Welfare State

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