Thomas Eddlem | The Libertarian Institute

The Inflationary Attack on America’s Poor

by Thomas Eddlem | Mar 3, 2022 | Economics, Featured Articles

The ramp-up of money-printing by the Federal Reserve Bank since the COVID pandemic began has meant, like clockwork, an increase in CPI price inflation exceeding a seven percent annual rate. Though price inflation as measured by the CPI was temporarily delayed by the crosswinds of the shutdown-induced recession, the Fed inflation of the currency had already enriched the financial sector and created a wider income divide between the top one percent and the rest of the people. And this has not gone unnoticed by the political left, even if they remain ignorant of the real economic causes....

How Inflation Has Been Driving Wealth Inequality In the United States

by Thomas Eddlem | Jun 8, 2020 | Economics, Featured Articles

“There is enough for all. The earth is a generous mother; she will provide in plentiful abundance food for all her children if they will but cultivate her soil in justice and in peace.”- Congressman William Bourke Cockran (D-NY) With the massive oncoming rush of poverty as a result of government-imposed shutdowns, Americans can expect that the progressive left will shout again in a loud chorus about how capitalism has failed the poor. But the increasing global poverty brought about by the heavy hand of government mandates to close down the capitalist system cannot be leveled against the...

New Global Data Shows Economic Lockdowns Have No Impact On Coronavirus Spread

by Thomas Eddlem | Jun 1, 2020 | Featured Articles

The United States and much of the world may have initiated a business shutdown—resulting in tens of millions of unemployed domestically, along with all of unemployment's other negative side effects—for no statistically measurable benefit in tamping down COVID-19. (See Figure 1 ) A multivariate analysis of the 95 countries which had their first COVID-19 infection on or before March 15 and whether they had a “non-essential business” shutdown before April 7 yields a smaller infection rate coefficient for non-shutdown countries even after controlling for variables such as population density,...

The Biggest Heist in Human History

by Thomas Eddlem | Apr 11, 2020 | Economics, Events, Featured Articles

As he valiantly tried to get a recorded vote on House passage of the $2.2 trillion coronavirus bill (the CARE Act), Rep. Thomas Massie learned once again last month the chief difference between the members of Congress and the inmates of a maximum security prison: Supermax prison inmates have better character than members of Congress. He should have known this already, since few inmates of a maximum security prisons would say that the ongoing drone-killing of children and warring on al-Qaida's behalf is morally necessary, as the majority of congressmen did. In this instance, however, the...

This Martial Law Will End, and End Badly

by Thomas Eddlem | Mar 21, 2020 | Events, Featured Articles

First, let's get the three principles for the post-COVID-19 world out there: If you think COVID-19 is fake, or not really scary, you don't know science and are an ignorant person. If you post cavalierly about frolicking socially with your friends, you have no empathy for the elderly and other vulnerable populations and are a horrible person. If you think we only had two options to fight COVID-19 – “A. Destroy the economy, or B. Grandma dies.” – you are sheeple-level stupid, and the media programming has brainwashed you. There were options C, D, E and F. Now that I've offended everyone on...

The Libertarian Case Against Immigration Controls

by Thomas Eddlem | Jan 6, 2020 | Featured Articles, Libertarianism

Libertarians have long held the view that free trade is an absolute net benefit. There is no economic model demonstrating that barriers to trade increase aggregate wealth. Free trade as a net benefit is actually one of the few areas where economists of every school of thought – from Austrians to Keynesians to Behaviorists to Monetarists – all agree. But some want to make a single exception to this economic universal, even a few libertarians. Only in the instance where people are the good crossing international borders are those barriers not necessarily beneficial, say the bordertarians....

The New Threat to Free Political Speech

by Thomas Eddlem | Jun 21, 2017 | Featured Articles, Justice, Politics

It’s said that tough cases make bad law. If so, Maryland’s prosecution of Dennis Fusaro and Stephen Waters for campaign finance law violations threatens to make some really bad law. The prosecutors themselves believe the case will “justify burdening speech and associational rights” under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and article 10 of the Maryland State Constitution’s Declaration of Rights. The latter promises “That freedom of speech and debate, or proceedings in the Legislature, ought not to be impeached in any Court of Judicature.” The case stems from a county council race...

No Place to Hide: The Church Committee Hearings Revisited

by Thomas Eddlem | Jun 19, 2017 | Featured Articles, Justice

The 21st century attack on privacy by the NSA, FBI and CIA casts the hearings by Senator Frank Church (D-Idaho) and Otis Pike (D-N.Y.) during the early 1970s in a new light as a path to needed reforms. Hero whistleblower Edward Snowden told interviewers after he revealed widespread NSA warrantless searches that “I don't want to live in a world where everything that I say, everything I do, everyone I talk to, every expression of creativity, or love, or friendship is recorded. And that's not something I'm willing to support. It's not something I'm willing to build. And it's not something I'm...