Democracy: the matching up of people who want free stuff with politicians who promise free stuff. Problem: free stuff as they all imagine it does not exist. However, it does exist in the market, as explained by Frédéric Bastiat in Economic Harmonies, chapter 8,...
Economics
TGIF: Government Undermines Civilization
by Sheldon Richman | May 31, 2024 | Economics, Featured Articles, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
The good, great, and prosperous society depends on ever-widening trust among strangers. It's not blind trust -- ways to hedge against cheaters abound -- but trust is vital. It is as vital as respect for private property and privacy. Like the system of private...
Economics in One Other Lesson
by Sheldon Richman | May 29, 2024 | Blog, Economics
"The number one principle of economics...: the secret of mass consumption is mass production.... What about distribution? Here's what we know from all of human history, all of economic history. Any large increase in production is widely shared. There's no such thing...
TGIF: The Economic Is Personal
by Sheldon Richman | May 24, 2024 | Economics, Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
Contrary to accepted doctrine, we have no grounds for regarding so-called economic liberties as less important or less worthy of protection than so-called personal, or civil, liberties. That's because we have no essential grounds for distinguishing so-called economic...
This Is the State
by Sheldon Richman | May 22, 2024 | Blog, Economics, Justice, Politics
Biden’s Sham Snickers Salvation Shtick
by Jim Bovard | May 20, 2024 | Economics, Featured Articles, Politics
In 1896, Democratic Party presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan made a famous pro-inflation speech, proclaiming "you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold" (and stable prices). In 2024, President Joe Biden is campaigning for re-election by denouncing...
TGIF: The Nonsense of Statist Political Economy
by Sheldon Richman | May 17, 2024 | Economics, Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
In the video "How Capitalism Makes You Less Free," self-described Marxist Grace Blakeley, author of Vulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes, Backdoor Bailouts and the Death of Freedom, boldly asserts that all societies must have some kind of economic planning. That's...
The Continuing Farce of the U.S. Tariff War
by Joseph Solis-Mullen | May 16, 2024 | Economics, Featured Articles, Foreign Policy
In recent years, American politics has been mired in a narrative of fear and suspicion surrounding China—a narrative perpetuated by successive administrations, defined by nothing so much as speculation and hysteria, and which has fueled the production of a plethora of...