During a conversation with someone who loves representative democracy but hates America's current political situation, I pointed out a problem with his view. The current situation, I said, is a product of representative democracy. So you can't have the system without...
Global free trade is about individual, not national, freedom—for consumers and producers who import raw materials, tools, and semi-finished products. Aside from its role as an aspect of personal liberty, free trade's efficiency benefits have been well-established...
Debate goes on over who suffers from U.S. tariffs. Biden and Trump, for example, think U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods hurt China, not Americans. This is nonsense. Even if they hurt Chinese producers (who can sell their goods elsewhere), the tariffs still hurt...
On Saturday, former president Donald Trump came within less of an inch of being assassinated by a rooftop sniper during an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A Secret Service counter sniper “neutralized the shooter,” but not before Trump and at least two rally...
Randy Barnett is arguably on the short list of the libertarians most influential in American public life. His legal scholarship has informed challenges to state power in the courts; indeed, he himself has argued before the Supreme Court. He has been an active...
The most remarkable phrase in the Declaration of Independence, whose anniversary we just celebrated, is the pursuit of happiness. Looking back 248 years, that phrase may strike the modern ear as strange for a political document. But it apparently did not seem that way...
On July 9, 2024, the Cato Institute is holding a conference entitled “NATO at 75, Rebalancing the Transatlantic Alliance.” That title should come as a surprise to committed libertarians. When the modern libertarian movement emerged after World War II, one prominent...
The 2024 election is right around the corner, and libertarians have a choice to make. There are many legitimate options; libertarians have historically taken a number of stances, such as abstention, write-ins, voting for principled candidates or the lesser of two...
