“It is not from the benevolence of the mask maker, glove maker, or hand-sanitizer maker that we expect our person protective equipment, but from their regard to their own self-interest. We address ourselves not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk...
free markets
Live Your Life
by Scott Shearin | Apr 9, 2020 | Blog
Could it be that we’re simply a victim of our own technology and the hubris acquired in response to its perceived capabilities?
An Approach to Collective Problems
by Sheldon Richman | Mar 28, 2020 | Blog, Economics, Libertarianism
Libertarian political philosophy, as a practical matter, does not offer a prefabricated set of solutions to collective problems. Rather, it's a liberty-based approach to ameliorating collective problems that begins by acknowledging (among other things) the dispersion,...
Panic Buying, Medical Rationing Underscore Importance of Free Markets
by Bradley Thomas | Mar 27, 2020 | Economics, Events, Featured Articles
The recent coronavirus panic has provided a stark reminder about the scarcity of economic goods. From people hoarding and stockpiling common household items like toilet paper and hand sanitizer to the downright morbid reports of doctors in Italy and Spain having to...
TGIF: Libertarianism in Emergencies
by Sheldon Richman | Mar 27, 2020 | Economics, Featured Articles, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
Libertarians have always acknowledged that emergencies -- severe extraordinary conditions of limited duration -- can justify actions that would be unacceptable under normal circumstances. This doesn't mean that all the rights-based rules disappear, only that some...
Why We Need Free Markets To Fight Pandemics
by Matthew Tanous | Mar 23, 2020 | Economics, Featured Articles
The natural response in the face of a pandemic like the one we are experiencing today with COVID-19 is to take immediate and direct action to curb the crisis. We are told we need to have extensive quarantines, citywide lockdowns, and shelter-in-place orders. We...
TGIF: Despite Appearances, ‘Price Gouging’ Helps People in Distress
by Sheldon Richman | Mar 20, 2020 | Economics, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
[This article originally appeared on the American Institute for Economic Research website on September 12, 2017.] Critics of the free economy often complain that the market fails to “behave” as economic theory predicts. Hence the voluminous literature on “market...
TGIF: Democracy Can’t Fix Socialism
by Sheldon Richman | Mar 6, 2020 | Economics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
However you feel about democracy, it can’t fix what’s wrong with socialism. In theory, modern representative democracy -- unlike ancient Greek direct democracy -- means that people vote for so-called representatives to fill various executive and legislative...
Blog
Analysis of the ICJ’s Ruling that Israel’s Occupation Is Illegal
Scott Horton and I discuss the significance of the International Court of Justice’s recent ruling that Israel’s occupation is illegal.
Doubling Down on Failure: Ford Fiasco Follies
A new updated CRS report dated 5 August 2024 is out on the USS Ford debacle. I read these reports so you don't have to. For plenty of reasons, the carrier is the crossbow and chariot of the 21st century. Yet the US insists on spending tens of billions of dollars on...
The Case for Not Voting
Bretigne Shaffer and I explain why, if you want to effect real change, the most sensible thing you can do is to not vote.
The Royal Navy Submarine Force Remains Surfaced
The Royal Navy is experiencing readiness and maintenance shortfalls in its submarine force that is similar to the throughput problems for the US nuclear submarine forces. The logistical tail for exquisite platforms like nuclear submarines is enormous and a first world...
The F35 Follies: Britannia Rules a Little
My recommendation to the British MoD: don't buy anymore of these flying failure factories. U.K. planned to buy138 F-35s, bought 48, delivered 35, aims at 75 by 2025. Judging from the delays and failures universally in the program, achieving a delivery of all...
Anti-War Blog – Not Enough Paper Cranes
When I was in primary school we were taught about a little Japanese girl named Sadako Sasaki and her paper cranes. She was one of the many victims of the Hiroshima atomic bomb blast, dying after the initial detonation from radiation sickness. One of many thousands who...