Th[e] central question is not clarified, it is obscured, by our common political categories of left, right, and center. --Carl Oglesby, Containment and Change You got fins to the left, fins to the right And you're the only bait in town. --Jimmy Buffett, "Fins"...
Free trade
Tom Woods Debunks the “Socialist Sweden” Myth
by Keith Knight | Nov 4, 2022 | Blog
There’s plenty to say regarding Sweden: (1) its “socialist” policies were made possible by wealth created under an essentially capitalist economy (as recently as the 1950s, remember, government spent less as a percentage of GDP in Sweden than in the U.S.); (2)...
TGIF: National Conservatism’s Ominous Economics
by Sheldon Richman | Sep 2, 2022 | Featured Articles, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
National conservatism is objectionable on many counts -- the name in itself tells you that -- but it does pay tribute to free enterprise. A closer look, however, may cause one to doubt its commitment. The movement's official Statement of Principles includes Principle...
A Conversation with Keith Knight and Dave Smith on The Voluntaryist Handbook
by Connor Freeman | Aug 24, 2022 | Blog
Keith Knight, our Managing Editor and host of the Don't Tread On Anyone podcast, went on Dave Smith's Part of the Problem to discuss Keith's new book (Amazon's #1 bestseller in anarchism!) The Voluntaryist Handbook: A Collection of Essays, Excerpts, and Quotes. Keith...
Richard Cobden on the Link between Free Trade and Peace
by Sheldon Richman | Jul 12, 2022 | Blog, Economics, Foreign Policy, Justice, Libertarianism, Politics
I see in the Free-trade principle that which shall act on the moral world as the principle of gravitation in the universe,—drawing men together, thrusting aside the antagonism of race, and creed, and language, and uniting us in the bonds of eternal peace. I have...
5/25/22 Mark Thornton on Paper Money, Housing Bubbles and Free Trade
by Scott Horton | May 31, 2022 | The Scott Horton Show
Download Episode. Scott is joined by Mark Thornton, Senior Fellow at the Mises Institute, to discuss an article he wrote recently on the current housing bubble. They begin by discussing the damage that unbacked government-managed paper money does to the United...
TGIF: Pursue Your Happiness and Forget the Rest
by Sheldon Richman | Dec 31, 2021 | Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
How about we do something novel in the new year? Let's stop worrying about the stuff most politicians, pundits, and activists want us to worry about and instead think about ourselves, our families, our friends, and whatever communities we choose to be part of. Let's...
Vaccines, Autonomy, and Mandates: A Libertarian Analysis
by David D'Amato | Dec 30, 2021 | Featured Articles, Libertarianism
Prefatory Note Given the subject matter discussed below, I believe it prudent to state at the outset that I am not at all opposed to vaccinations themselves: indeed, I have received a COVID-19 vaccine, as well as all other normal-course vaccinations recommended for...
TGIF: Double-Rigging of the Auto Market
by Sheldon Richman | Dec 17, 2021 | Economics, Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, Justice, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
U.S. government interference with our lives often resembles a Russian matryoshka doll: regulation is nested in more regulation. Take the provision of Biden's pending Build Back Better bill that would create a big tax credit for people who buy U.S.-built electric...
Libertarian Party Presidential Nominee Explains Her Platform – Dr. Jo Jorgensen and Keith Knight
by Keith Knight | Jun 7, 2020 | Don't Tread on Anyone
https://youtu.be/wNew73i8VzQ ... you cannot roll back or whittle away statism — whether it be the government’s inflation, its budget, or its numerous depredations and controls on the economy — by getting a few “good guys” in there to speak Truth to Mr. President. ......
If Adam Smith Were Writing the Wealth of Nations Today
by Sheldon Richman | Apr 17, 2020 | Blog
“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...
Trump Administration Flunks Trade Economics 101
by Sheldon Richman | Jan 15, 2020 | Blog
International trade is one of the many areas in which the Trump administration has been egregiously bad. Trump himself seems to lack even the most basic knowledge about the principle of trade -- he seems to think it is always zero-sum with a loser for every winner --...
Venezuelan Sanctions are a Bad Idea
by Matt Knight | Aug 7, 2019 | Blog
The Trump administration recently enacted sanctions against Venezuela, citing human rights abuses among its justifications. But if violations of human rights are a legitimate concern for the administration, then pursuing economic sanctions is bad policy. Research...
How to Look at Tariffs
by Murray N. Rothbard | Jun 26, 2018 | Economics, Featured Articles
The best way to look at tariffs or import quotas or other protectionist restraints is to forget about political boundaries. Political boundaries of nations may be important for other reasons, but they have no economic meaning whatever. Suppose, for example, that each...
Blog
Military Conscription is Slavery: Woodrow Wilson Edition
By the guidelines set down by the Selective Service Act, all males aged 21 to 30 were required to register to potentially be selected for military service. At the request of the War Department, Congress amended the law in August 1918 to expand the age range to include...
The Capitalist Competition Myth
Capitalism involves far more cooperation than competition—think of the number of mutually beneficial transactions you’ve had today compared to the number of competitions you’ve been in today - Chris Freiman, author of Why It's OK to Ignore Politics Democratic...
Blame Mexico? Blame Neocons! Blame Big Pharma! Blame the USA!
ABC News: If fentanyl is so deadly, why do drug dealers use it to lace illicit drugs? I have an alternative explanation. America has been fighting endless wars almost the entire century. Many have come home from these never-ending wars with injuries and pains. Doctors...
My Testimony Before the Maine State Senate
In support of Ld 1054, Defend the Guard legislation: Thank you all so much for the opportunity to testify before your committee today. Today is the 20th anniversary of the beginning of Iraq War II. The consensus now is that we should not have done it. Iraq was not...
These Iraq War Supporters Are Still in Congress
On March 19, 2003 the United States began its military invasion of Iraq. The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq passed Congress in October 2002, with 296 congressmen and 77 senators voting in favor of giving President George W. Bush carte blanche...
Laci Green is Wrong: Democratic Competition vs. Free Market Competition
In environments where there's a lot of competition, people tend to lie out their ass and you can apply this to any competitive situation. Take capitalism. As industrialization took full effect, the Federal Government had to interfere because there was so much false...
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