Robert Higgs: The Ratchet effect In my work, the ratchet effect describes the characteristic way in which government under modern ideological conditions grows during a perceived national emergency. The government's size, scope, and power grow abruptly as the government acts to "do something" to allay the threat. Then, as the threat is eliminated or diminished, the government shrinks, but not all the way to the level it would have reached if the crisis had not occurred. Hence, each crisis shifts the government's growth trajectory to a higher level of size, scope, and power. In my...
Robert Higgs
“If Men Were Angels We Wouldn’t Need Government” – REBUTTED!
https://youtu.be/_IDU5FdZaas Do the shortcomings of mankind disappear when entering the voting booth, or once elected to government office? BitChute.com: https://www.bitchute.com/video/mpqP6tWTSF0Z/ LBRY: https://lbry.tv/@KeithKnightDontTreadOnAnyone:b/If-Men-Were-Angels-We-Wouldn't-Need-Government---REBUTTED!:f MInds.com: https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/1096569818301566976?referrer=KeithKnightDontTreadOnAnyone Archive.org:...
You Call Me Sergeant When I’m Talking To You
Doctor Armen Henderson was handcuffed by Miami police as he was loading health care supplies for the homeless into his van in front of his house. His crime - disrespect. "Dr. Armen Henderson, an internal medicine physician at the University of Miami Health System, said his biggest concern about the up-close encounter was that the Miami-Dade police sergeant was not wearing a protective mask when Henderson says the sergeant got "all up in my face," Henderson told ABC News on Sunday. The incident occurred on Friday, just three days after Miami-Dade Police Chief Jorge Colina announced that...
9/20/19 Gareth Porter on Why Iran’s Role in the Oil Attack is Beside the Point
Scott interviews Gareth Porter about his recent article for the American Conservative about why Iran's possible role in the recent Saudi oil field attacks is beside the point. Porter thinks it's pretty likely that Iran was behind the attacks, probably as a demonstration of their ability to seriously disrupt the global economy with very little cost or effort. But this should not in any way dissuade the Trump administration from trying to establish peace between the U.S. and Iran, and if anything, probably stresses the importance of doing so. Discussed on the show: "Why Evidence of Iran’s...
8/8/19 Ben Freeman on the Military-Industrial Jobs Scam
Ben Freeman talks about President Trump's friendship with Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson and what it means for the military-industrial complex. Trump likes to boast about keeping businesses—particularly those related to military industries—open and hiring in the United States, but Freeman explains the reality that these companies do not create any net jobs at all. Scott references David Stockman's "Great Deformation", a concept describing the unseen effects on the economy when politicians interfere. For example, rust belt voters see the concentrated effect of a factory in their town...
Robert Higgs: Astute Socialists Opt for Participatory Fascism in Practice
From the Independent Institute: "Astute socialists (if that’s not an oxymoron) opt for participatory fascism, not outright socialism, in practice. They know that outright socialism—the nationalization and central control of all the major means of production—is a ruinous system. By opting for participatory fascism, they can get the bulk of what they seek, by means of pervasive regulation, heavy taxation, and floods of government spending, while allowing the fettered capitalists enough room for maneuver that they keep the economy from going straight to hell. Moreover, when anything goes...
Tariffs, Pickpockets, and the Nationalist Snake in the Moral Grass
Like nearly all economists, I am inclined to explain to people who favor tariffs that such taxes entail inefficiencies. They make the consummations of otherwise desirable trades more costly and hence discourage people’s actions that, absent the tariffs, would result in the creation of new wealth. After all, people who voluntarily purchase goods and services from sellers who reside outside the national borders expect to gain by making those purchases (and, of course, the sellers also expect to gain from the sale), and a gain from trade is the principal form of wealth creation in the world...
News
Blog
The Scott Horton Show
Conflicts of Interest
Don't Tread on Anyone
Liberty Weekly Podcast
Year Zero
Shop Our Books
Voluntaryist Handbook
Hotter Than The Sun: Time To Abolish Nuclear Weapons
[playlist artists="false" images="false"...
