Archive for Arthur E. Foulkes
Arthur Foulkes is a journalist and freelance writer in Indiana.
Taxation Is the Lifeblood of the State
The cliffhanger debate over whether or not to raise the federal government’s debt ceiling threw U.S. fiscal policy into brighter relief than it has been in recent memory. Suddenly people were calling for significant cuts in government spending in the face of a rapidly growing national debt. As often happens, calls for cuts in government [...]
26Oct2011 | Arthur E. Foulkes | 4 comments | ContinuedGrowing Government Ensures “National Greatness”?
There is widespread belief among politicians, public officials, and pundits that if government doesn’t give us the seeds, nothing will grow. A friend of mine served on our city’s legislative council for eight years. During that time he often heard—in defense of tax-funded business incentives—“If we don’t do something, nothing will happen.” The same belief [...]
21Sep2011 | Arthur E. Foulkes | 6 comments | ContinuedEating Disorder: How Governments Raise Food Prices
Higher food prices may be frustrating Americans, but they are literally killing people in the least industrialized parts of the world. Hundreds of millions of the world’s poorest people—who live close to starvation even in good years—are facing malnutrition and chronic hunger. The absolute poorest are facing death. In the 12 months leading to March [...]
1Sep2008 | Arthur E. Foulkes | 1 comment | ContinuedMilton Friedman Is to Blame for Unsafe Food?
There is a “food safety crisis” in America and Milton Friedman is to blame, Princeton University economist Paul Krugman wrote on the New York Times op-ed page May 21. Friedman is responsible, Krugman wrote, because he legitimized a “sickening ideology” that rejects “even the most compelling” cases for government regulation of business. Krugman’s “crisis” stems [...]
1Oct2007 | Arthur E. Foulkes | 3 comments | ContinuedCapitalism and Democracy
I recently heard a prominent American politician tell how a “chill” went up his spine when he heard someone question the importance of democracy. How could anyone doubt the value of democracy? he wondered. Fortunately, he said, he soon realized that by “democracy” his (European) interlocutor really meant “capitalism.” Whew, he thought, that’s all right, [...]
1Nov2006 | Arthur E. Foulkes | 1 comment | ContinuedThe High Cost of Misunderstanding Gasoline Economics
National emergencies, wars, natural disasters—all these things tend to bring about expanded government power.1 Hurricane Katrina was no exception. In addition to promising to spend billions of dollars of other people’s money allegedly to “rebuild” New Orleans and other stricken areas, politicians have been equally generous with other people’s gasoline supplies. In many states, anyone [...]
1Apr2006 | Arthur E. Foulkes | 0 comments | ContinuedRegulations Improve the Free Market?
Despite its remarkable record the free market
remains for many people a tough sell. Even
those who on balance support free enterprise
hesitate to give unregulated market forces their full
endorsement.After all, they argue, the market sometimes
fails, requiring corrective measures at the hands of
wise government authorities.
The FDA Cannot Be Reformed
The past year or so has been tough on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In that time, the agency has taken heat over the discovery of a statistical correlation between antidepressants and “suicidal thinking and behavior.” It has also been accused of sitting on information regarding another statistical correlation, this time between pain drugs [...]
1Jul2005 | Arthur E. Foulkes | 0 comments | ContinuedFree Trade’s Never-Ending Battle
Arthur Foulkes is a freelance writer living in Indiana. Bastiat, did you live in vain? I can think of few people who did more for the cause of free trade in his lifetime than Frédéric Bastiat. A nineteenth-century French lawmaker, pamphleteer, economist, and philosopher, Bastiat is well known to free-trade advocates even today. His classic [...]
1Sep2004 | Arthur E. Foulkes | 5 comments | ContinuedFortune-Cookie Economics
It is little wonder that some economists want to be perceived as having fortune-telling abilities. After all, history and literature are full of examples of revered and exalted prophets and oracles. So we can understand why many economists sit up straight, clear their throats, look us right in the eye, and foretell next year’s change [...]
1Jun2004 | Arthur E. Foulkes | 0 comments | ContinuedEcon 101: An Austrian Economist’s Dream
On the first day in an economics class the instructor tells us that “resources are scarce,” but human “wants are unlimited”—hence the eternal “economic problem.” How do we know resources are scarce? We can observe this fact with our senses; we can see that nothing is available in unlimited quantities everywhere and at all times. [...]
1Jan2004 | Arthur E. Foulkes | 0 comments | ContinuedSaving Hunky Town
Arthur Foulkes is a freelance writer living in Indiana. It’s called “Hunky Town”—a small area of our city known for its large Hungarian population in the early 1900s. Now it’s just another poor neighborhood. “I sometimes forget parts of town like this exist,” my wife said as we watched the shabby homes, broken fences, and [...]
1Oct2003 | Arthur E. Foulkes | 1 comment | ContinuedThe Individual and Society
Over lunch recently a philosophical friend of mine reflected, “U.S. history is the story of a struggle between the individual and society as a whole.” A few days later another friend, equally philosophical, said something similar: “It always comes down to a conflict between the individual and the community.” I have often heard this. The [...]
1Sep2003 | Arthur E. Foulkes | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Economics of Smoking Bans
The war on smoking is proceeding with rapid progress. Anti-smoking activists are successfully fighting for smoking bans in restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, and other places open to the public. California and Delaware have banned smoking in virtually all restaurants and bars. Smoking is prohibited in restaurants in Maine, and voters in Florida recently approved a [...]
1Jul2003 | Arthur E. Foulkes | 3 comments | ContinuedA Ton of Prevention: How the FDA Threatens Vaccine Supplies
After two troubled years, the supply of flu vaccine was plentiful in 2002. But toward the end of November, after nearly all flu shots had been given, one of the three companies making injectable vaccine said it was dropping out of the business, raising immediate concerns of greater scarcity in the future. The news was [...]
1Mar2003 | Arthur E. Foulkes | 1 comment | ContinuedUniversity Economics versus Austrian Economics
Arthur Foulkes is a freelance writer in Indiana. Some time ago my wife asked me to define economics for her. “Ah,” I said, sensing an opportunity to sound intelligent. There was long silence. I sat up, cleared my throat, and said “Ah” again. Truth was I wasn’t sure how to answer her. Of course, I [...]
1Feb2003 | Arthur E. Foulkes | 0 comments | Continued-
The Latest
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Super Bowl versus Education?
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Capitalism, Corporatism, and the Freed Market
When a front-running presidential contender tells the country that thanks to Barack Obama, “[w]e are... Read More
Creating Jobs versus Creating Value
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