The Legal Foundations of Free Markets
The Legal Foundations of Free Markets, a recent book from the veteran British free-market Institute of Economic Affairs, brings together essays by nine leading experts in law and economics that delve into the interface between the legal system and the economy. The book blends historical analysis, economics, and legal theory, yielding many penetrating insights.
Each of [...]
Freedom in America: Is the Glass Half-full or Half-empty?
It is an age-old question of perception. Show a person a glass with some liquid in it and ask, “Is it half-full or half-empty?”
The importance of the answer depends on the interests of the person asking the question. If you owned a restaurant and wanted to skimp on the wine, you would rather your customers [...]
The End of Prosperity: How Higher Taxes Will Doom the Economy–If We Let it Happen
If you were to believe spokesmen for the Obama regime and its allied pseudo-economists, there is no tradeoff between the size of government and our standard of living. On the contrary, they would like people to believe that the bigger the government gets, the more it can “stimulate” the economy and solve all sorts of [...]
18Nov2009 | George C. Leef | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Left, The Right, and the State
The Left, The Right, and The State, a collection of 103 essays by Llewellyn Rockwell, looks at the ways both the left and right use the State to pursue their goals. Rockwell, president of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, argues forcefully that our liberty and property are endangered equally by left-wing and right-wing statism. As [...]
23Oct2009 | George C. Leef | 4 comments | ContinuedInclined to Liberty: The Futile Attempt to Suppress the Human Spirit
Some people, writes Louis Carabini, are naturally “inclined to liberty.” That is, their thoughts revolve around voluntary action to accomplish their objectives and solve problems. As a Freeman reader, you are probably such an individual. On the other hand, there are many others who are instinctively drawn to coercion to accomplish their objectives and solve [...]
21May2009 | George C. Leef | 0 comments | ContinuedHigher Education in America: Individualism or Central Planning?
In education individual decisions are determinative. Each person (for children, with the assistance of parents) is able to choose the best kind and the ideal duration of education. That is why it’s foolish to talk about the “national education level” as too low or too high. There is no “national level.” If any individual should decide that he would benefit from more education, he will act accordingly. There is no more need for government action here than on the “national fitness level” or “national artistic level.”
21May2009 | George C. Leef | 2 comments | ContinuedMr. Market Miscalculates: The Bubble Years and Beyond
Veteran financial writer James Grant describes himself as a “Grover Cleveland Democrat”—that is, someone who believes strongly in sound money, free trade, and very limited government. Mr. Market Miscalculates is a collection of his essays published in “Grant’s Interest Rate Observer” over the last decade. While most financial writers credulously accept the notion that central [...]
24Apr2009 | George C. Leef | Comments Off | ContinuedSupreme Neglect: How to Revive Constitutional Protection for Private Property
The framers of the Constitution were acutely aware that politics—even in the highly limited democracy they envisioned—could be dangerous to private property. For that reason they added the “takings” clause to the Fifth Amendment: “Nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.” Unfortunately, like so much other constitutional language intended to [...]
2Apr2009 | George C. Leef | 1 comment | ContinuedBook Reviews – December 2008
Is the Welfare State Justified?
by Daniel Shapiro
Cambridge University Press • 2007 • 309 pages • $80.00 hardcover; $27.99 paperback
Reviewed by George C. Leef
Americans have lived with the welfare state for so long—more than 70 years—that for most, it is simply a fact of life. Asking whether it is justified would seem about as pointless as [...]
Why on Earth Do We Have a Student Loan Crisis?
Amid all our other crises, you may have missed the student loan crisis. It isn’t nearly so life-threatening as global warming, nor as financially alarming as the subprime-mortgage collapse, but it does have a lot of politicians clamoring that the country needs them to prevent serious harm. That’s because—for reasons I’ll get to soon—many of [...]
1Nov2008 | George C. Leef | 0 comments | ContinuedBook Reviews – November 2008
Opposing the Crusader State: Alternatives to Global Intervention
Edited by Robert Higgs and Carl P. Close
Independent Institute • 2007 • 291 pages
$15.95 papeerback Reviewed by Doug Bandow
It doesn’t seem to matter how badly America’s foreign policy of global intervention has failed. The governing elite advocate more and more extensive intervention.
Virtually every leading national political figure insists [...]
Book Reviews – October 2008
Mises: The Last Knight of Liberalism
by Jörg Guido Hülsmann
Ludwig von Mises Institute • 2007 • 1143 pages • $50.00
Reviewed by Bettina Bien Greaves
Biographer Guido Hülsmann has written a magnificent book, describing in detail not only the life of Ludwig von Mises, but also his writings, his intellectual development, and his importance. Hülsmann studied all Mises’s [...]
Book Reviews – September 2008
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism by Robert P. Murphy Reviewed by George C. Leef
- The Shock of the Old: Technology and Global History Since 1900 by David Edgerton Reviewed by David K. Levine
- Illiberal Justice: John Rawls vs. the American Political Tradition by David Lewis Schaefer Reviewed by Tibor R. Machan
- Leaving Women Behind: Modern Families, Outdated Laws by Kimberly A. Strassel, Celeste Colgan, and John C. Goodman Reviewed by Karen Y. Palasek
Book Reviews – July 2008
- A Farewell to Alms by Gregory Clark Reviewed by Gene Callahan
- Freedomnomics: Why the Free Market Works and Other Half-Baked Theories Don’t by John Lott Reviewed by Robert P. Murphy
- Our First Revolution: The Remarkable British Upheaval that Inspired America’s Founding Fathers by Michael Barone Reviewed by Martin Morse Wooster
- Nanny State: How Food Fascists, Teetotaling Do-Gooders, Priggish Moralists, and Other Boneheaded Bureaucrats Are Turning America Into a Nation of Children David Harsanyi Reviewed by George Leef
Book Reviews – June 2008
David’s Hammer: The Case for an Activist Judiciary
by Clint Bolick
Cato Institute • 2007 • 177 pages • $11.95 paperback
Reviewed by George C. Leef
In recent years “judicial activism” has been assailed from both ends of the political spectrum. Conservatives complain about “liberal” activism when courts strike down laws they favor, and “liberals” complain about conservative activism [...]
Book Reviews – 2008/5
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution
by Kevin R. C. Gutzman
Regnery • 2007 • 258 pages • $19.95 paperback
Reviewed by J. H. Huebert
Conservative commentators often tell us that if only we would get back to the Constitution as it was understood, say, 100 years ago, all would be well with our Republic again.
The [...]
Book Reviews – April 2008
- Globalization by Donald J. Boudreaux Reviewed by Richard M. Ebeling
- Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement by Brian Doherty Reviewed by Bettina Bien Greaves
- Armed America: The Remarkable Story of How and Why Guns Became as American as Apple Pie by Clayton E. Cramer Reviewed by George C. Leef
- The European Economy Since 1945: Coordinated Capitalism and Beyond by Barry Eichengreen Reviewed by Waldemar Ingdahl
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