Archive for Lawrence W. Reed

Lawrence Reed is the president of FEE.

The Forgotten Robber Barons

Conventional wisdom, which often is mostly convention and very little wisdom, confidently instructs us that rapacious capitalists dominated and victimized American society in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The white knight of government then rode to the rescue of hapless workers and consumers. The message: business bad, government good. Honest, objective historians of [...]

19Apr2010 | Lawrence W. Reed | 1 comment | Continued

Anti-Force Is the Common Denominator

Allow me to alter something the great humorist Will Rogers said: “I’m not a member of any organized group. I’m a libertarian.” I wince a bit as I say that, though. Let me explain. Labels such as “libertarian” aren’t always illuminating. Sometimes they serve as expedient substitutes for thought—as in, “Oh, he’s one of those!” [...]

24Mar2010 | Lawrence W. Reed | 14 comments | Continued

Presidents and Precedents

America’s 44th president has embarked on a massive expansion of the federal establishment that, if accomplished, will dwarf all previous welfare states in its spending and debt. Americans will largely depend on politicians and their underlings for a significant portion of their heavily mortgaged livelihoods. It’s a path to national suicide that would horrify most [...]

24Feb2010 | Lawrence W. Reed | 13 comments | Continued

Where Have All the Monetary Cranks Gone?

“Monetary crank” was never exactly a household phrase, but I know for certain it was much more widely used and understood a century ago than it is today. If you had nutty ideas about money, you were a monetary crank.

22Feb2010 | Lawrence W. Reed | 8 comments | Continued

Principled Parties

Imagine a political movement that says it’s committed to “equal rights”—and means it. Not just equality in a few cherry-picked rights but all human rights, including the most maligned, property rights. Imagine a movement whose raison d’être is to oppose any and all special privileges from government for anybody. When it comes to political parties, [...]

1Jan2010 | Lawrence W. Reed | 5 comments | Continued

The Man Who Didn’t “Grow” in Office

December 29, 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of William Ewart Gladstone. This article by Lawrence W. Reed explains that Gladstone was one of liberty’s greatest champions.

28Dec2009 | Lawrence W. Reed | 0 comments | Continued

The Sound of Freedom

When I have the chance, I often pose this question to people who have become advocates for liberty: “What was it that first turned you on to these ideas?” It’s an important question that always produces revealing answers and sometimes some fascinating stories. Liberty, keep in mind, is not automatic or guaranteed. Few people who [...]

18Nov2009 | Lawrence W. Reed | 3 comments | Continued

Berlin, August 1961: An Anniversary We Should Never Forget

[This essay originally appeared in the National Review Online in 2001. ] August marks the anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall that for 28 years thereafter, divided the city of Berlin and closed off the only remaining escape hatch for people in the communist East who wanted freedom in the West. It was [...]

9Nov2009 | Lawrence W. Reed | 9 comments | Continued

Child Labor and the British Industrial Revolution

Profound economic changes took place in Great Britain in the century after 1750. This was the age of the Industrial Revolution, complete with a cascade of technical innovations, a vast increase in production, a renaissance of world trade, and rapid growth of urban populations. Where historians and other observers clash is in the interpretation of [...]

23Oct2009 | Lawrence W. Reed | 7 comments | Continued

A Tribute to the Polish People

The cause of liberty saw memorable highs and unconscionable lows in 1989. Surely that year will be best remembered as the year Soviet hegemony over central Europe disintegrated, paving the way for the dissolution of the Soviet Union itself in 1991. Free people everywhere should toast the brave people of one nation in particular–Poland–for the [...]

23Sep2009 | Lawrence W. Reed | 7 comments | Continued

In the Grip of Madness

“Thank God we had the federal government last week to bail out the private sector!”  That is what a rather statist friend of mine declared a year ago as the economy tanked, almost gleeful that the financial crisis seemed to be proving how much we all need a massive federal establishment to both regulate and [...]

19Aug2009 | Lawrence W. Reed | 37 comments | Continued

Give Up? Are You Kidding?

We should not squander a second feeling bad for ourselves. This is a moment when our true character, the stuff we’re really made of, will show itself. If we retreat, that would tell me we were never really worthy of the battle in the first place. But if we resolve to let these tough times build character and rally our dispirited friends to new levels of dedication, we will look back on this occasion someday with pride at how we handled it.

17Jun2009 | Lawrence W. Reed | 13 comments | Continued

Two Cheers for Transparency

If citizens knew more about how their governments really worked and what they spent other people’s money on, it would not only make for better-informed citizens but for better (and hopefully less) government at the same time. That’s the theory behind a growing movement spearheaded by think tanks from coast to coast and in Canada. [...]

21May2009 | Lawrence W. Reed | 6 comments | Continued

Who Owes What to Whom?

Note: This column first appeared in the February 2002 issue of The Freeman. For a society that has fed, clothed, housed, cared for, informed, entertained, and otherwise enriched more people at higher levels than any in the history of the planet, there sure is a lot of groundless guilt in America. Manifestations of that guilt [...]

24Apr2009 | Lawrence W. Reed | 8 comments | Continued

The Sage of Tampa

“The natural progress of things,” according to Thomas Jefferson, “is for government to gain ground and for liberty to yield.” But this lament does not suggest that the primary author of the Declaration of Independence was resigned to inaction. He also said, “A little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary [...]

1Apr2009 | Lawrence W. Reed | 0 comments | Continued

What We Believe

The Foundation for Economic Education, publisher of this magazine since 1956, is now in its seventh decade, and I am now in my seventh month as its president. As we expand the outreach of our programs and publications, now is a good time to remind our readers who we are and what we believe in. [...]

2Mar2009 | Lawrence W. Reed | 8 comments | Continued

A Man Who Knew the Value of Liberty

[This column was adapted from one published first by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy on its website in February 2007.] A television audience in the millions will feast on the glitz and glamor of Hollywood when the 81st Annual Academy Awards are bestowed February 22. My thoughts will be elsewhere that Sunday night—on a [...]

20Jan2009 | Lawrence W. Reed | 7 comments | Continued
Newer Entries • Older Entries

    • © Copyright 2011 Freeman - Ideas on Liberty. All rights reserved.

    42 queries. 1.932 seconds