Archive for Robert Higgs

Robert Higgs is senior fellow at the Independent Institute, editor of The Independent Review, and author of Delusions of Power (Independent Institute).

A Tale of Two Brain Trusts

“A political war,” said Raymond Moley, “is one in which everyone shoots from the lip.”1 He knew what he was talking about. Moley was the organizer and unofficial leader of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “Brain Trust,” the coterie of close advisers and speechwriters who helped FDR win the election of 1932 and assisted in formulating many [...]

1Oct2002 | | 0 comments | Continued

The Rise of the West

Throughout almost the entire span of human history, material privation and chronic insecurity were the norm. Not even those at the peaks of social status and political power could enjoy the creature comforts and consumer delights that “poor” people take for granted in the West today. At times, certain populations fared somewhat better—in ancient Greece [...]

1Jul2002 | | 0 comments | Continued

Wartime Curbs on Liberty Are Costless?

In one of the most provocative opinion articles of recent times, “Security Comes Before Liberty” (Wall Street Journal, October 23, 2001), Jay Winik argued (1) that in previous national emergencies, U.S. presidents took strong repressive measures against citizens and other residents of the country, (2) that the repressive measures implemented so far by the Bush [...]

1Mar2002 | | 0 comments | Continued

How War Amplified Federal Power in the Twentieth Century

This article is reprinted from the July 1999 issue of The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty. After surveying the Western world in the past six centuries, Bruce Porter concluded: “a government at war is a juggernaut of centralization determined to crush any internal opposition that impedes the mobilization of militarily vital resources. This centralizing tendency of [...]

1Dec2001 | | 0 comments | Continued

How War Amplified Federal Power in the Twentieth Century

After surveying the Western world in the past six centuries, Bruce Porter concluded: “a government at war is a juggernaut of centralization determined to crush any internal opposition that impedes the mobilization of militarily vital resources. This centralizing tendency of war has made the rise of the state throughout much of history a disaster for [...]

1Jul1999 | | 1 comment | Continued

From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America’s World Role by Fareed Zakaria

Princeton University Press • 1998 • 199 pages • $29.95 Throughout history strong nations have often expanded beyond their borders, establishing military or trading outposts, exerting influence on other nations, and sometimes pushing out their own borders by subjugating neighboring peoples. The United States, which began as a union of 13 small states east of [...]

1Apr1999 | | 0 comments | Continued

The Mythology of Roosevelt and the New Deal

The Great Depression was a watershed in American history. Soon after Herbert Hoover assumed the presidency in 1929, the economy began to decline, and between 1930 and 1933 the contraction assumed catastrophic proportions never experienced before or since in the United States. Disgusted by Hoover’s inability to stem the collapse, in 1932 the voters elected [...]

1Sep1998 | | 45 comments | Continued

The Welfare State: Promising Protection in an Age of Anxiety

Anxiety, according to The Random House Dictionary, denotes “distress or uneasiness of mind caused by apprehension of danger or misfortune.” By this definition, the twentieth century qualifies as an age of anxiety for Americans. There is irony in this condition, because in many respects we twentieth-century Americans have enjoyed much more security than our forebears. [...]

1May1996 | | 1 comment | Continued

Book Review: Leviathan at War edited by Edmund A. Opitz

The Foundation for Economic Education • 1995 • 191 pages • $14.95 paperback Perhaps the most valid justification of government is its defense of citizens against foreign aggressors. But when governments wage war, a thin line separates defense and offense. And even in a defensive war, governments typically deprive their own citizens of many liberties. [...]

1Dec1995 | | 0 comments | Continued

Nineteen Neglected Consequences of Income Redistribution

Dr. Higgs, this month’s guest editor, is Research Director for the Independent Institute and a contributing editor of The Freeman. Virtually every government action changes the personal distribution of income, but some government programs, which give money, goods, or services to individuals who give nothing in exchange, represent income redistribution in its starkest form. Until [...]

1Dec1994 | | 0 comments | Continued

Perspective: The Struggle for Liberty

America is becoming a police state. Each year, more and more actions become either officially forbidden or officially required. The scope for individuals to decide how to live their own lives grows steadily narrower. The list of crimes grows longer and longer, and any deviance may subject the citizen to the wrath of the police, [...]

1Dec1994 | | 1 comment | Continued

Should The Government Kill People To Protect Their Health?

Robert Higgs is visiting professor of economics at Seattle University and a contributing editor of The Freeman. If you were suffering from a serious disease, would you prefer (a) that you and your doctor decide how to treat your ailment, selecting from all existing medical goods the ones that offer the best combination of benefits [...]

1Jan1994 | | 0 comments | Continued

Individual Rights: The Crumbling Foundation of American Government

Robert Higgs is the Thomas F. Gleed Professor in the AIbers School of Business and Economics and Director, Center for the Study of SociaI Dynamics, Seattle University. Almost everyone recognizes that government can perpetrate great evils. One has only to think of the regimes of Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot, three of the most hideous [...]

1Oct1991 | | 2 comments | Continued

A Closer Look at the Debt and Deficit

The federal government’s budget deficits and the mounting public debt to which they give rise are not, in themselves, the greatest problems facing the American people today. Relative to the size of the U.S. economy, the government debt was much greater in the past, during the immediate post-World War II period, than it is now. [...]

1Jan1991 | | 14 comments | Continued

The Growth of Government in the United States

Big government—we heard a lot about it when Ronald Reagan was first seeking the Presidency. Lately the topic has attracted less attention from politicians, commentators, and scholars. But the thing itself has not disappeared. Over the past decade, as over the past century, American government has continued to grow. Our nation was founded by men [...]

1Aug1990 | | 6 comments | Continued

To Deal With A Crisis: Governmental Program or Free Market?

Robert Higgs is the William E. Simon Professor of Political Economy at Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania. He is the author of three books and a number of articles in the professional journals of economics, history, and economic history, Emergencies are inevitable. History is replete with them, and the future will certainly bring new ones. During [...]

1Sep1986 | | 0 comments | Continued

Where Figures Fail: Measuring the Growth of Big Government

Robert Higgs is Professor of Economics at the University of Washington. He is popular as a lecturer on economic and monetary affairs. His writings include numerous articles as well as books on The Transformation of the American Economy, 1865-1914, and Competition and Coercion. Everyone knows that government has grown, but no one knows exactly how [...]

1Mar1983 | | 0 comments | Continued
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