Peripatetics
What The Drug Warriors Have Given Us
Does anyone still think the “war on drugs” is a good idea?
That may strike some people as an odd question under the circumstances, so let’s take it from another direction. Have you seen the news stories about the violence on the border being perpetrated by the Mexican whiskey and cigarette cartels?
No? That’s probably because there was no such violence and are no such cartels.
So why are there violent cartels in marijuana, cocaine, and heroin but not in whiskey and cigarettes?
All together now: prohibition.
17Jun2009 | Sheldon Richman | 8 comments | ContinuedBailing Out Statism
The key to understanding the saga of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—the recently nationalized twin government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) that dominate home financing—is this:
They were set up—intentionally—to distort the housing and mortgage markets. Government planners were not content to let voluntary exchange and spontaneous market forces configure those industries unmolested. So—holding the taxpayers hostage—they intervened.
Make no [...]
Lost in Transcription
Following rules, such as the rules of language, of the market, or of just conduct, is more about “knowing how” than “knowing that.” This is a lesson taught by many important thinkers, among them, Gilbert Ryle (who used these terms in the title of chapter 2 of The Concept of Mind), F. A. Hayek, and [...]
1Dec2008 | Sheldon Richman | 2 comments | ContinuedBailout Hypocrisy
Thud. That was the sound of the other shoe dropping.
In response to severe problems in the credit markets, thanks to years of government intervention, the Federal Reserve—the government’s counterfeiter and chief culprit in the current crisis—has opened its discount window to the investment banks. Interest rate: 2.5 percent. Until recently, only commercial banks could borrow [...]
Health-Care Cons
Economist Joan Robinson (1903–1983) wrote, “The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of readymade answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.”
A better reason to study economics is to avoid being deceived by politicians; they are the far greater threat to life, liberty, and the [...]
The Constitution or Liberty
“Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.”
We might think those words—or words to the same effect—are in the U.S. Constitution. But they are not. They are from Article II of the Articles of [...]
Lost Articles
The Constitution says that to be elected to the U.S. Senate, a person has to be 30 or older, a citizen for at least nine years, and a resident of the state from which the candidate is elected.
Alas, it says nothing about knowing American history.
Good thing for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). He’d have to find [...]
Congressional Generosity
Every now and then we get a glimpse into what government officials really think about our rights to life, liberty, and property. The U.S. Justice Department recently provided such a glimpse in a controversial tax case, Murphy v. IRS.
How revealing it is! Did you know that if the government abstains from taxing all your income, [...]
Global Warming and the Layman
Global warming is a divisive issue. People are either believers or skeptics, with each side viewing the other with apprehension. I’ve sided firmly with the skeptics, but lately I have had a nagging concern. Like most people, I am not an atmospheric scientist. I have no firsthand way to evaluate a scientifically based argument for [...]
1Jan2007 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedEye on the Ball
Like clockwork, on Aug. 28 the New York Times produced another page-one story purporting to show that living standards for many Americans have fallen, this time because wages in recent years have failed to keep up with inflation. This has been happening despite rising productivity and even taking into account the shift from cash to [...]
1Nov2006 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedIs the Income Tax Unconstitutional?
Wishful thinking, always a temptation, is hazardous. Example: An awful lot of people think the income tax as it applies to private-sector wage earners is illegal—even unconstitutional—and they assume that if they can only come up with the right legal arguments, judges will strike down the tax and make America a free society once more. [...]
1Sep2006 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | Continued“The Tariff is the Mother of Trusts”
Why should we expect business people to favor laissez faire and to abhor government intervention? Few people outside of business do so.
1Jun2006 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedHazlitt as a Thinker
Henry Hazlitt was not only a prolific writer, he also succeeded at it early in life. In an unpublished autobiography, Hazlitt recalls that before landing his job at the Wall Street Journal in 1913, at the age of about 18, he finished writing his first book, “with the modest title” Thinking as a Science. He [...]
1Nov2004 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedFlight from Responsibility
Whenever I catch myself admiring a thinker, I find that he shares a trait with other thinkers I admire: an insistence on clear and honest language, a determination not to take metaphors literally.
Apropos of this, September marks the 106th anniversary of the birth of FEE’s founding president, Leonard E. Read, a good time for me [...]
Freedom of Conscience and the Welfare State
Who says the welfare state respects freedom of conscience? Consider: In March the California Supreme Court ruled that employer-provided prescription-drug plans must cover birth-control products, even if contraception violates an employer’s religious convictions.
The conscientious objector in the case is Catholic Charities of Sacramento. The nonprofit organization, which is part of the Roman Catholic Church, argued [...]
There’s Still Work to Do
Free trade is again under assault. If there is one reason for the perennial attack it is likely the one Frédéric Bastiat made so much of: the failure to look for what is “unseen.” The costs of free trade (temporary job loss, closed firms) are easily traced to the free movement of goods, services, and [...]
1Apr2004 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedNo Shortcuts
For about ten years a number of writers sympathetic to the free market have rejoiced that more and more Americans have become shareholders in corporations through retirement accounts and direct investing. These commentators predicted that widespread stock ownership would effect a radical change in Americans’ attitudes about economic policy. No longer would they be sympathetic [...]
1Feb2003 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | Continued-
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Book Reviews
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Montessori, Dewey and Capitalism: Educational Theory for a Free Market In Education
By Jerry Kirkpatrick
