All Posts Tagged With: "private property"
History for Sale: Why Not?
Sold!” cried the Sotheby’s auctioneer on the night of December 18, 2007, as one of history’s oldest political documents changed hands. It was Magna Carta, or rather a copy of it that dated to 1297. The buyer was not a government but an individual, a Washington lawyer named David Rubenstein. He paid $21.3 million for [...]
1May2008 | Lawrence W. Reed | 0 comments | ContinuedEconomics and Property Rights
Economic theory does not operate in a vacuum. Institutions, such as the property-rights structure, do not change economic theory but influence how the theory manifests itself. Similarly, the law of gravity is not repealed when a parachutist floats gently down to earth. The parachute simply determines how the law of gravity manifests itself. Failure to [...]
1Jan2008 | Walter E. Williams | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Nation Is Not a House
Let’s reflect on the rhetoric used by those who oppose greater freedom for people to move back and forth across political borders. Opponents of the freedom to move frequently analogize a nation to a house. “You lock your house, don’t you?” these anti-immigrationists ask—implying that what makes sense for a home makes equally good sense [...]
1Sep2007 | Donald J. Boudreaux | 0 comments | ContinuedAntonio Rosmini: Philosopher of Property
Over the past several decades The Freeman and FEE have introduced the liberty-loving public to many great thinkers of the past who otherwise would have fallen into oblivion.
1Apr2006 | Alberto Mingardi | 0 comments | ContinuedStill Neither Left Nor Right
We live in a time when virtually all political parties and candidates stand for the same fundamental ideological idea: state interventionism and compulsory redistribution.This also applies to the mainstream media. Even many who say they adhere to a pro-market view of things in fact turn out to be only more moderate advocates of government regulations and welfare-state programs.
1Jan2006 | Richard M. Ebeling | 0 comments | ContinuedPresumptuous Protectionism
If someone gets caught selling somebody elses property,
he goes to jail.What may be legally bought and
sold in the market is limited to legitimate private
property acquired by ones own effort or through voluntary
exchange with others. Since legal transactions are
settled accounts, what is traded belongs to neither the
government nor the community. It is private property,
and as such the owner can dispose of it at his sole discretion,
limited only by other peoples
rights. Correct?
The Tyranny of Local Government
Thanks to the recent decision rendered by the Supreme Court in Kelo v. City of New London, citizens across the nation have a new reason to fear government.
1Nov2005 | Paul Messino | 1 comment | ContinuedThe Dangers of Eminent Domain
In Kelo v. City of New London the United States
Supreme Court greatly weakened the constitutional
protections that property owners have enjoyed
against governments wishing to seize private property.
This weakening is unfortunate.
The Supreme Court and the End of Limited Government
The Supreme Court ruling permitting governments
forcibly to transfer property through eminent
domain from one private party to another
for the sake of economic development did not come out
of the blue. Although the Takings Clause in the Fifth
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution specifies “nor shall
private property be taken for public use without just
compensation,” the “Court long ago rejected any literal
requirement that condemned property be put into use
for the general public” (Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff,
1984, cited in the current case, Kelo v. City of New
London).
A Popular Insurrection on Property Rights
The property rights issues that arise constantly in
modern life are always difficult and often
obscure. Most ordinary people understand the
importance of zoning restrictions and environmental
protection in their daily lives.They are also keenly aware
that the state exercises its eminent domain power whenever
it condemns land for a post office or a public highway.
But in general they rightly feel a little intimidated
if asked to understand the inner workings of a legal system
that is dominated at every turn by an impenetrable
jargon that even trained lawyers find it
hard to manipulate.
Protecting Property in a Post-Kelo World
Two years ago, when I began writing a book,
peoples eyes would glaze over when I told them
the subject was eminent domain, the power of
the government to take property by force on just
compensation to the owner. Rarely could I mention the
subject without having to explain it in detail, and
incredulity was a typical response to the realization that
government now takes property for private uses rather
than for the public uses allowed by the
Constitution.
Basis of Liberty
In one of his fables Aesop said: “A horse and a stag,
feeding together in a rich meadow, began fighting
over which should have the best grass.The stag with
his sharp horns got the better of the horse. So the horse
asked the help of man. And man agreed, but suggested
that his help might be more effective if he were permitted
to ride the horse and guide him as he thought best.
So the horse permitted man to put a saddle on his back
and a bridle on his head.Thus they drove the stag from
the meadow. But when the horse asked man to remove
the bridle and saddle and set him free, man answered, ‘I
never before knew what a useful drudge you are. And
now that I have found what you are good for, you may
rest assured that I will keep you to it.’”
Property Protects
Opponents of authentic liberalism have long held that the state must be powerful enough to protect the powerless from the ravages of private property. The Supreme Court’s decision in the Kelo eminent-domain case last summer shows what that principle is worth. To recap, the city of New London, Connecticut, condemned 15 working-class homes for an [...]
1Sep2005 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedPharmacists and Freedom
According to the newspapers, pharmacists throughout the United States are refusing to fill prescriptions for the “morning-after” pill and other contraceptives because of religious objections. This has caused some concern and has prompted at least one governor to intervene. Last spring Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich issued an emergency order requiring pharmacies to honor all prescriptions. [...]
1Jul2005 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedTo Own or Be Owned: That Is the Question
In coming months, and probably years, President Bush’s “Ownership Society” proposals—in particular, his plans for personal accounts within Social Security, health savings accounts, and more school choice—will stimulate national discussion in directions politicians for decades have feared to tread. Whether you think the President’s specifics have merit or not, this development should be seen as [...]
1Jul2005 | Lawrence W. Reed | 0 comments | ContinuedThirty-Six Years After Neil Armstrong
“The Earth is the cradle of the mind, but we cannot live forever in a cradle.” —KONSTANTIN E.TSIOLKOVSKY, 1911 Thirty-six years ago men could walk on the moon. Today they can’t; the only moon rockets on this planet are serving as lawn decorations in Huntsville and Houston. Is this because 21st-century technology is less advanced [...]
1Jul2005 | Bill Walker | 3 comments | ContinuedFreedom and Majority Rule
The publisher of the London Times came to this country a few years after World War I. A banquet in his honor was held in New York City, and at the appropriate time Lord Northcliffe rose to his feet to propose a toast. Prohibition was in effect, you will recall, and the beverage customarily drunk [...]
1Jun2005 | Edmund A. Opitz | 0 comments | Continued-
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