The “Stable Bulwark of Our Liberties”

The U.S. Supreme Court in June struck a blow for the separation of powers and dealt the Bush administration a big setback by ruling that suspects held without charge at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have the right to contest their imprisonment under the doctrine of habeas corpus. Simply put, the Court held that the government may [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Democracy or Republic?

Walter Williams is the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University. How often do we hear the claim that our nation is a democracy? Was a democratic form of government the vision of the Founders? As it turns out, the word democracy appears nowhere in the two most fundamental founding documents [...]

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 [...]

Keynesian Economics and Constitutional Government

Last month 650 economists called for an increase in the federal minimum wage, saying it was the responsibility of the government to “improve the well-being of low-wage workers” by mandating the terms under which people may be employed. Among these economists were five recipients of the Nobel Prize in economics. One of them was Lawrence [...]

Book Reviews – November 2006

• 
  "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;
  mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">Nation, State, and Economy: Contributions to the
  Politics and the History of Our Time
  by
  "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;
  mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">Ludwig von Mises "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;
  mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> Reviewed
  by Richard M. Ebeling
• 
  1776
  by David McCullough
  Reviewed by George C. Leef
• 
  Active
  Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution
  by Stephen Breyer
  Reviewed by Michael DeBow
• 
  Making
  Great Decisions in Business and Life
  by David R. Henderson and Charles
  L. Hooper Reviewed by Philip R. Murray

Capitalism and Democracy

I recently heard a prominent American politician tell how a “chill” went up his spine when he heard someone question the importance of democracy. How could anyone doubt the value of democracy? he wondered. Fortunately, he said, he soon realized that by “democracy” his (European) interlocutor really meant “capitalism.” Whew, he thought, that’s all right, [...]