Ronald Coase: A Birthday Appreciation
“Like Adam Smith before him, Ronald Coase remains highly cited but still underrated. His ideas on transaction costs, rules, and organizations were influential, but as I wrote when he passed in 2013, ‘a few minutes with the ‘externalities’ section of almost any principles book, or a few seconds watching and listening to TV and radio discussions of environmental policy — suggests that it [“The Problem of Social Cost” specifically] is not influential enough.'” ~ Art Carden
READ MORE
Private Charity versus the Political Grinches
“We should not forget the power of the private sector not only in the marketplace of profit-making supply and demand, but in the charitable good works and efforts of voluntary giving in the other institutions of a free civil society. Let us not forget that benevolent caring, sharing and gift-giving is what the spirit of Christmas is really all about, and most especially in a society of liberty.” ~ Richard M. Ebeling
READ MORE
Politicians are Crushing Christmas Miracles
“Donald Trump should announce right here and now that he promises to pardon anyone who chooses to work and be open for business despite the decrees of the power hungry. What a way to leave the White House. What a legacy of freedom.” ~ John Tamny
READ MORE
The Return of the Trickle-Down Ruse
“‘Trickle-down economics’ is neither an economic theory, policy, or outcome; better economic thought, not platitudes, are needed.” ~ Peter C. Earle
READ MORE
End the ABA’s Accreditation Power
“Society writ large would benefit if the ABA lost the authority to accredit law schools. If only there were a politician willing to take the lead on this issue.” ~ Allen Mendenhall
READ MORE
Book Review: Whole Foods Founder John Mackey Shows That Leaders Lead Others By Serving Them First
“John Mackey leads by finding ways to lift those in his employ who will run through walls for someone who will put them in a position to thrive. Conscious Leadership is an essential book for helping readers understand that leadership isn’t decreed as much as it’s a consequence of the would-be leader serving those around him.” ~ John Tamny
READ MORE
You’re Not Underpaid ‒ But LeBron Is
“The value of your work isn’t what you say it is; it’s what others say it is, and more so what they’re willing to part with to get that. Even without the particular NBA rules LeBron couldn’t stand up and say his basketball skills are worth a trillion dollars a year. That’s for others to decide ‒ team owners, managers, and fans ‒ not him.” ~ Joakim Book
READ MORE
Dr. Friedman Goes to South Africa
“Milton Friedman in South Africa is a fascinating product of one of Friedman’s ventures during a controversial time. It is worth reading for anyone interested in understanding Friedman specifically or what Andrei Shleifer called ‘The Age of Milton Friedman’ more generally.” ~ Art Carden
READ MORE
Don’t Confuse Free Markets with the Interventionist State
“The important task for those who value personal freedom, economic liberty and the free market economy is to disabuse our fellow citizens from thinking that what we have is a fully capitalist system, and to appreciate that what critics of capitalism call for and want in the form of even more and bigger government would only magnify the corrosive trends already in play in the modern world.” ~ Richard M. Ebeling
READ MORE
The Value is In the Ideas
“Which desk and lamp recipes ‘win?’ It’s not the ones that require the most labor or the most savings. In the long run, it might not even be the ones that capture the imaginations of design aficionados. The winning recipes are the ones that get enough ‘votes’ in the form of the dollars people spend.” ~ Art Carden
READ MORE
Without Permissionless Innovation, Would we Really Love Rock & Roll?
“Even if you think the ‘Queen of Noise’ produces nothing but noise, her success in a world of permissionless innovation is a good reason to love rock & roll.” ~ Art Carden
READ MORE
Medical Supplies Are Too Important to Leave to a National Supply Commander
“Managing medical supply production and distribution is a most unnecessary attention for a central planner. As Smith points out, it is nowhere so dangerous as in the hands of a man who had folly and presumption enough to fancy himself fit to exercise it.” ~ Art Carden
READ MORE
