Topic: Free Markets

The Dramatic Brilliance Of March Madness

– March 25, 2021

“There’s a reason vasectomies spike during March Madness: David going toe-to-toe with Goliath makes for great TV, and improbable runs like George Mason’s Final Four appearance in 2006, Loyola Chicago’s Final Four run in 2018, and Villanova’s ascent from #8 seed to tournament champions in 1985 are called ‘Cinderella stories’ for a reason. People love compelling stories. March Madness offers them in spades.” ~ Art Carden

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Entrepreneurship: A Fading Virtue

– March 25, 2021

“It is entrepreneurs who form the foundation and operational unit of Austrian economics but sadly, their importance is slowly fading from mainstream economic analysis. Such a view of economics not only fails to acknowledge a basic tenet of the economy, but opens the door to a perception of society that merely views individuals as numbers and equations to be manipulated at will.” ~ Ethan Yang

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Hard Work Isn’t Enough. You Have to Work Hard on the Right Things.

– March 23, 2021

“Markets make the costs and benefits very explicit, and while we see through a glass darkly by participating in the market process, it is better than seeing nothing at all. The market might be Plato’s cave, but the nonmarket alternative is not perfect light but perfect darkness.” ~ Art Carden

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The Right of Exit Is What Keeps Society Prosperous and Peaceful

– March 21, 2021

“If we’re willing to trust something as supremely important as our language to cooperation, how much more should we be willing to trust to cooperation our education, health care, wages, and the many other things we think are so important as to require coercion?” ~ Antony Davies

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Climate Alarmism Reconsidered

– March 16, 2021

“Whatever the attraction, today’s climate alarm, now in its 33rd year, shows little sign of abatement within the green establishment or in government. The real threat is climate policy, not physical climate change itself. Affordable, reliable energy, free international trade, and lifestyle norms hang in the balance.” ~ Robert L. Bradley Jr.

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Vaccine Passports are Cronyism

– March 16, 2021

“Win-win outcomes arise from the capitalist mindset that others are peers whose freedom to opt-in or opt-out of any transaction we respect. Such a mindset orients us towards service and away from coercion. The crony mindset rationalizes exploiting the power of the state to profit by coercion and is anything but lovely.” ~ Barry Brownstein

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What Trash Can Teach Us About Economics

– March 16, 2021

“So, what does my trash teach us about economics? What is true of garbage, which should be a relatively straightforward service for a government to provide, is even more true of important and complex services, such as health care and education. Competition to serve customers is the best way to encourage human well-being.” ~ Daniel J. Smith

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Julian Simon and Paul Ehrlich’s Second Bet

– March 11, 2021

“It is easy to remember Simon as a cheerful optimist whose view can be summarized as ‘more people, more innovations, more value created, more abilities to deal with environmental problems.’ But, in reality, Simon was a much deeper thinker who connected markets and economic growth to solving environmental problems through institutions. It is worth remembering how rich his outlook was.” ~ Vincent Geloso

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The Assault On Our Right To Earn A Living

– March 8, 2021

“Economic freedom allows us to do everything from building awesome financial systems capable of moving billions of dollars to intimate cultural experiences such as purchasing home-cooked meals from a local restaurant. The assault on our right to earn a living began over a hundred years ago and has now become the accepted reality today. It is fundamentally rooted in a vision of the world that is not only ignorant of sound economics but lacks the moral sensibility to recognize the humanity of work.” ~ Ethan Yang

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Concerned About Amazon Workers? Here’s How To Really Help Them

– March 8, 2021

“Everyone wants to help other people—or at least, everyone should. The solution isn’t in collective bargaining, however. It’s in better options, better tools, and better ideas. So let’s have more of those.” ~ Art Carden

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The Right to Work and Occupational Licensing

– March 4, 2021

“There is nothing more Un-American and Anti-Capitalist than a system that ordains some with the right to earn a living and bars others from that same essential right. Rather than cultivating an environment where everyone can safely contribute, occupational licenses have made the economy a pay-to-play scheme that only serves well-connected interests.” ~ Amelia Janaskie, Ethan Yang & Jack Nicastro

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The Case for the Deregulated Texas Power Grid

– March 3, 2021

“Markets learn from outlier events such as this one. Institutions and individuals will adapt in light of new perceptions of weather exigencies and risks. This is the major advantage of any deregulation market: it is adaptive. The same cannot be said for any system of regulated state control.” ~ Jack Nicastro

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