Topic: Government

Capitalism, Economic Education, Government

On “You Didn’t Build That”

– August 7, 2020

“Unethical redistribution occurs to the extent that the taxes an individual pays are paid without his or her consent, for such ‘payment’ implies that the value of the benefits gotten from government by this taxpayer are less than the cost this taxpayer is forced to pay. Yet these complexities do nothing to justify the claim that provision by government of some goods and services creates among citizens indebtedness to the state.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Government, Regulation

Political Legitimacy Dies in 2020

– July 28, 2020

“As Thomas Jefferson declared in 1786, ‘An elective despotism was not the government we fought for.’ What’s the point of voting if ‘government under the law’ is not a choice on Election Day? American political legitimacy will continue plummeting as long as politicians scorn any legal and constitutional limits on their power.” ~ James Bovard

Crisis, Government, Policy

Government’s Credibility Crisis

– July 23, 2020

“The readiness with which Americans accepted one of the most distilled forms of authoritarianism in a lifetime should shake us from our slumber, prompting an energetic return to Spencer’s liberalism, the humbler liberalism of granting a presumption in favor of individual people and their dignity.” ~ David S. D’Amato

Free Markets, Government, Policy

How Much Should You Sell Your Vote For This November?

– July 15, 2020

“All that can be said for certain is that in most states it is now quite possible to do so and that the masked stranger does not even have to work for a political party or candidate. In fact, vote buying solves problems for donors by ensuring maximum effect for each dollar spent and by sidestepping campaign finance laws.” ~ Robert E. Wright

Books, Classical Liberalism, Government, History

Rothbard’s Challenging History of the Revolutionary War and the Constitution

– July 7, 2020

“In short, one does not have to share Rothbard’s opinion about the undesirability of the Constitution to find his interpretation of what actually happened illuminating. Whether you think that the Constitution was a mistake, that it was a good idea, or that it didn’t do enough to empower government, you will still encounter reliable, engaging, and challenging history in the fifth volume of Conceived in Liberty.” ~ Jeffrey Rogers Hummel

Central Banking, Crisis, Government, Monetary Policy

COVID-19 Made the Federal Reserve Sick

– June 24, 2020

“The change in the Fed’s mandate is not something we can afford to ignore. Its new policies come with significant economic and political costs. If we do not come to grips with them, the Fed might not be able to help much when the next crisis hits.” ~ Alexander W. Salter

Art and Culture, Crisis, Government, History

The Meaning and the Mind of an American

– June 22, 2020

“America’s hope has been for the color-blind society, and in spite of everything has been moving closer to it, in numerous facets of everyday life. Its path is being blocked not by anything inherent wrong in its founding principles. Its way is threatened by those whose view of man is based on collectivist identifiers,.” ~ Richard Ebeling

Central Banking, Economic Education, Government

Negative Interest Rates Explained

– June 9, 2020

“If policy does not moderate and if investors are unable to innovate means to protect their positions from these policies, as they often have in the past, the current fiscal and monetary regime places the globe at risk of, at worst, financial catastrophe and, at best, stagnation.”~James L. Caton, Peter C. Earle, William J. Luther

Capitalism, Economic History, Government

Japan’s Three Decades of Depressive Stimulus Schemes

– June 3, 2020

“The U.S. and Japan are old welfare states that can’t afford what they’re doing; nonetheless, their politicians can’t seem to succeed electorally without persisting in their profligacy. Japan’s history signals the likely outcome for copycats: prolonged stagnation.” Richard M. Salsman

Edward Stringham on BBC News talking about Trump targeting Social Media

Government, Video

Government Controls Will Worsen the Social Media Problem (Video)

– May 30, 2020

“I appeared on the BBC to discuss the huge problems of social media and why Trump’s executive order can only make matters worse. What we need are fewer controls, not more, and a restoration of the original idea of the Internet as a free marketplace of ideas.” ~ Edward Stringham

Art and Culture, Economic Education, Government

Free Speech Is Not Just Partisan Speech with Which You Agree

– May 29, 2020

“President Trump — and your supporters — lay off Twitter, and the other tech media platforms. All politicians of every political party should stop attacking the media and declare their support for the First Amendment.” ~ Raymond Niles

Authoritarianism, Government

Why Didn’t the Constitution Stop This?

– April 30, 2020

Once a federal court (especially SCOTUS, from which there is no appeal) declares a law unconstitutional, as SCOTUS has often done to state laws throughout US history, the political dynamic changes dramatically. States must comply or face that other side of federalism.