Capitalism Archives - Page 3 of 3 Voice For Liberty

Oct

Intellectuals against the people and their freedoms

At a recent educational meeting I attended, someone asked the question: Why doesn't everyone believe what we (most of the people attending) believe: that private property and free exchange -- capitalism, in other words -- are superior to government intervention and control over the economy? It's question that I've asked at conferences I've attended. The most hopeful answer is ignorance. While that may seem a harsh word to use, ignorance is simply a "state of being uninformed." That can be cured by education. This is the reason for this website. This is the reason why I and others testify in…

Sep

By Bob Weeks

Author C. Bradley Thompson to appear in Wichita

Next week author and scholar C. Bradley Thompson will deliver two public lectures in Wichita. On Thursday September 16 Thompson will speak on the topic "Two Americas: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of Freedom." This lecture is sponsored by the Bill of Rights Institute and underwritten by the Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation. The event begins at 5:30 pm with a complimentary reception followed by the program at 6:15 pm. Seating is limited and reservations are required no later than Friday, September 10th by phoning 316-828-5624. This event will be at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Wichita.…

Sep

By Bob Weeks

Capitalism means freedom

In recent years, the ideas and principles of capitalism have taken a beating. The election of President Barack Obama in 2008 was a blow to the freedom that capitalism is built on, although President George W. Bush had done a fair job trampling on the principles of capitalism. Locally, it was a bad year for capitalism and economic freedom in the Kansas Legislature. The Wichita Eagle editorial board seems to have the disparagement of capitalism as its primary goal, as it promotes government action at the expense of economic freedom and individual liberty at every opportunity. What is capitalism? Milton…

Mar

By Bob Weeks

Stealing Capitalism: The Crime of the Century

By Jill S. Sprik It's been 105 years since a clandestine plot was hatched to purloin America's capitalist system and replace it with socialism. Most of us were unaware of what was taking place right under our naïve noses, but recent events have now made it clear. Here's how it happened: Continue reading at Stealing Capitalism: The Crime of the Century.

Mar

By Bob Weeks

Burton Folsom, writer on capitalism, to speak in Wichita

Here's a message from AFP-Kansas and the Flint Hills Center for Public Policy. Please join Americans for Prosperity-Kansas and the Flint Hills Center for Public Policy for a policy luncheon in Wichita next week, featuring noted author Burton Folsom Thursday, March 26, 12 p.m. Wichita Country Club, 8501 East 13th Street The luncheon costs $25 per person, or $185 per table of eight. Contact the Flint Hills Center at 316-634-0218, or by visiting www.flinthills.org, to make a reservation by Tuesday, March 24. Folsom has written several books, including most recently New Deal or Raw Deal? FDR’s Economic Legacy for America…

Dec

By Bob Weeks

I, Pencil turns 50!

The Foundation for Economic Education has a new version of I, Pencil to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Click here to view the announcement and read this short book. I've written about I, Pencil in the past. I, Pencil is one of the most important and influential writings that explain the necessity for limited government. A simple object that we may not give much thought to, the story of the pencil illustrates the importance of markets and the impossibility of centralized economic planning. The size and scope of government, both at the national and local level, has been growing. Now our…

May

By Bob Weeks

Everything you love you owe to capitalism

This is an excellent article by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., president of the Ludwig von Mises Institute. An excerpt: I'm convinced that Mises was right: the most important step economists or economic institutions can take is in the direction of public education in economic logic. There is another important factor here. The state thrives on an economically ignorant public. This is the only way it can get away with blaming inflation or recession on consumers, or claiming that the government's fiscal problems are due to our paying too little in taxes. It is economic ignorance that permits the regulatory agencies…

Jan

By Bob Weeks

The Value of the Businessman

An outstanding feature of the open market is the businessman, whose success or failure depends entirely on his ability to "focus on consumer needs" and so combine existing and potential factors of production to serve consumers most efficiently. The only constructive role government can play under the free market method of overcoming poverty is to see that the participation of individuals is strictly voluntary--that none is permitted to steal from or cheat or enslave another. In the free and open society, the organized force of government is to be used only if necessary to protect the lives and property of…

Feb

By Bob Weeks

The Mystery of Capital

The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else Hernando De Soto Basic Books, 2000 The problem with most third world countries, Mr. De Soto tells us, is not that there is no capital, it's that the capital is dead. Dead in the sense that it can't be used to its full economic potential. It can't be mortgaged, it can't be divided into shares, and it simply can't be used in the same way we make productive use of our assets in the West. What is the difference between the West and the third world?…