Category: Free markets
-
The Shine Is Off Corn Ethanol
Our economy is so intertwined and interdependent that it is impossible for the government to guide it in any direction without setting off a long chain of consequences. This is another example of the folly of centralized economic planning.
-
I, Pencil: A Most Important Story
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 throught to, the story of the pencil illustrates the importance of markets, and the impossibility of centralized economic planning.
-
Why Subsidy is Bad Policy
From an article by Kenneth P. Green on energy policy. It explains why subsidy in any form is bad policy. First, subsidies breed corruption. They don’t create incentives for honest people that already have a market-worthy product — such people can already sell their goods into the market easily. Rather, subsidies create a fertile garden…
-
Urban Renewal: A Flawed Idea That Failed 50 Years Ago
Urban renewal failed across the United States in the 20th century. The urban renewal efforts from the 20th century that are the foundation for the newly proposed redevelopment agency in Wichita rely upon these old Kansas laws that require an increase in local government’s powers. There are no clearly defined steps that will avoid repeating…
-
Bureaucratic Incentives Create Deadly Consequences
Walter Williams summarizes why the Food and Drug Administration is likely to delay the approval of drugs that benefit people. Simply stated, they adopt a risk-averse strategy to avoid being criticized for allowing a dangerous drug on the market, even though almost all drugs can be dangerous.
-
The miracle and morality of the market
In this short article we learn the simple mechanism that makes our economy work so well. Interfering with that mechanism is not only harmful, it is immoral.
-
Hillary Clinton and Milton Friedman: The Contrast
“The unfettered free market has been the most radically destructive force in American life in the last generation.” — First Lady Hillary Clinton on C-Span in 1996 stating her troubles with the free market “What most people really object to when they object to a free market is that it is so hard for them…
-
Williams’ law: the vital role of profits
Here’s Williams’ law: Whenever the profit incentive is missing, the probability that people’s wants can be safely ignored is the greatest. If a poll were taken asking people which services they are most satisfied with and which they are most dissatisfied with, for-profit organizations (supermarkets, computer companies and video stores) would dominate the first list…
-
The decline of local chambers of commerce
“I used to think that public employee unions like the NEA were the main enemy in the struggle for limited government, competition and private sector solutions,” says Mr. Caldera of the Independence Institute. “I was wrong. Our biggest adversary is the special interest business cartel that labels itself ‘the business community’ and its political machine…
-
How To Judge the Worth of Ethanol
From The Wall Street Journal, January 27, 2007: “Ethanol gets a 51-cent a gallon domestic subsidy, and there’s another 54-cent a gallon tariff applied at the border against imported ethanol. Without those subsidies, hardly anyone would make the stuff, much less buy it — despite recent high oil prices.” Remove this subsidy and the tariff.…
-
Denouncing “Greed”
Today there are adults — including educated adults — who explain multimillion-dollar corporate executives’ salaries as being due to “greed.” Think about it: I could become so greedy that I wanted a fortune twice the size of Bill Gates’ — but this greed would not increase my income by one cent. …One of the reasons…
-
Remarks to Wichita City Council Regarding the AirTran Subsidy on July 11, 2006
You may recall that I have spoken to this body in years past expressing my opposition to the AirTran subsidy. At that time we were told that the subsidy was intended to be a short-tem measure. Today, four years after the start of the subsidy, with state funding planned for the next five years, it…