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A Free Society: It’s Not All About Country
Read more: A Free Society: It’s Not All About CountryThe opening words of Capitalism and Freedom, by Milton Friedman, written around 1962: In a much quoted passage in his inaugural address, President Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” It is a striking sign of the temper of our times that…
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Disenfranchising and Dissing Kansans
Read more: Disenfranchising and Dissing KansansWhen was the last time you got to vote on raising your property taxes for city, county, or other local services? How about a local bond issue that didn’t involve the government schools? This political power might be inherent but for most Kansans it is mainly invisible. In most other states these votes are routine…
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Government makes things worse, not better
Read more: Government makes things worse, not betterJohn Stossel eviscerates David Brooks, the ostensibly conservative columnist for the New York Times. Brooks has argued for big new government initiatives to boost human capital. Stossel correctly notes, though, that Brooks wants to expand failed government programs when the right approach is to move in the other direction:
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Unlearning Roosevelt
Read more: Unlearning RooseveltWriting in the July 8, 2007 Washington Post, George Will has a column titled “Declaration of Dependence.” The link to it is here, although you may have to register (for free) to read it. All through my public school education, we were taught that Franklin Roosevelt was godlike for saving the country from the Great…
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Political Decision Making Leads To Conflict
Read more: Political Decision Making Leads To ConflictWriting from Davenport, Iowa A column by economist Walter E. Williams (Why we’re a divided nation) strongly makes the case for more decision making by free markets rather than by the government through the political process. When decisions are made through free markets, Dr. Williams says, both parties win, because in a free market, parties…
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A Message From Ron Paul
Read more: A Message From Ron PaulI received this in an email from Ron Paul’s campaign: As my great mentor Ludwig von Mises showed, government meddling in the economy creates conflict, as special-interest groups seek to rip us off through big government. The voluntarism of the free market, on the other hand, brings social cooperation and peace. I have never heard…
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The Candlemaker’s Petition
Read more: The Candlemaker’s PetitionYou are on the right track. You reject abstract theories and little regard for abundance and low prices. You concern yourselves mainly with the fate of the producer. You wish to free him from foreign competition, that is, to reserve the domestic market for domestic industry.
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Henry Hazlitt explains Frederic Bastiat, or, a broken window really hurts no matter what the New York Times says
Read more: Henry Hazlitt explains Frederic Bastiat, or, a broken window really hurts no matter what the New York Times saysThis simple lesson from Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson explains so much, yet so little people realize and apply the truths explained here. Even trained economists like Paul Krugman, writing in The New York Times, fail to recognize the truth of Bastiat’s lesson as explained by Hazlitt when he remarked that “the terror attack…
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Michael Moore Confirms that Government Health Care is Sicko
Read more: Michael Moore Confirms that Government Health Care is SickoThis is an excellent article that exposes how little some people like Michael Moore think about the systems they consider corrupt and unworkable. It appears that Mr. Moore is so consumed with an anti-market bias that he hasn’t really considered the true causes of the problem with healthcare in America. He isn’t the first person…
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Attacking Lobbyists Wrong Battle
Read more: Attacking Lobbyists Wrong BattleThe economist Walter E. Williams has recent column that places the recent lobbying scandal in proper perspective. Professor Williams explains to us that given the “awesome growth of government control over business, property, employment and other areas of our lives” Washington politicians (and I would add state and local politicians too) are in the position…
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Adjusting the Testing Gap
Read more: Adjusting the Testing GapIn the July 25, 2006 Wall Street Journal Charles Murray has a commentary titled “Acid Tests” which describes how the way that the No Child Left Behind program uses test scores is misleading. Actually, misleading is too mild a word. The subtitle of Murray’s article is “No Child Left Behind is beyond uninformative. It is…
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Winning lawsuits: how being irresponsible pays off
Read more: Winning lawsuits: how being irresponsible pays offThey are everywhere — in the office, on the street, in the malls, and even in your house. They can end up costing you hundreds of thousands of dollars. No, it’s not pests I’m referring to. What is this pervasive problem, you ask? Torts.