Tag: Role of government
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The misplaced morality of public officials
In Wichita some public officials, particularly mayor Carlos Mayans, are seeking to eliminate adult businesses and stores selling pornography. This focus on private morality lies in sharp contrast with government’s large-scale acts of public immorality.
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The Invasiveness of Government
TRACKSIDEby John D’Aloia Jr.May 31, 2005 Trackside last discussed the use of the legislative process to feed the insatiable itch for power that overtakes elected officials. This past session a majority of Kansas state senators demonstrated the itch by passing SB45, a bill that would have given local jurisdictions the means to instantly collect past…
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I, Pencil
Do you think there exists a single person who knows how to make a lead pencil? In this article, Mr. Read shows us how there is no one who knows even a small fraction of what is necessary to produce even this simple, everyday item. How, then, does a lead pencil come to be manufactured?…
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The miracle and morality of the market
In this short article we learn the simple mechanism that makes our economy work so well. Interference with that mechanism is not only harmful, it is immoral.
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The Rise of Government and the Decline of Morality
At the time when we have voted on a major issue that was framed in terms of morality, when we have prominent preachers attempting to impose their version of morality on us through the power of government, when we have a mayor who opposes certain businesses for moral reasons, and we have government at all…
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AirTran Subsidy Remarks
Following are remarks I am delivering to several groups, including the Wichita City Council, in April 2005.
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Why government spending is (mostly) bad
Government spending replaces the judgment of the market with the judgment of politicians. The judgment of the market refers to the billions of decisions that we collectively make each day, decisions that we freely make, that we believe will advance our self-interest. That is to say, the market is characterized by mutual agreement and voluntary…
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The Law by Frederic Bastiat
About a year ago I became acquainted with the writings of the economist Walter E. Williams. After reading his foreword to this book, I understand — as Williams says himself — how important Bastiat’s writings are. As Williams says: Reading Bastiat made me keenly aware of all the time wasted, along with the frustrations of…
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End Corporate Welfare, Starting with Industrial Revenue Bonds
“While corporate welfare has attracted critics from both the left and the right, there is no uniform definition. By TIME’s definition, it is this: any action by local, state or federal government that gives a corporation or an entire industry a benefit not offered to others. It can be an outright subsidy, a grant, real…
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Vioxx and personal liberty
A recent column by Thomas Sowell titled Free lunch ‘safety’: Part II (a link to part one is here) started with this paragraph: “The government will allow you to risk your life for the sake of recreation by sky-diving, mountain climbing or any number of other dangerous activities. But it will not allow you to…