Free Trade & Trade Policy

Settling for an Injustice

by Sheldon Richman December 1, 2001

The federal government's antitrust case against Microsoft apparently will end in a settlement. All that remains is for the presiding judge to give her blessing and for some recalcitrant state attorneys general to get on board. It's understandable why Microsoft would acquiesce in a settlement. The long case has been costly. ...

Avoid Phony Public Service

by Sheldon Richman September 1, 2001

The dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Joseph S. Nye Jr., laments that while in 1980 three-quarters of the graduates took government jobs, just one-third does so these days. That’s a good trend. But not good enough. Here’s hoping the number drops further. Many people will ask, who could ...

Israel M. Kirzner and the Austrian Theory of Competition and Entrepreneurship

by Richard M. Ebeling August 1, 2001

WITH THE END OF THE 2001 SPRING SEMESTER, one of the leading Austrian economists in the world, Dr. Israel M. Kirzner, has decided to retire from formal academic life at the age of 71. Over a scholarly career that has spanned more than 40 years, Kirzner has enriched our understanding of the theory of the competitive process, the role ...

A Regulated-Economy Agreement for the Americas

by Richard M. Ebeling July 1, 2001

DURING THE WEEKEND of April 20–22, 2001, the leaders of countries in North, Central, and South America met in Quebec, Canada, to approve an agenda for establishing free trade throughout the western hemisphere by 2005. The news media gave a great deal of attention to the thousands of demonstrators who clashed with the police. Representing a wide variety of diverse ...

Free Markets Aren’t Conservative

by Sheldon Richman June 1, 2001

One of the great myths of the Industrial Age is that businessmen generally like free markets. That myth has deep implications and consequences. For example, someone who buys into it will tend to believe that proposals to deregulate markets are simply favors for special interests and inimical to the interests ...

Free Trade without the “But”

by Sheldon Richman May 1, 2001

Heads of state throughout the Western Hemisphere gathered recently in Quebec City to talk about setting up a hemispheric free-trade zone. But as usual, the politicians spoke with forked tongues. When these guys say “free trade” they really mean “free trade, but.” There are more ...

The Return to a Global Economy

by Ian Vasquez March 1, 2001

AFTER TWO WORLD WARS, the Great Depression, and experiments with socialism interrupted the liberal economic order that began in the 19th century, the world economy has now returned to the level of globalization that it previously enjoyed. By the 1970s, trade as a share of world economic output had already reached its pre–World War I height. During the past ...

The Fundamental Rights of the European Union: Individual Rights or Welfare-State Privileges? Part 2

by Richard M. Ebeling February 1, 2001

Part 1 | Part 2 IN NOVEMBER 1934, during the dark years of growing tyranny throughout Europe, British historian Ramsey Muir penned a short article that appeared in the pages of the journal The Nineteenth Century and After. His theme was “civilization and liberty.” He asked how it was that of all the civilizations around the world, only the ...

Market Liberalism, International Order, and World Peace, Part 2

by Richard M. Ebeling December 1, 2000

Part 1 | Part 2 In 1952 ,free-market economist Michael A. Heilperin delivered a lecture entitled “An Economist’s Views on International Organization.” He told his audience, It is an elementary, but often forgotten, knowledge that policies of national governments have always been the principle obstacle to economic relations between people living in various countries, and that whenever these relations ...

Market Liberalism, International Order, and World Peace, Part 1

by Richard M. Ebeling November 1, 2000

Part 1 | Part 2 In this Post–Cold War epoch the world is desperately searching for international order, global peace, and general economic prosperity. The great debate going on around the world is whether these desired goals can be attained through the existing system of national sovereignty or whether they require the establishment of international political organizations with the ...

Abolish NHTSA

by Sheldon Richman September 1, 2000

Purely for the sake of discussion, let’s assume the worst about Firestone and Ford: that someone’s gross negligence led to the production of tires that endangered drivers of Ford Explorers. The common law tort process should be allowed to take its course. If there’s evidence of ...

Is Mexico Asking the Right Questions?

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 2000

In order to solve a problem, it is necessary to ask the right questions. During his recent visit to Washington, Mexican President-elect Vicente Fox asked the wrong questions: "How can we narrow the gap in income on both sides of the border?" and "How can we put together a fund for development?" The ...