Ireland and Big-Spending Republicans by Benjamin Powell December 1, 2003 Despite some tax cuts, the size of the U.S. government has increased rapidly under President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress. Washington leaders looking to improve the economy could learn a lesson or two from Ireland, which has consistently achieved high rates of growth over the last 15 years by successfully slashing government spending. Under the Republican Congress during Clintons years ...
“Bad Money Drives Out Good” by Charles Adams December 1, 2003 This is what has been called Gresham’s Law. It was formulated by Sir Thomas Gresham to explain to Queen Elizabeth I what was happening to the English shilling. Her father, Henry VIII, had been adulterating the English shilling, the basic coin of the realm, by replacing 40 percent of the silver in the coin with base metals — a ...
Book Review: Dependent on D.C. by Charlotte A. Twight by George Leef December 1, 2003 Dependent on D.C.: The Rise of Federal Control over the Lives of Ordinary Americans by Charlotte Twight (St. Martins Press, 2002); 422 pages; $26.95. I have often thought about how different the United States of today is from the United States my grandfather knew. A century ago, he was a young man embarking on a business career. He and all other ...
The Ten Commandments Controversy by Jacob G. Hornberger November 1, 2003 Recently the Ten Commandments were embroiled in controversy in the state of Alabama, where the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court defied a federal order to remove a stone monument containing the commandments from the rotunda of the state supreme court building. The controversy raised important issues relating to federalism ...
Bad Medicine by Sheldon Richman November 1, 2003 Those who have been hungering for a real political debate in this country can’t help but be deliriously overcome with the news that CBS’s 60 Minutes will feature 10 face-offs between former Democratic President Bill Clinton and former Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole. The history of political thought will ...
Should the U.S. Military in Iraq Adopt Israeli Methods? by James Bovard November 1, 2003 The Associated Press reported on September 18 that an Israeli military official declared that the U.S. military “is showing interest in Israeli software instructing soldiers on how to behave in the West Bank and Gaza.” The United States is looking at the Israeli policies as examples of how American soldiers can better handle a hostile population in Iraq. That may ...
Will Work for Less by Scott McPherson November 1, 2003 “Thought I’d get a piece of meat,” . “Got all kinds,” he said. “Hamburg, like to have some hamburg? Twenty cents a pound, hamburg.” “Ain’t that awful high? Seems to me hamburg was fifteen las’ time I got some.” “Well,” he giggled softly, “yes, it’s high, an’ same time it ain’t high. Time you go on in town for a ...
Background of the Middle East Conflict, Part 2 by Wendy McElroy November 1, 2003 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 The Arabs would not have fought so bravely had they known of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which had been signed by the Entente in May of 1916. In essence, the Agreement divided the Middle East between Britain and France. When the Arabsdid learn of the agreement, they were incensed and sent ...
Vice Laws: A Lethal Cure in Search of a Disease by Lawrence M. Ludlow November 1, 2003 People sometimes accuse libertarians of being immoral or amoral because we do not define vices as crimes. At its most harmless, the accusation is groundless and based on ignorance. At worst, however, it is an act of deliberate deception — the first step in a chain of thinking that leads to the proliferation of genuine crimes that cause great ...
Book Review: Government Creep by Paul Armentano November 1, 2003 Government Creep: What the Government Is Doing That You Don’t Know About by Philip D. Harvey (Port Townsend, Wash.: Loompanics Unlimited, 2003); 159 pages; $12.95. Shopping for a new car? For your “protection,” it will come equipped with airbags. Don’t want airbags in your vehicle? Tough. Not only is it impossible to buy a new ...
The Doomsday Weapon by Jacob G. Hornberger October 1, 2003 Gun-rights advocates sometimes defend the Second Amendment in terms of the right to defend themselves from criminals and the right to hunt. Those things are, of course, important but they miss the real purpose of the right to keep and bear arms, which is to protect against tyranny imposed by federal officials. As Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski pointedly ...
The Fraud of Insider-Trading Law, Part 2 by Sheldon Richman October 1, 2003 Part 1 | Part 2 It is virtually unquestioned in America today that insider trading in the securities markets is a dastardly act. We must make a distinction here between trading by insiders and trading by insiders on the basis of nonpublic information. Insiders are legally allowed to buy and sell stocks. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires ...