Capitalism, Socialism, or a Third Way? by Sheldon Richman July 1, 1997 Political economy has been debated for many years and yet so little progress has been made. The debate is littered with false alternatives and other fallacies that keep us locked into thinking that guarantees eventual stagnation and then decline. The recent summit of industrial countries in Denver is a case ...
Should We Be Thankful for the FDA? by Sheldon Richman May 1, 1997 The television anchorman presented the news in an excited tone: "The Food and Drug today approved use of a new laser technology that will replace the drill at the dentist's office." According to the story, most patients tested with the new laser device needed no pain killer. The announcement ...
Smoke If You Want, and Pay for It by Sheldon Richman May 1, 1997 Tobacco has become a four-letter word. The cigarette companies are getting it from all sides. The federal Food and Drug Administration wants to regulate tobacco as a drug. State governments are suing to recover Medicare money spent on elderly people with tobacco-related illnesses. Heirs of long-time ...
The Nature of the Welfare State by Sheldon Richman April 1, 1997 Welfare-state programs have three central characteristics: plunder, deception, and obfuscation. Because those programs always effect a forcible transfer of wealth from one group of individuals to another, they involve what the great 19th-century economist Frederic Bastiat called "legalized plunder." The law sanctions stealing in these cases and is thereby changed from its original purpose, which was to protect people's ...
Stop the Flood of Taxpayer Money by Sheldon Richman March 1, 1997 Once again spring is heralded by swollen rivers in the Midwest. The overflowing Ohio River and its tributaries have caused heartbreak and millions of dollars of damage in several states in the region. And once again a colossal public-policy blunder is being committed: the handing out of millions of taxpayer dollars in ...
The FTC Strikes Again by Sheldon Richman March 1, 1997 The Federal Trade Commission has once again dealt a blow to our allegedly free enterprise economy. The FTC plans to move against a proposed merger between Staples and Office Depot, two office supply chains. The commission claims the merger would violate the antitrust laws. Displaying its standard confusion over ...
The Welfare Trap by Sheldon Richman January 1, 1997 Welfare is much on people's minds. Last fall, the Congress passed, and the president signed, legislation that was heralded as a major overhaul of the welfare system. It wasn't, of course. It merely transferred to the states the power to run the welfare system, though the money will still come from Washington. Naturally, with money comes rules. The new ...
Wards of the Government by Dean Russell January 1, 1997 The constitutions of former American slave states generally specified that the masters must provide their slaves with adequate housing, food, medical care, and old-age benefits. The Mississippi constitution contained this following additional sentence: "The legislature shall have no power to pass laws for the emancipation of slaves . . . where the slave shall ...
The Guilding of the American Workforce by James Bovard December 1, 1996 The American economy is degenerating into a guild system, as government doles out privileges to one group of self-proclaimed professionals after another. State licensing prohibits millions of Americans from practicing the occupation of their choice. Over eight hundred professions now require a government license to practice-from barbers to ...
The Cartelization of the American Workforce by James Bovard October 1, 1996 Freedom to work is increasingly being taken hostage by government licensing boards. The American economy is degenerating into a guild system, as government doles out privileges to one group of self-proclaimed professionals after another. Government licensing restrictions prohibit millions of Americans from practicing the occupation of their choice. Over eight hundred professions now require a government license to practice — ...
Legalized Immorality by Clarence Manion October 1, 1996 It must be remembered that 95 percent of the peace, order, and welfare existing in human society is always produced by the conscientious practice of man-to-man justice and person-to-person charity. When any part of this important domain of personal virtue is transferred to government, that part is automatically released from the restraints of morality and ...
A Wrecking Ball for Your Neighborhood by James Bovard October 1, 1996 The federal government is involved in economic blockbusting in thousands of the nation's neighborhoods. Thanks to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), welfare recipients are using government handouts to move into middle-class and upper middle-class neighborhoods. Congress created the Section 8 program in 1974 to provide direct ...