Daily Articles

Limited Government and a Free Society, Part 2

by Gregory Bresiger January 1, 2018

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Unfortunately, the classical-liberal tradition that Carl Schurz represented is almost gone today. The men and women who supported it were consistent opponents of the imperial presidency, no matter the party in power. (Schurz, for example, was a Republican who broke with the Republican Grant administration.) That’s because the ...

Exporting Roosevelt’s New Deal through Aid, Investment, and Threat of War

by Wendy McElroy January 1, 2018

The Marshall Plan is more than a historical event — it has become a modern myth. As such, it may be mostly true or mostly false, but it exercises a powerful hold over reality. And the perceived success of the Marshall Plan has influenced American policy since the late 1940s. — Tyler Cowen The European Recovery Program, known as the Marshall ...

The Founding Fathers’ “Great Rule” for U.S. Foreign Policy

by Elizabeth Cobbs January 1, 2018

People who don’t get heard have a tendency to shout. Eventually they get mad. For too long, foreign-policy experts have stuck their fingers in their ears when confronted by citizens ambivalent about playing global police officer. Republican Donald Trump is channeling their voices through his electric bullhorn, whipping up the crowd and questioning the validity of institutions like NATO. Regardless ...

Help FFF Strive for a Free Society

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 29, 2017

I grew up as a Democrat in Laredo, Texas. I campaigned for John Kennedy when I was in the fifth grade. My dad took me to a political barbecue at the LBJ ranch, where I personally met Lyndon Johnson. As a local representative of Lady Bird Johnson’s beautify America campaign, I visited the White ...

The Trillion Dollar Welfare Program

by Laurence M. Vance December 22, 2017

It wasn’t that long ago (1987) that the entire budget of the federal government was “only” a trillion dollars. Now just one of the government’s programs has reached that milestone. On the eighth business day of each month, the Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service issues The Monthly Treasury Statement of Receipts and Outlays ...

We Don’t Compromise

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 21, 2017

Discovering libertarianism was one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me. It actually changed the course of my life. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be a lawyer. Whenever my elementary schoolteachers would ask us to write an essay about what we wanted to be when we grew up, ...

The Libertarian Angle: America’s Santa Claus (video)

by Future of Freedom Foundation December 20, 2017

What happens when the national government starts handing out presents to everyone? FFF president Jacob Hornberger and Richard Ebeling discuss socialism in America. Go to the podcast.

Free Trade for Christmas (Trees)

by Scott McPherson December 19, 2017

Whether it's for cheap steel or cheap tires, Americans are supposed to be afraid of trade with China because it provides us with products we want at low prices. But to the damage allegedly inflicted on our economy by those who would save us money, must we now add...artificial Christmas trees? According to a November 27 story ...

Help FFF Strive for a Free Society (video)

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 18, 2017

We must continue advancing liberty: It’s the right thing to do and, despite what is happening in the political world, we might soon see a sudden shift in society toward peace, prosperity, and freedom. One thing is for sure: If we give up, we cannot succeed. Will you help us bring our nation ever closer ...

America’s Great Depression and Austrian Business Cycle Theory

by Richard M. Ebeling December 18, 2017

When Murray Rothbard’s America’s Great Depression first appeared in print in 1963, the economics profession was still completely dominated by the Keynesian Revolution that began in the 1930s. Rothbard, instead, employed the “Austrian” approach to money and the business cycle to explain the causes for the Great Depression, and to analyze the misguided and counterproductive policies that were followed ...

The Deep State’s Christmas Present to America

by John W. Whitehead December 14, 2017

“He sees you when you’re sleeping He knows when you’re awake He knows when you’ve been bad or good So be good for goodness sake!” —“Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” Just in time for Christmas, the Deep State wants to give America the gift that keeps on giving: never-ending mass surveillance. I’m not referring to the kind of surveillance ...

The FBI Is an Enemy of Freedom

by Scott McPherson December 13, 2017

Former FBI special agent Clint Watts has responded to tweets from President Trump critical of the FBI by branding the president an “enemy of the state.” Watts claims Trump's tweets will “sow doubt” and “hurt” the abilities of the FBI, “so he is an enemy of the state whenever he is pushing against the FBI in ...