Daily Articles

The Dangerous Pursuit of Empire: Russia, China, and the United States

by Richard M. Ebeling August 11, 2023

Giving up the reality, the nostalgia, or the dream of empire is very difficult for those in political power, and even for those citizens who have bought into their government’s indoctrination and propaganda. Historically, empire-builders and political leaders often seem to hold certain attitudes and ideas in common. First, they believe that they and their group or nation are on ...

Everyone Should Have the Same Freedom to Contract — or Not

by George Leef August 9, 2023

The Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in a case, 303 Creative v. Elenis, that seems to turn on the meaning of the First Amendment. In my view, this is indeed an important case, but casting it as a free speech dispute is mistaken. The real issue is whether all Americans enjoy freedom of contract, or if, instead, some ...

Legalize Prostitution

by Walter Block August 7, 2023

If two unmarried consenting adults have sexual relations with each other, in all states but one (Mississippi) they violate no law. Such an act might be considered immoral by some, but that doesn’t mean that it should be a criminal offense. If the man pays the woman for sex with dinners, a movie, flowers, etc. again there is no crime ...

Republicans Miss the Point on Government Regulations

by Laurence M. Vance August 4, 2023

First, they came for our incandescent light bulbs and gas stoves, and now, they are after our water heaters and dishwashers. Back in 2007, President George W. Bush signed into law the Energy Independence and Security Act. Among other things, it required greater efficiency for light bulbs, which effectively began the phase-out of the incandescent light ...

The Real Lessons from the Iraq War, Part 1

by Jacob G. Hornberger August 2, 2023

Part 1 | Part 2 Twenty years ago — March 19, 2003 — the U.S. government launched its invasion and war of aggression against Iraq. It was a deadly intervention, one that resulted in the deaths and injuries of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people and thousands of U.S. soldiers. The invasion and resulting occupation also succeeded in destroying ...

To Cure Healthcare, We Need to Kill Government Involvement

by Robert E. Wright August 1, 2023

Most Americans need not have seen the recent headline announcing that Connecticut healthcare insurers seek to raise premiums by over 20 percent to realize that America’s healthcare system is badly broken -- overly expensive and insufficiently healthful. What they have yet to fully grasp is that it’s almost entirely the government’s fault. Instead, many applaud socialized medicine, ...

The Iraq War Was a Systematic Atrocity

by James Bovard July 28, 2023

Media coverage of the twentieth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War mostly portrayed the war as a blunder. There were systematic war crimes that have largely vanished into the memory hole, but permitting government officials to vaporize their victims paves the way to new atrocities. On the eve of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, former First Lady Barbara ...

Jeremy Bentham, Usury Laws, and the CFPB

by Laurence M. Vance July 26, 2023

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments in a case that challenges the constitutionality of the funding of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), “a 21st century agency that implements and enforces Federal consumer financial law and ensures that markets for consumer financial products are fair, transparent, and competitive.” The agency was created by the Dodd-Frank ...

How Evil Are Politicians? Part 2

by George Leef July 24, 2023

Part 1 | Part 2 How Evil Are Politicians?: Essays on Demagoguery by Bryan Caplan (Bet On It Books, 2022) Caplan follows up on that observation with a devastating point about the calculating political mindset. Suppose that a politician had to choose between a populace of nothing but independent, self-supporting individuals or one with a large percentage of envious layabouts ...

There Is No Right to a Religious Accommodation

by Laurence M. Vance July 19, 2023

Overshadowed by the Supreme Court decision in the case of Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College that struck down affirmative action programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina — which was decided on the same day — was the court’s ruling in ...

Uncle Sam, War Criminal

by Ted Galen Carpenter July 18, 2023

U.S. officials invariably stress their commitment to human rights and are extremely quick to condemn other countries for alleged violations. However, Washington’s conduct too often makes a mockery of that supposed commitment. The latest examples of such hypocrisy are two aspects of U.S. policy regarding the Russia-Ukraine war, both involving the provision of highly controversial weapons to ...

Ukraine and the Cold War

by Jacob G. Hornberger July 13, 2023

On October 25, 1970, a team of well-armed Chilean thugs attacked an automobile in which Chilean General Rene Schneider was traveling in downtown Santiago. Their aim was to kidnap and kill Schneider. Given that he was the overall commander of the Chilean armed forces, Schneider pulled out his pistol and fought back, but he was no match ...