Push the Button by Jacob G. Hornberger April 1, 1992 Should the welfare state be eliminated all at once or phased out over time? Some of the most committed freedom-devotees waffle when it comes to that question. They maintain that the immediate elimination of the welfare system would be unfair or harmful to those who benefit from the welfare apparatus. We must never lose sight of the fact that the ...
Book Review: Constitutional Economics by Richard M. Ebeling April 1, 1992 Constitutional Economics by James M. Buchanan (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Basil Blackwell, 1991); 137 pages; $29.95 What are the reasons behind the growth of government in the 20th century? And why has it been so difficult to diminish the size of government even when many in society may have come to the conclusion that government is too big and is interfering too much? Trying ...
Race, Power, and Repatriation by Jacob G. Hornberger March 1, 1992 Every single domestic war waged by the United States government against the American people in this century has been a failure. The war on alcohol — a failure. The war on poverty — a failure. The war on drugs — a failure. The War on illiteracy — a failure. But perhaps the biggest ...
Nationalism and Classical Liberalism by Richard M. Ebeling March 1, 1992 For forty-five years, Europe enjoyed peace. But it was in the form of an "armed truce" called the Cold War. On the one side of the Iron Curtain, the Soviet Union maintained its through the threat — and occasional use — of force, as in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. On the other side of the lron ...
Bringing the Revolution Home by David F. Nolan March 1, 1992 On December 15, 1991, the United States celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Bill of Rights. The importance of this document is hard to overstate; by any measure, it is one of the great landmarks in the advancement of human rights and liberty. Our forefathers created this staunch bulwark to Secure ...
Book Review: The Collected Works of F.A. Hayek by Richard M. Ebeling March 1, 1992 The Collected Works of F.A. Hayek, Volume 3: The Trend of Economic Thinking by W.W. Bartley and Stephen Kresge (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1991); 338 pages; $45.95. I remember when I first read Friedrich A. Hayek's The Constitution of Liberty in the late 1960s. In Part 1, "On The Value of Liberty," I found one of the ...
Tyranny at the State and Local Level by Jacob G. Hornberger February 1, 1992 Tyranny at the state and local level is out of control. In order to benefit the politically privileged, state and local governments — like their national counterpart — are using their tax and regulatory powers to plunder and loot the citizenry. There are few better examples of this tyranny than the ...
Fighting Statism in a Post-Communist World by Richard M. Ebeling February 1, 1992 After the seventy-five year experiment with socialist central-planning in the Soviet Union, it has now been demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is no alternative to a market economy. And this is reflected in the stated objectives of every one of the former communist countries: to privatize ...
Limited Government—A Moral Issue by C.W. Anderson February 1, 1992 The 1980s, economist Milton Friedman writes, witnessed "a sea change in the direction of public thinking about government's ability to solve economic and social problems." In fact, the idea of getting government off our backs became a live issue, worldwide. Although there was little change in the size or power of government "The prospect is bright," Friedman observed, "but ...
Fair versus Free by Milton Friedman February 1, 1992 The Federal Communications Commission seeks to enforce a "fairness doctrine" on radio and TV stations. We suffered numerous "fair trade" laws, until they were declared unenforceable. One businessman vies with another in proclaiming his faith in competition provided that it is "fair." Yet, scrutinize word for word the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, and you ...
Book Review: Monetarist Economics by Richard M. Ebeling February 1, 1992 Monetarist Economics by Milton Friedman (Cambridge: Basil Blackwell, 1991); 188 pages; $29.95 In the 1950s, for all practical purposes, there was only one type of economics — Keynesian economics. In the ten years after John Maynard Keynes published his 1936 volume The General Theory of Money, Interest and Money, the vast majority of American and British economists were won over ...
Crime in America by Jacob G. Hornberger January 1, 1992 As the English philosopher John Locke observed in his Two Treatises on Government, man's life, liberty, and property are not privileges bestowed by government. They are inherent and basic rights that preexist government. Thus, individuals have the natural or God-given right to live their lives in any way they choose, as long as they do so peacefully. Why was ...