Daily Articles

Book Review: Free Persons and the Common Good

by Richard M. Ebeling March 1, 1990

Free Persons and the Common Good by Michael Novak (Lanham Maryland: Madison Books, 1989); 233 pp.; $17.95. One of the most profoundly enduring, yet frustratingly illusive concepts, has been that of the "common good." Under its banner, noble ideals have been proclaimed and despicable crimes have been committed. Its elasticity of meaning and ambiguity of content have been its most appealing ...

On the Edge of Hyperinflation in Brazil

by Richard M. Ebeling March 1, 1990

Monetary expansion and the price inflation that it brings in its wake always eat away at the social and economic fabric of a society. The value of money constantly diminishes. The ability of people to plan their financial future is made more difficult. Money begins to lose its usefulness as a common denominator through which the value of goods ...

Fighting Plunder with Plunder in Poland

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 1, 1990

After more than forty years of suffering under socialism, the Polish people finally have an opportunity to pursue economic freedom. Yet, every indication is that the new Polish government intends to pursue the same old hackneyed ideas of plunder which caused so much misery and despair. Rather than immediately eliminate the immoral impediments to economic progress which have plagued ...

Free Market Money – Instead of Political Manipulation

by Richard M. Ebeling February 1, 1990

Money is the most important commodity in an economic system Indeed, money "makes the world go 'round." This is because money is the general medium of exchange. We sell our products and services for money, and then use it to buy the products and services of others. Money also permits us to ...

Visions and Ideals

by James Allen February 1, 1990

The dreamers are the saviors of the world. As the visible world is sustained by the invisible, so men, through all their trials and sins and sordid vocations, are nourished by the beautiful visions of their solitary dreamers. Humanity cannot forget its dreamers; it cannot let their ideals fade and ...

Book Review: Discovery, Capitalism, and Distributive Justice

by Richard M. Ebeling February 1, 1990

Discovery, Capitalism, and Distributive Justice by Israel M. Kirzner (New York: Basil Blackwell, 1989); 179 pages; $29.95. From the time of the ancient Greeks to that of Karl Marx the earning of a "profit" in an exchange has been condemned as unjust and exploitive of others in society. Even defenders of ...

A Message from FFF’s Founder and President

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 1, 1990

Socialism is morally and intellectually bankrupt. Under the guise of "order" and "security," millions of innocent people have been murdered or enslaved. Under the guise of "taxation" and social justice, untold amounts of income and savings have been plundered and redistributed to the politically privileged. Having gripped the hearts and minds of the people of the world in the ...

A Message from FFF’s Vice-President

by Richard M. Ebeling January 1, 1990

In the early decades of the 20th century, the political ideal on every one's lips was socialism, and the economic vision before every one's eyes was that of the planned economy. The capitalist system, with its institutions of private property and free enterprise, would soon be a thing of the past ...

Self-Reliance

by Ralph Waldo Emerson January 1, 1990

... To believe your own thought to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men - that is genius. Speak your latent conviction, and it shall be the universal sense; for the inmost in due time becomes the outmost ...

Book Review: The New Realities

by Richard M. Ebeling January 1, 1990

The New Realities: In Government and Politics/In Economics and Business/In Society and World View by Peter F. Drucker (New York.- Harper & Row, Publishers, 1989); 276 pp.; $19.95. Crystal balls are an extremely scarce commodity. And many of those who claim to have one really are only projecting their own desires ...

1972 VMI Valedictory Address

by Jacob G. Hornberger May 21, 1972

Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, "Old time, in whose bank we deposit our notes, Is a miser, who always wants guineas for groats. He keeps all his customers still in arrears By lending them minutes and charging them years." Governor Holton, General Irby, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, gentlemen of the corps, and Brother Rats: How could four years take so long ... and yet pass ...