Entrepreneurship
Presidential Use and Abuse of the Sherman Act: Cleveland to Clinton
Recorded at the Reassessing the Presidency seminar; March 2004. (25:41)
A Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Human Spirit: The Luddites Revisited
Butler Shaffer does a Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Human Spirit: The Luddites Revisited at the 2003 Austrian Scholars Conference.
Commerce or Commissar?
Paul Cantor tours the Black Sea region and observes how the juxtaposition of Lenin and McDonald's is curiously symbolic of the whole history of the region. For over two thousand years, two forces have contended with each other in this strategically located area: the state as conqueror and merchants who come in peace.
The Creation of the Bureaucrat
Airline security had been imperfect, but airlines were capable of improving, and had every incentive to do so. The industry could respond to real threats without creating unnecessary passenger inconvenience. But instead, Congress, with the blessing of the White House, short circuited the market process and created a new bureaucracy.
Can the Market Deliver Letters?
Like all government operations (public schools, domestic security, tax collection), the Post Office has to continually reform itself to avoid a complete public-relations meltdown. Thus did the Post Office become the Postal Service some twenty years ago. The Bush administration plans yet another version of this cosmetic change.
David and His Goliaths
David made an enemy of the State because he dared to legally push the boundaries and defy the police state. He did so during a crusade aimed at the prevention of further regime encroachment into the lives of others. David's story, as told by Karen De Coster, is one of principle and perseverance.
Private Oasis in Manhattan
Bryant Park is managed, policed and run by a private corporation, one of the largest experiments of its kind in the nation. A corporation saved this historic park from the depths of degradation. It brought in commerce, which was happy to pay large rents to the corporation because the park has become an urban oasis.