Cobden saw that free trade was the key to peace and material prosperity, as evidenced by England's economic growth and rise to world leadership in virtually all aspects of trade—finance, insurance, shipping, etc.—after the Corn Law repeal. But more than this, Cobden emphasized the injustice of protectionism.
The classical economists were opponents of paper money. And yet in their positive case for commodity money, they made two great errors: believing that an additional supply of notes on the market confers some social benefit and believing that money's value needs to be stable in order to meet the needs of trade. These errors inadvertantly paved the way for political intervention.
Competition is as wholesome in education as it is in manufacture and commerce, writes Hans Sennholz. Every school is an economic check on its competitors. However, government funding for higher education has dramatically changed the economics of this sector, vastly increasing costs, reducing service, and skewing curricula toward political ends.
Sympathy and justice are wonderful. But neither is furthered by the "living wage" movement, writes John Egger. A university shouldn't put its workers on its own welfare system. To respect their dignity we must pay them what they earn, and that can be established only on the market.
The private sector is good at satisfying consumer demand, but it's not much good at guessing what's in that grab bag that we call a budget deficit, writes Roger Garrison. The uncertainties associated with large federal budget deficits warn against exclusive focus on the total spending done by government. It does matter how that spending is financed.
Benjamin Franklin made clear the ultimate intended result of America's experiment in liberty, when he said, "God grant that not only the love of liberty but a thorough knowledge of the rights of man may pervade all the nations of the earth, so that a philosopher may set his foot anywhere on its surface and say: This is my country."
How does the public sector decide that it is a good idea to explore space instead of spending the time, resources, and talent on other scientific explorations or, for that matter, some other area like building a road? Tibor Machan, for example, likes the idea of ocean living but few seem to agree with him.
Gregory Bresiger merely wanted to check out a video that both the library catalog and a clerk said was on the shelves. Instead, he stood face to face with what seemed to be the very embodiment of the entire public sector. Whether running libraries or global economies, the public sector isn't up to the job.
The latest economic data indicate that the prospects for a sustained economic recovery have been further delayed, writes Frank Shostak in a wide-ranging review of the current economic moment. The low interest rate policy of the Fed remains the major factor behind the continued deterioration.
Joseph Salerno highlights Sennholz's contributions to the rebirth of interest in Austrian monetary and business cycle theory and the continuing importance of his works today. He was one of a handful of academic economists to stand fast against the postwar tidal waves of Keynesian macroeconomics and Friedmanite monetarism that swept over American academia in the 1950's and 1960's and threatened to completely submerge sound monetary economics.
