Being on a lifeboat does not sound like a pleasant experience. You’re hungry, baking under a hot sun, surrounded by sharks and endless miles of ocean, and the extent of your living space is maybe ten square feet. Being stuck on a lifeboat is not an ideal way to enjoy the ocean.

So given that being stuck on a lifeboat sucks so much, wouldn’t it be best if we just got rid of lifeboats? This is the logic of people who advocate shutting down sweatshops.

Whenever we talk about tax cuts and growth-oriented tax programs in Europe, many tell us that “it is not possible” and that the European Union does not allow it.

However, it is false. Attractive, growth-oriented tax systems are not only possible in the European Union, but those countries that implement them have higher economic growth rates, less unemployment, and a well-funded welfare state.

To deceive us, we are forced to ignore Ireland, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg as well as most of the technology and job creation leaders.

The assumption that the minimum wage helps low-wage workers permeates public discourse on the topic. One of the most curious political phenomenon is how the idea of the minimum wage is mindlessly accepted by the public as a policy that undoubtedly helps the poor. This transformation of the minimum wage from a policy originally intended to keep minorities out of the labor force to one aimed at protecting marginalized workers has been a stunning political magic trick.

In a recent essay, I noted that the US Constitution, by making the United States a free trade area, increased Americans’ living standards considerably. The story changes when it comes to international trade. Indeed, with the benefit of hindsight (which includes economic insights subsequent to 1787), it turns out that the Founding Fathers’ treatment of US trade with other countries was rife with landmines.

As long as I’ve known him, my father has always been the entrepreneurial type. Even now, in his seventies, he picks up side jobs both to keep busy and to have a little extra spending money.

Throughout my childhood and youth, he had always been an independent insurance broker and salesman. He often employed one or two people to help with the phones and the paperwork. But also often just worked alone.

The US manufacturing sector has had a rich history, one that has lifted millions of Americans into the middle-class, making the Land of the Free the most envied nation in the world. You clock in your eight to 10 hours a day, bring your lunch pail, and complete an honest day’s work, giving you a paycheck to purchase that new radio set to listen to Suspense, a modest two-bedroom home, and enough cash left over to buy your child the latest Cowboys and Indians toy set. The American Dream blossomed thanks in part to manufacturing.