Why Politicians so Often Fail to Protect the Property Rights of the Poor

Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto has devoted his life to alleviating poverty in the developing world. His research, well-received by those on the left as well as the right, documents the bureaucratic hurdles that prevent ordinary citizens in states like Egypt, Colombia, and Indonesia from obtaining business licenses. In many nations, it can take hundreds of days of waiting around in government offices to acquire permission to open a bakery or a laundromat. This prevents all but the rich and well-connected from accessing the ‘formal sector’ of legally sanctioned activity.

Shadow Imperialism: American Filibusters in Latin America

Over the past several weeks of Historical Controversies, I’ve discussed the role of American filibustering expeditions as they related to the antebellum conflicts preceding the American Civil War. Because the current series is exploring the conflicts that led to disunion, the focus of the recent episodes was on the two major filibusters of the 1850s and the relationship between their expeditions and the slavery controversy.

Murray Rothbard: Enemy of the State

Ludwig von Mises was the greatest economist and defender of liberty in the twentieth century. In scholarship and in passion for freedom, his rightful heir is Murray N. Rothbard.

Rothbard was born in New York City in 1926. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University, and studied for more than 10 years under Mises at New York University. However, his degree was delayed for years, and he came close to not receiving it at all, because of the unprecedented intervention of a faculty member.

On the “Epidemic” of “Gun Violence”

Following the Parkland school shooting we’re again hearing about the “epidemic” of “gun violence” and how to stop it. I wrote a piece in 2016 about how this is exactly the wrong metaphor for school shootings or any other kind of violent action. I dislike the term “gun violence” because it depersonalizes a shooting. If person A robs person B, we don’t say that B “succumbed to the theft epidemic,” like catching the flu.

Subscribe to