[This article is a selection from Chapter 5 of Great Wars and Great Leaders: A Libertarian Rebuttal.]

Claudia Goldin is a Harvard labor economist who won the 2023 economics Nobel, and she has a new mission in life: boost pay for the players in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). In a recent op-ed in the New York Times, she wrote that the pay disparity between WNBA players and their male counterparts in the NBA is “embarrassing.”

She writes:

The Free Market 14, no. 3 (March 1996)

Look at the back of your computer monitor, the bottom of your table lamp, or the label on your hair dryer. Chances are you will see the symbol “UL” with a circle around it. It stands for Underwriters Laboratories, a firm headquartered in Northbrook, Ill., and an unsung hero of the market economy. 

Despite its breathtaking golden pagodas, vibrant culture, and welcoming people, Myanmar stands as a tragic example of how military dictatorship and oppressive governance can stifle a nation. This strategically important and resource-rich nation—located between India and China with a diverse ethnic makeup—once thrived due to its position on major trade routes. However, the socialist economy and the military dictatorship that suppresses individual liberty and economic freedom offers a sobering lesson for those who believe in liberty and limited government.

[This article is a selection from Lecture 1 of Raico’s The Struggle for Liberty: A Libertarian History of Political Thought.]