... is that you know who your enemies and opponents are. They will speak out against your ideas, your actions, or maybe just you on a personal level.

One reason we value these freedoms is that they help make those in power accountable. Those who disagree with particular policies or actions can say so without fear of being sanctioned, whether they were undertaken completely transparently, or undertaken with fraud and corruption.

Last year, British entrepreneur Mike Watts made headlines when he opened England’s first private toll road in more than a hundred years. The road has now been closed, but its brief history provides a sad (and all-too-typical) example of how government sabotages entrepreneurs and hurts their customers.

Those who are familiar with the history of advertising may remember reading about the conspiracy theory behind new Coke which holds that the Coca-Cola company introduced new Coke as a means of generating interest in old Coke. The removal of old Coke from the market, and the fact that people could no longer buy it, prompted people to demand the old Coke back, and in greater volume since, the thinking went, people want what they can’t have.

Norman Singleton, former legislative aide to Ron Paul writes:

Mises Daily Thursday by Finbar Feehan-Fitzgerald:

Zimbabwe, in the aftermath of years of hyperinflation, today has nine different currencies that are officially legal tender. The emerging system of multiple currencies offers a chance to make some interesting observations.

Louis Rouanet, a French student who is presently an intern at the Mises Institute, writes: 

Today is the 20th anniversary of the death of Murray Rothbard. 

Mises Daily Wednesday by Patrick Barron: 

True welfare and value can only be achieved through exchange when it is fully voluntary. When the state intervenes to “improve” trade, it destroys value, all the government stats notwithstanding...