The Free Market 17, no. 4 (April 1999)

Taxes distort the price system and always alter behavior away from the free-market ideal. That is why, as J.B. Say said, the best tax is always the lowest tax. But in recent years, state and local governments have been using the tax system, along with direct subsidies of all sorts, to influence where particular firms locate, all in an effort to generate more growth and thus more tax revenue. Can states and localities really “buy growth” for themselves through this means?

The Free Market 17, no. 4 (April 1999)

The journalist, television commentator, and former presidential candidate Patrick J. Buchanan has been sharply criticized by his fellow Republicans for allegedly betraying Republican party “free-market” principles in his new book, The Great Betrayal. In the book Buchanan argues for protectionism and claims to have presented the strongest case ever made for “economic nationalism.” This, his Republican critics allege, is contrary to what Republicans have always stood for.

The Free Market 17, no. 4 (April 1999)

The Y2K computer bug isn’t like a natural disaster or mass disease. It is a technical problem with a technical fix that can be overcome with work and time. However, and without speculating about the ultimate fallout from the problem, the bug has exposed a very real and deep infraction that has long plagued the U.S. banking system.

The Free Market 17, no. 4 (April 1999)

The field in economics called “Industrial Organization” is the very foundation of antitrust activity by government. And if you thought antitrust action was little more than one business using government to smash its competitors, The Economist is here to correct you.

The Free Market 17, no. 5 (May 1999)

The Free Market 17, no. 5 (May 1999)

President Clinton’s pastor and spiritual advisor J. Philip Wogaman has shown great interest in economic theory and policy. A professor of Christian Social Ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, D.C., and pastor of the Foundry Methodist Church, his writings on economic systems display a relentless moral condemnation of the market economy. But when it comes to judging the errors of government planning, regulation, and politics in general, he urges an attitude of unremitting forgiveness.

The Free Market 17, no. 5 (May 1999)

The Free Market 17, no. 5 (May 1999)

Murray Rothbard once asked Ludwig von Mises at what point on the spectrum of statism can a country be designated as “socialist.” To his surprise, Mises said that there was, indeed, a clear-cut delineation: the stock market.

The Free Market 17, no. 6 (June 1999)

At the American Revolution, the founders clearly recognized the defects of representative government. Pamphleteer John Cartwright in 1776 derided “that poor consolatory word, representation, with the mere sound of which we have so long contented ourselves.” “Slavery by Parliament” was the phrase commonly used to denounce British legislative power grabs.

The Free Market 17, no. 6 (June 1999)

For the last two years, the federal government has attempted to construct a Consolidated Financial Statement of its financial status for the previous fiscal year. This statement is an audit of the financial status of 24 cabinet level departments and agencies and is an attempt to account for the government’s revenues, expenditures, and assets.