The Free Market 18, no. 5 (May 2000)

It was a revolting display to see the bureaucrats at the Justice Department cheer Federal Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson’s decision. Many of these people didn’t even know how to get around the web twelve months ago, and now they are making decisions for millions of consumers and threatening to smash the company that democratized information. The government, driven by power-lust and fueled by the envy of Microsoft’s competitors, is happy to jam a crowbar into the wheel of commerce.

The Free Market 18, no. 5 (May 2000)

Until a few months ago, the sum of my experience with Latin America had been a few trips to border cities like Juarez, Nogales, and Tijuana. Beyond that, I had to depend upon Dan Rather, the New York Times, and various social activist groups to find out what was true about life South of the Border. All had a sad story to tell.

The Free Market 18, no. 5 (May 2000)

Americans are concerned about the rising cost of pharmaceutical drugs. This has drawn the attention of writers, politicians, and others who have attempted to deal with the issue in typical fashion by advocating the use of government force to implement their plan.

The Free Market 18, no. 5 (May 2000)

[Editorial note: H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) wrote this translation in the days during and after World War I. Woodrow Wilson’s wartime central planning, which led to arrests of businessmen and other dissenters, caused him to wonder what happened to the ideals of the American Revolution. Perhaps the language of the original Declaration was too anachronistic for modern ears? He offered his own translation into American dialect.]

The Free Market 18, no. 5 (May 2000)

The Free Market 18, no. 5 (May 2000)

Watching Joel Klein of the Antitrust Division on television, speaking about the dangers that Microsoft poses to the public, calls to mind a passage from Martin van Creveld’s The Rise and Decline of the State: “Born in sin, the bastard offspring of declining autocracy and bureaucracy run amok, the state is a giant wielded by pygmies. 

The Free Market 18, no. 5 (May 2000)

The Free Market 18, no. 8 (August 2000)

After attending a leading business school for the last year, I have been witness to capitalist bashing that rivals that of high schools and colleges. The chilling part is that these schools are training future business managers working in a free-enterprise system.

The Free Market 18, no. 8 (August 2000)

The Free Market 18, no. 8 (August 2000)

The president of the United States was ecstatic. Never had economic prospects in this country looked better. Unemployment was at its lowest level in years, the rate of inflation was relatively low, and the economy had grown continuously for almost eight years. No doubt, said the experts, this country was in the midst of a New Economy.