Joe Sobran was one of my greatest friends, and I often  thought about him over this past week, because February 23 was the anniversary of his death. He was a man of courage and of the utmost integrity. He began writing about politics for National Review, but he broke with the editor, CIA agent William F. Buckley, Jr., over his refusal to support Israel. Additionally, his own penetrating intellect had led him to find attractive the thought of Murray Rothbard, and this too Buckley could not abide, as he hated Rothbard, a hatred that even Rothbard’s death did not end.

Written in 1972, this was the first piece of Rand revisionism from the libertarian standpoint.

When Benjamin Franklin’s older brother, James, used his anti-establishment newspaper to criticize the Crown’s lax attitude towards pirating along the Atlantic coast, he was tossed in jail. Until his brother’s release, young Benjamin took control of the newspaper—an experience he certainly benefited from, professionally speaking, evidenced by his future industriousness. The incident no doubt left an indelible mark on him personally as well.

Following Donald Trump’s election victory, social media platforms were flooded with memes depicting the wailing and gnashing of teeth among Democrats bemoaning their loss. Some of these memes took a dig at the alleged historical predilection of Democrats for slavery.

[This article was originally published August 2007.] 

It should not surprise anyone that Europe and the establishment media are up in arms over last week’s public spat between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Donald Trump and Vice-President J.D. Vance. The Ukraine War has benefited arms companies and Western political leadership alike, and the American media has been able to paint Putin as a uniquely evil leader and Ukraine as a bastion of democracy led by the virtuous statesman Zelensky.

On January 31, 2025, US President Donald Trump announced that he would impose a 25 percent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico (except for Canadian crude oil and energy imports, which will be subject to a 10 percent tariff) and a 10 percent tariff on imports from China. Tariffs are taxes on things that Americans buy from producers in other countries.

The following essay is based on my chapter, “How to Create a Constitutional Federal Budget Without Income and Payroll Taxes,” in the forthcoming The Ethics and Philosophy of Taxation, edited by accounting professor and libertarian Robert W. McGee.

Remittances—financial transfers from migrants to their home countries—are often lauded as a driver of economic growth in developing nations. Policymakers and international organizations argue that remittances provide a stable source of income, reduce poverty, and stimulate investment. However, a critical examination of the evidence reveals that the long-term economic effects of remittances are far less beneficial than commonly assumed.