Space limitations for my “Labor Unions and Freedom of Association” Daily Article today required that some of the references to the clear understanding of the issues by individualists connected to the Austrian school of economics had to be edited out. But three of those contributions, from Auberon Herbert, Sylvester Petro, and Friedrich Hayek, are
Mandatory union dues are again at issue. On the heels of contentious “right to work” disputes, the Supreme Court heard arguments challenging an Illinois mandate requiring home healthcare workers to pay representation fees to a union they did not want. Harris v. Quinn could even challenge the Court’s 1977 Aboud precedent upholding mandatory union
With President Obama’s State of the Union Address and its associated campaign prominently featuring increased minimum wage, tired arguments for raising the minimum wage are being once again retreaded. Unfortunately, they compound failures of logic, measurement and evidence. It would stimulate the economy . If I pay $1 more than necessary to hire a
Outlaw emergency rooms that aren’t owned by politically well-connected hospitals. Politicians in Colorado have introduced a bill which would force the closure of already existing freestanding emergency rooms unless they are owned by a hospital. SB 016 provides an exemption for emergency rooms more than 25 miles from a licensed hospital.... the
There are few more controversial people in political circles than Alisa Rosenbaum. But few people have heard of her, because the apoplectic responses are reserved for the new name she gave herself after she left Russia for America–Ayn Rand. Rand has persistently been among the most demonized persons in America. Yet she sold over 30 million books,
James Otis, though “one of the most passionate and effective protectors of American rights,” is little remembered. The reason is sad. At the peak of his influence, mental illness took virtually everything from him. Otis was an advocate general in the vice-admiralty court. His duties included prosecuting smuggling, which Britain’s onerous trade
March 2 marks the birth of Murray Rothbard. Given his importance to the cause of liberty (The Libertarianism.org website said he “mounted the most comprehensive intellectual challenge ever attempted against the legitimacy of government. During a career that spanned more than 40 years, he explained why private individuals, private companies and
In recent years, Americans have been burdened with an historic expansion in government control. Further, the proliferation of fees, regulations, bans, czars, bureaucracies, mandates and programs are increasingly justified by the desire to control vice (in the government’s eyes), which violates citizens’ inalienable self-ownership, rather than to
In this article, Gary Galles reviews Benjamin Constant’s Principles of Politics Applicable to All Governments . Volume 19, Number 1 (2005) Galles, Gary. “Book Review of Benjamin Constant: Principles of Politics Applicable to All Governments .” Journal of Libertarian Studies 19, No. 1 (2005):
On my first day back in the classroom this fall, I was reminded that entrepreneurial alertness applies to ideas and insights as well as profits. Since the opening chapter of the course’s economics principles text calls Adam Smith the father of economic science, I told my class that he actually had multiple precursors in the study of economics. I
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.