In an unhampered economy, we would measure economic progress by a need for fewer work hours and fewer jobs. In our mixed economy, it's impossible to say whether more jobs reflect an improving or a worsening economy.
Whenever government wants to raise taxes, it immediately threatens to cut the most popular government programs first, if it doesn't get its way. Thus, the governor of Louisiana says he'll cut LSU's football program.
Created by Paul Pope, a libertarian comic book writer also responsible for the critically acclaimed Batman: Year 100, Berlin Batman was an Elseworld tale published in 1998's The Batman Chronicles #11. The story involves young Baruch Wane, a wealthy socialite, who is tipped off that the police have just confiscated the library and works of Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises.
Pointing out the follies of Western foreign policy is not to apologize for Islamic radicals. It is simply to point toward a way that the West could make a positive impact in favor of ordinary Westerners right now, with the added benefit of being morally correct as well.
In his children's book on life under the Stalin cult, Breaking Stalin's Nose, author Eugene Yelchin examines a child's encounter of the difference between propaganda and reality.
For the Republican elites, it probably seemed like business as usual when the 2016 primary election started. But in a country where people are truly worried about their economic future, the old rules don't apply.
Imposing restrictions on trade is not a mere academic exercise. It requires government agents, courts, prisons, police, and the whole panoply of the punitive, coercive state. To oppose free trade is to support more jails, fines, regulations, and more.
Is government spending on infrastructure less of a misallocation than other spending?
Every now and then, I get a letter from a reader that is full of great observations. Here is one of them:
The US government owns immense amounts of dry land, but the US government also owns far larger amounts of ocean floor. Government ownership of such immense amounts of natural resources causes substantial distortions to prices and markets.
