Big Government

Laurence Vance discusses his recent book, Social Insecurity.

Many have tried to create a division between “political freedom” and “economic freedom.” But all freedoms ultimately depend

The neo-mercantilist Export-Import Bank is being pushed with bipartisan support yet again. We’re being told that the Ex-Im Bank is good for private enterprise. It’s no doubt good for some private companies, but there’s a difference between private enterprise and free enterprise.

The Jones Act and similar laws have been behind a precipitous decline in global American shipping. Passed for "national defense" purposes, such laws only serve to raise the cost of shipping to US ports while restricting consumer access to goods.

In recent years, some economists, contrary to long-established and widely-accepted economic theory, have been claiming that increases in the minimu

Government will be so much better if we just adopt the latest fads in government reform, we’re told. Needless to say, modest reforms have a long record of total failure and the only answer is to make radical cuts to every government program.

Federal spending has soared by almost 20 percent since 2008. Yet, to hear Mr. Obama, one would think federal employees are forced to sell pencils on Constitution Avenue to raise funds to finance their bureaucratic salvation missions.

Politicians are telling us that we need the government to ensure "neutrality" in how broadband resources are allocated. However, not only is neutrality in allocation impossible, the effort to do so only hands more power over to the politicians while rendering consumers powerless.

Many have tried to create a division between "political freedom" and "economic freedom." But all freedoms ultimately depend on economic freedom, and our view of economic exchange dictates our view of politics.

In 2001, the Mises Institute published Reassessing the Presidency: The Rise of the Executive State and the Decline of Freedom, by John V Denson, which examines the role of the US presidency in warmaking, police powers, and a variety of attacks on private property and human rights.