Free Markets

Popular views of capitalism and free markets are not shaped by the facts, but rather by anti-capitalist intellectuals and the media.

While some economists are celebrating the awarding of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics to three economists who are relatively friendly to free markets, we should not forget that most Nobel winners have been unrepentant statists and socialists.

Leaders prone toward collectivist ideals and central planning seize upon these opportunities, thriving on divisive sentiment.

One of the objections against anarcho-capitalism is that without government supervision, businesses will form cartels. However, free markets have their own ways of undermining these arrangements.

Dr. Gordon dissects Kenneth R. Minogue’s The Liberal Mind. While Minogue has some interesting arguments, his view of rights conflicts with the views of Murray Rothbard.

 The natural law is, in essence, a profoundly “radical” ethic, for it holds the existing status quo, which might grossly violate natural law, up to the unsparing and unyielding light of reason.

As both left and right throw freedom and free markets over the side, we remember that there still is a remnant that understands why these things make for a good society. Albert J. Nock eloquently reminds us of what we are losing.

Nixon’s 1971 decision didn’t just close a gold window—it opened the door to a fiat future of perpetual inflation, asset bubbles, moral hazard, and chronic economic dysfunction.

Far from a system of exploitation, the free market peacefully harmonizes the preferences of everyone.

While people might speak of the “business of government,” there really is no way to compare the two. Business is voluntary; government is coercive.