Free Markets

“Equality imposed by force,” Chrysostom insists, “would achieve nothing, and do much harm.”

American journalists and academics have invented a fairy tale in which “free market orthodoxy” has dominated political thinking in America for the past forty years. This is not even slightly true, but pundits repeat the lie again and again.

Libertarianism and free markets depend upon peace. Murray Rothbard believed that war destroys freedom and free exchange, so keeping the peace is vitally important.

Connor O’Keeffe explains why the New Right’s economic populists have adopted a progressive myth of “laissez-faire gone wrong,” and instead shows how a century of inflation, bailouts, regulation, and managed trade has rigged the system against younger Americans.

The story of how the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock abandoned the common labor system and embraced private ownership is well known. While at first it affected a small community, William Bradford’s decision in favor of private enterprise would have a wide ranging effect.

A satirical essay from a 1978 classroom, speculating about what it would cost to become Santa.

The first English settlers in America learned a hard lesson about socialist economics in the early years of their new colonies as they faced starvation. Once they embraced free enterprise, however, they had something to be thankful for.

The first English settlers in America learned a hard lesson about socialist economics in the early years of their new colonies as they faced starvation. Once they embraced free enterprise, however, they had something to be thankful for.

Bastiat emphasized that much of what goes on in the economy involves things we don’t see directly. Intermediaries often fall into Bastiat’s category of things “not seen.”

We must realize that the two most powerful motivations in human history have always been ideology and economic interest, and that a joining of these two motivations can be downright irresistible.