What we can learn from the Patriot Act is that during a time of crisis governments can pass legislation that impacts citizens’ lives long after the crisis of the day has passed.
Egalitarians think that equality has intrinsic value: they advocate it for its own sake, not just to forestall bad consequences. But why is a situation in which some in it have been made better off, and none worse off, worse than one of equality?
The lasting and far-reaching harms caused by this authoritarian precedent far outweigh those caused by the COVID-19 virus. The American people must decide for themselves how and when to reopen society and return to their daily lives.
Without markets, it would have been impossible for a country like Rwanda, ravaged by the war, to achieve the growth it has experienced over the past twenty years.
David Gordon is not convinced by the usual arguments claiming property owners ought to be forced to sell their property for an arbitrarily determined "market price."
Governments that hamper entrepreneurship certainly damage it in the near term. But these measures destroy the conditions necessary for innovation and entrepreneurship in the future as well.
