The classical liberals—especially those of the more radical variety such as Molinari, Bastiat, etc.—saw the state as a far greater threat to freedom than any other organization.
How do we define liberty? Hayek saw it as the absence of most (but not all) coercion, but that depends upon how one defines “coercion.” Murray Rothbard believed that Hayek was too willing to accept forms of coercion that were anti-freedom.
Mainstream economists claim that they can use econometric models to emulate human action and, thus, create an economic laboratory. These models, however, cannot tell us about cause-and-effect, which is vital to understanding praxeology and economic behavior.
A well-known type of “private coercion” is the vague but ominous-sounding “economic power.” A favorite illustration of the wielding of such “power” is the case of a worker fired from his job.
Long a constitutional monarchy with ties to Great Britain, many in Jamaica are looking to end the old relationship and become a republic. But is this movement simply a reaction to anti-colonialism, and what kind of constitution would the new republic create? So far, no answers.
Bob Murphy critiques New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani’s proposal for a government-run grocery store, dissecting its economic flaws and highlighting why such policies fail in practice.
What do we mean by equality? F.A. Hayek believed that equality under law and the socialist belief of material equality were opposed to each other. Furthermore, he held liberty to be necessary for civilization itself to flourish.
A relic of the Cold War, the US embargo and travel restrictions to Cuba violate American freedoms and they accomplish nothing to end Cuba's communist regime or win freedom for Cubans. Yet, this failed policy has persisted for nearly 65 years with no end in sight.
Before the American Revolution, there were the Levellers, who sought liberty during the English Civil War. While their influence on the American colonists would be indirect, nonetheless, many of their ideas reflected what came after American independence.
Dr. David Gordon reviews Profit Without Apology: businessmen are “too timid, too apologetic, too hesitant to declare that what they do is good.”
