An Essential Resource for Enlightened Minds Since 1972
One of the most dangerous threats to liberty and privacy today is called the “Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act,” or CISPA. The activists slayed this monster last year. Or so it seemed. But of course, the beast didn’t die. Some powerful members of Congress are pushing it again. CISPA would allow government to force… read more
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There are certain sounds that tend to make people crazy. Think of nails on a chalkboard. An infant screaming nonstop on a long flight. A piercing whistle that won’t go away. Now we need to add another: a U.S. president who thinks he can legislate high wages into law. For anyone who knows the basics… read more
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Imagine a time when the government knew nothing about the money in your bank. It cared nothing about how much you made, where you made it, and what you did with it. You could take your earnings in gold, silver, paper, or anything else, and never filed a sheet with the government. How you earned… read more
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“This used to be a hell of a good country, I can’t understand what’s gone wrong with it.” said George Hanson in the movie “Easy Rider.” My old friend Joe Sobran (1946-2010) loved that line and quoted it often. Sobran, who worked alongside William Buckley at National Review during its heyday, was one of the… read more
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What is the best single thing you can do for your children? Send them to Asia for school so they can get a good education and learn Mandarin. Or so says a thinker and investor Jim Rogers. Some investors achieve the status of being legends, their opinions on all matters of economics and politics sought… read more
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I was standing outside the hotel when a gigantic bus rolled up. It was a double-decker and seemed as long as a city block. One hundred-plus people poured out. Once empty, the bus drove on. I stood there right in the path of the exhaust fumes. It was a cloud of gray, bellowing like a… read more
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For those schooled in economics, the gasoline shortage during Hurricane Sandy last November was no surprise. Demand for gas goes up. Supply lines are disrupted. It’s the old supply-and-demand thing. The price goes up. Higher prices attract new supplies from unconventional paths. Prices respond and fall back again. The market handles it just fine. All… read more
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Most people today use technologies without a clue to the larger picture of what is really happening to the structure of the world because of them. People are staring at the trees and not noticing the gigantic, growing, and ever expanding forest, much less considering the meaning of it all. This is an attempt to… read more
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“Then they pop up and say, ‘Hello, surprise! Give us your money or we will shut you down!’ Screw them. Seriously, screw them. You can quote me on that.” Those are the words of Newegg.com’s chief legal officer, Lee Cheng. He was speaking to Arstechnica.com following a landmark ruling that sided with a great business… read more
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For young people facing terrible job prospects and a generally bad economic environment going forward, starting a business sounds very appealing. It has advantages over embedding yourself in a big institution, taking your wages in forms of benefits, and hoping (against hope) to climb the ladder. It’s never been easier to strike out on your… read more
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There’s a jewelry store in town with a long tradition, a devoted client list, and a good record of solid profitability. But during the last year, it’s moved around like the “oldest established permanently floating crap game” from the musical Guys and Dolls. It was downtown. Then it was not. It was reestablished on the… read more
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Finally, my obsession comes to an end. For a full week, I’ve thought about not much else besides the economic concept of “marginal utility.” It has consumed me completely. I’ve come to realize how much it pervades my thinking about virtually everything. I first heard about the notion in college, but one book revived the… read more
Read More CommentI’m at dinner and the hostess serves me pie for dessert. I gobble it up. Then the hostess says, “Would you like another piece?” I politely decline. In her head, she is thinking “he hates my pie,” but this is totally wrong. I love her pie, especially the first piece. But the second piece has… read more
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That headline probably seems strange coming from me. I’ve been a champion of social media, and my book A Beautiful Anarchy has a chapter on each of the most popular social media outlets: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Skype, Google+, and so on. These tools have connected people as never before, and given people the power to… read more
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It began as a skirmish. Then it was a battle. It became a war. Now it is a bloody conflict that is global in scope. Both sides have passed the point of no return. There is no question who is winning and going to win totally in the end, despite massive carnage along the way.… read more
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In 1894, a scraggly band of misfits made their way from Ohio to Washington, D.C. They had a plan to present to the political class, one that they said would bring an end to the economic depression that had been sparked by the Panic of 1893 and guarantee a future of endless prosperity for all.… read more
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Where have all the workers gone? One of the most bizarre happenings in our current economic environment has been the surprising collapse of the number of people in the labor pool. This reality adds a sting to the unemployment numbers. They are falling bit by bit, but so is the total pool of people who… read more
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My apologies for the sad tone of this piece, but a hero has fallen and we need to pay him tribute — and make sure his death is not in vain. Every turning point in the history of civilization has its champions and its opponents. The opponents of the digital age are those who use… read more
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If you think of American wage-earners as swimmers, they were mostly underwater after 2008. Then last year, wages increased a bit. It was only 2.4% for the year, but it was like coming up for a slight gulp of air. Now think of Congress and the president as the people in a boat pushing the… read more
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It takes a shockingly long time for the masses of people to pick up on new realities. This is especially true if the new realities reverse very old trends that have burrowed certain false assumptions in our minds. As examples, most people even today assume that you should: get as much formal education as possible… read more
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The great battle since 2008 has pitted the ghosts of F.A. Hayek against John Maynard Keynes. Team Keynes dictated the policies we know too well: more government spending, flood the economy with money, prevent liquidation. This team predicted a recovery that still hasn’t come. Meanwhile, Team Hayek has had a different set of predictions. This… read more
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I am one of those people who has a seriously deficient sense of direction. In other words, I feel lost most of the time. It’s been this way since I was very young. My parents would take me camping. As soon as I walked out of eyesight of the tent, I was lost and they… read more
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The high priests of the civic religion are very worried that people no longer seem to trust government. The law stands discredited. Once-hallowed institutions are under fire and losing status. People are openly loathing public officials. Movies, television, and best-selling books urge revolt. Most people don’t bother to vote. And these priests wonder why. Here’s… read more
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Those who take prosperity for granted — and all of us do whether we admit it or not — would do well to make their way to the film Les Misérables, which features Russell Crowe playing the role of the relentless French cop Javert (not to mention an astonishingly effective presentation of “I Dreamed the… read more
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Considering taking a job with the government? You might want to rethink that. The new survey from Partnership for Public Service paints an ugly picture of job satisfaction at government agencies. It’s worst of all at place like the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, Labor, and Education. We find that only 50-60%… read more
Read More Comment One of the best features of the holidays is that many government offices are shut down. Peace on Earth, indeed. I’m travelling for the next few days. On the roads, the police presence is minimal to none. Somehow we all get by. The private sector is humming and happy. What is the private sector? It… read more
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[Doug French is coauthor of this piece] A viral video from Australia, complete with a clever song and dance step, describes the many dumb things people do that threaten and extinguish their lives. “Dumb Ways to Die” includes warnings against selling both your kidneys on the Internet, getting toast out of the toaster with a… read more
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The enormous tragedy for young people today is that so many are sealed off by law from any involvement in the commercial marketplace… until it is too late. This means that they know not the heartbeat of civilization itself. This terrible condition persists until their young adulthood. It is their luxury — for the first… read more
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There are some authors (I could count them on one hand) who have a transforming effect on the human mind. My list of people who changed me fundamentally would include H.L. Mencken, Murray Rothbard, Ayn Rand, Noam Chomsky, and Arthur Schopenhauer. After reading Totally Incorrect, this week’s e-book download in the Laissez Faire Club, I… read more
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My inbox has been slammed with notes concerning the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. Given the accessibility of information, and the pace at which it travels, people have treated this event as not just a case of a ghastly local crime, but much more than that, a signal and a wake-up call… read more
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