Tag: the free market

“What Has the Government Done To Our Money?” Part I

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I’ve been reading this book by Rothbard (in preparation for Mises University later this month) and like all the books I’ve read by Rothbard so far, it is fantastic. Superb…stunning, these might be more appropriate words. It is taking me a long time to read it because I want to write down everything Rothbard says in my notes. I can’t read a sentence or two without stopping to quote him. I thought I’d share some of those quotes, and my thoughts on the book. He starts out by saying how confusing money is to people. This has led to a…

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“The Enterprise of Law” Part II

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One of Benson’s primary subjects in his book is the need for police protection. He discusses police protection provided by the government, and then explores the possibility of police being provided by the free market. When the government is in charge of this, like anything, they have no motivation for providing the best product at the lowest cost. “This does not imply that police chiefs and judges will be completely ambivalent to the costs a department or court generates; it means that they are likely to make a relatively smaller effort at monitoring employees to check on wasted time and resources.” He also makes another point about the difference between…

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Want to be Successful? Work for Free

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Here’s a great article by Jeffrey Tucker of the Mises Institute. He points out that for young people, they’ll get farther in life if they work for free, at least for 6 months to a year, and gain valuable experience and make contacts that will help them find a “real” job. So many people refuse to work if they think they aren’t getting paid enough, and those who are willing to donate their time are greatly appreciated, especially if you put all your effort into your volunteer work and do a thorough job.

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“The Enterprise of Law” Part I

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There is a little known book out there called “The Enterprise of Law” by Bruce Benson. I was introduced to it by Richard Maybury, who highly recommended it in his books. That was about two years ago. I got the book from our local (public) library and enjoyed reading it. I thought, “oh, these are some interesting ideas on privatizing some government jobs.” Then more recently, I was reminded of the book and I realized it was a manifesto, of sorts, for anarchy. Since I’m swamped with reading, I don’t have time to reread the book, but I found my…

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Lincoln: The Capitalist?

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Note: Austrian economists distinguish between two types of capitalists, those who make money because they provide products that consumers want, and those who make money because they have connections in government and enjoy subsidies while their competitors are crippled. Also, there is a great controversy raging right now as to whether free market people should use the term capitalism or capitalist. I chose to use Capitalist for purely literary reasons. It would be awkward to say, “Lincoln: The Free Marketeer” or something like that. So there’s no great significance about my choice of words. So, I hope you are not…

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Why College?

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Over the months, I’ve read numerous articles about why young people shouldn’t go to college. One is here at Forbes, one by Gary North on the revolutionary approach of MIT, one on the sometimes worthlessness of college degrees at LewRockwell.com, The Case Against a College Education at Time.com, one at the Huffington Post…and this list could go on. I was thinking about this last night, and the mania in our country for a college education. First off, I had to wonder about the often quoted statement that those who have college degrees get better jobs. Is this across the board?…

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The Life and Times of Savannah Liston

Not sure how to start this, and I’m not sure what sort of things I will say, with the song “Hymn to the Red October” in the background, it might turn out a little dark. But I guess this is a good time to think about my life, to commemorate my birthday. My mother asked me not to make it a political tirade, but I’d like to explore how my political beliefs fit into the big picture. So bear with me, please. Most of my growing up years were spent on our family farm. I think this has led me…

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Review of “For Liberty” on WPT

I was able to watch the interview on Wisconsin Public Television’s Director’s Cut with the Directors/Producers (Chris Rye & Corey Kealiher) of the film, “For Liberty: How the Ron Paul Revolution Watered the Withered Tree of Liberty,” which gave me a closer view into what motivated these men put this movie together. What drew them to Ron Paul? His anti-war position and strict constitutional beliefs poignantly set him apart from the rest of the Republican Party. His common sense ideas are a stark contrast to the warmongering of the other candidates, like this quote, “They come over here and attack…

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Notes from the “For Liberty” Interview

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This is totally off the top of my head, as I was watching the interview on WPT. So it is a little random, sorry. The directors/producers point out that they were drawn to Ron Paul because of his foreign policy. He was cut out of the Republican Party because of his strict Constitutional non-interventionist position. Ron Paul: (not an exact quote, but approximate) “We have to look at it from the position of how would we feel if they did it to us?” “It is just the message of liberty. It brings people together from all sides of the spectrum.”…

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