By Max Gulker The U.S. government spends just shy of $1 trillion per year on aid to low-income Americans. This would be enough to give each of the estimated 40 million Americans living in poverty a check for over $20,000 per year. In two previous articles, I showed how the current failed system grew out of a snowballing bureaucracy and misguided paternalism from the left and … [Read more...] about Universal Basic Income Is Little More Than Smoke and Mirrors
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U.S. Steel Plants Are Going Idle, But The Fed Continues To Perpetuate The Myth That Everything Is Just Fine
By Michael Snyder Even though there is a tremendous amount of evidence to the contrary, the Federal Reserve continues to insist that the U.S. economy is in good shape. On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told the nation that “the economy has performed relatively well” in 2019 and he insisted that “the baseline outlook is a good one.” Of course he didn’t say … [Read more...] about U.S. Steel Plants Are Going Idle, But The Fed Continues To Perpetuate The Myth That Everything Is Just Fine
Aristophanes, Central Planning, and the Enduring Appeal of Utopian Fantasies
By Sarah Skwire Ludwig von Mises’s essay “Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth,” references Aristophanes’ play The Birds and the medieval fantasy of the idyllic and work-free Land of Cockaigne when Mises notes of socialist planners that, Economics as such figures all too sparsely in the glamorous pictures painted by the Utopians. They invariably explain how, … [Read more...] about Aristophanes, Central Planning, and the Enduring Appeal of Utopian Fantasies
The Hidden Costs of a $15 Per Hour Minimum Wage
By Art Carden It seems everyone wants to raise the minimum wage. On May 20, 2019, PBS reported that pretty much everyone seeking the Democratic presidential nomination wants to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. President Trump advocated a higher minimum wage during his 2016 campaign. The private sector has gotten into it as well, with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon … [Read more...] about The Hidden Costs of a $15 Per Hour Minimum Wage
Outlawing Jobs: The Minimum Wage
By Murray M. Rothbard [This piece originally appeared in the December 1988 issue of The Free Market and is also included in the collection Making Economic Sense.] There is no clearer demonstration of the essential identity of the two political parties than their position on the minimum wage. The Democrats proposed to raise the legal minimum wage from $3.35 an hour, to … [Read more...] about Outlawing Jobs: The Minimum Wage
Decentralize the Drug War — On the Way to Abolishing It
By José Niño On May 17, 2019, the City of Denver decriminalized the use and possession of psilocybin mushrooms via referendum. Nevertheless, the vote was a nail-biter as the initiative was only passed by a tight margin of 50.5 percent to 49.5 percent. However, Denver was not alone in drug reform developments. Certain counties in Texas are now implementing laxer … [Read more...] about Decentralize the Drug War — On the Way to Abolishing It
S.B. Fuller: The Forgotten History of a Legendary Black American Entrepreneur
By Brian Miller In the days before President Lyndon Baines Johnson, black Republicans were a thing. And chief among them was Samuel B. Fuller. Fuller was a black American entrepreneur in the mid-Century United States. More than just an entrepreneur, he also gave back to the black community by providing both inspirational speeches as well as nuts-and-bolts training at a time … [Read more...] about S.B. Fuller: The Forgotten History of a Legendary Black American Entrepreneur
Countries Suffering From Rapid Inflation Show Significant Demand for Cryptos
By Jamie Redman Cryptocurrencies have been trending upwards in price over the last few weeks, but in certain countries around the world digital assets have become far more valuable. For instance, in Argentina, the nation’s sovereign currency has lost considerable value and cryptocurrencies like BTC are seeing all-time price highs. The surge in value is not just taking place … [Read more...] about Countries Suffering From Rapid Inflation Show Significant Demand for Cryptos
Flimsy Justifications to Restrict Your Freedom
By Donald J. Boudreaux When I was a boy my mother and father often put to me a version of a question that parents throughout the ages have put to their children: “If everybody jumped off of the Mississippi River Bridge, would you jump too?!” Of course, I was asked this rhetorical question whenever I took some inadvisable course of action and sought to excuse it on the … [Read more...] about Flimsy Justifications to Restrict Your Freedom
The Plague of Meddling Political Busybodies
By Richard M. Ebeling Who knows what might be better or best for you? You or those in the government? We all make mistakes and misjudgments, but who is most likely to have a wider and deeper appreciation of your wants and desires, you or a bureaucrat in an often-faraway government agency? Who is more likely to have an insight into the options and opportunities for achieving … [Read more...] about The Plague of Meddling Political Busybodies
Why a Free Society Cannot Transform Wishes into Rights
By Gary M. Galles Any careful observer of American politics must be struck by the ever-expanding roster of things people have asserted rights to. But when such arguments are seriously considered, there is little to them beyond shared desires or wishes for certain things, which supposedly implies that there ought to be rights to them. From there, it is but one further step … [Read more...] about Why a Free Society Cannot Transform Wishes into Rights
Co-Living Trend Fueled By Changing Economic Conditions
By Jeff Paul *This article is from the April, 2017 issue of our premium newsletter. Finding affordable, safe, comfortable housing can be a challenge particularly during a time of rising housing costs, mass underemployment, and high student debt. These factors combined with the simultaneous ascent of the freelance and sharing economies are fueling a growing trend of … [Read more...] about Co-Living Trend Fueled By Changing Economic Conditions