By Gary Galles A great deal of the coverage of the COVID-19 crisis has been apocalyptic. That is partly because “if it bleeds, it leads.” But it is also because some of the medical experts with media megaphones have put forward potentially catastrophic scenarios and drastic plans to deal with them, reinforced by assertions that the rest of us should “listen to the experts,” … [Read more...] about Why Central Planning by Medical Experts Will Lead to Disaster
Gary Galles
Property Rights Are What Separate Humans from the Animal Kingdom
By Gary M. Galles As someone who has studied public policy for decades, I have frequently been struck by how many people are so committed to their favorite ism or “answer” on an issue that they will ignore powerful contradictory analysis and evidence that is only a couple easy keystrokes away, or even when it is right in front of them. A good example of this willful … [Read more...] about Property Rights Are What Separate Humans from the Animal Kingdom
Free Markets Promote Those Who Peacefully Improve Others’ Lives
By Gary M. Galles Dog-eat-dog, “survival of the fittest” rhetoric has long been a favorite grenade thrown by opponents of private property, voluntary exchange systems (i.e., capitalism without crony as a modifier). But it is striking that they never answer a central question without which their verbal assaults are logically meaningless—fit for what? Fit as Determined by … [Read more...] about Free Markets Promote Those Who Peacefully Improve Others’ Lives
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