By Gary M. Galles In today’s media, we are constantly being told of “new and improved” impositions that are needed to replace the “old hat” ideas of freedom and open competition. But the visions held by these proponents could hardly be further from reality. Leonard Read wrote of this decades ago, in “Freedom: A New Vision,” Chapter 2 of his 1975 Castles in the Air. While … [Read more...] about The Biggest Thing That Separates Authoritarians From Supporters of Freedom
Gary Galles
California Now Wants to Tax People Who Live in Other States, Too
By Gary Galles California’s government has become infamous for abusing its citizens, from steep taxation to burdensome regulations to arbitrary covid impositions. But less noticed is how it is also trying to abuse other Americans as well. As reported in a December 28 Los Angeles Times editorial, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA), which … [Read more...] about California Now Wants to Tax People Who Live in Other States, Too
Why Central Planning by Medical Experts Will Lead to Disaster
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
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