By Joakim Book Thomas Levenson of MIT has written a timely book: Money For Nothing: The South Sea Bubble and the Invention of Modern Capitalism. As many assets on the world’s financial markets rise and rise and rise, and many pundits call for an inevitable collapse that never seems to arrive, looking at bubbles of the past provides the very perspective that financial … [Read more...] about When Financial Markets Bubble, There’s Something for Everyone
History
Lessons on Economic Freedom from Ancient Greece
By Lipton Matthews Economic freedom isn't a modern invention. Throughout history, we find time and time again that those areas with the most economic freedom were the most prosperous. Activists in favor of economic freedom often limit themselves, however, to only a few times and places, and most lean on modern studies showing the benefits of the marketplace. It is possible … [Read more...] about Lessons on Economic Freedom from Ancient Greece
The Past Is a Nice Place to Visit. You Wouldn’t Want to Live There.
By Art Carden “Wouldn’t it have been nice to live in the past, when things were so much simpler? When we were rooted and connected? When we lived in harmony with one another, with nature, and with the generations that came before us?” You’ve probably heard someone say that or something like it. Nostalgia for “the good old days” puzzles me because quite frankly, they were … [Read more...] about The Past Is a Nice Place to Visit. You Wouldn’t Want to Live There.
Stateless in the Walled City of Kowloon
By Peter C. Earle Twenty-five years ago, the most successful 20th-century experiment in liberty — begun inadvertently, as always — came to an end. In April 1994, demolition of the taxless, unregulated, autonomous capitalist enclave known as the Walled City of Kowloon was completed, ending nine decades of an unparalleled experiment in utter statelessness. Similar to the … [Read more...] about Stateless in the Walled City of Kowloon
What if Government Suddenly Disappeared?
By Peter C. Earle If the strange and little-known case of the condominium of Moresnet — a wedge of disputed territory in Northwestern Europe, and arguably Europe's counterpart to America's so-called Wild West — acts as our guide, we must conclude that there is an inverse relationship between the size and scope of government and the potential for both peace and … [Read more...] about What if Government Suddenly Disappeared?