Entries by Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)

Frustrating Michael Moore by Sheldon Richman

The filmmaker needs to discover truly radical political economy. If Michael Moore would study a little political economy he might turn into a potent champion of individual liberty. As we see in Moore’s new movie, Capitalism: A Love Story, Moore is offended by some truly offensive things: banks engaging in wild speculation without concern for the risk, […]

Beyond Crony Capitalism by Sandy Ikeda

Some libertarians don’t like the term “crony capitalism.” They complain that cronyism—the use of political power for private gain—is incompatible with capitalism, so why conflate the two terms? While they may have a point, I’d like to look beyond the issue of terminology and focus on the underlying phenomenon: The problems with interventionism go far […]

Is Liberty on the Rise? History says yes! by Julian Adorney

Some libertarians despair at the prospect of shrinking Leviathan. How can we make meaningful change when the system is stacked against us? And how can we be freer when our political leaders only seem interested in growing government and having more control over the economy? But the fact is that we’ve already made enormous strides. […]

Word Power: Why I like “liberty” better than “freedom” by Gary M. Galles

As someone committed to self-ownership and voluntary association, among the most frequent words I both read and write are “liberty” and “freedom.” In most instances, they’re virtually interchangeable. In my own writing, the choice between the two has usually come down to reducing repetition. But, as far back as I can remember, I have liked […]

Advice to Young, Unemployed Workers by Jeffrey A. Tucker

We are now in the fifth year of very choppy hiring markets for young workers. The latest unemployment numbers once again leave them out from posted gains. Not even the boom in temporary employment included them. The United States has one of the highest rates of unemployment among 20-to-26-year-olds in the world. Nearly half of […]

Zoned Out: Why and how we should seek to restore a free market in land By Nathan Smith

I once knew a man who was finishing his basement so that his daughter and son-in-law could live there. I spent a lot of hours down there with a nail gun before the city planners nixed the project. My in-laws in Modesto, California had to move out of their house into a mobile home on […]

Wealth Inequality: Predictably Irrational by Max Borders

Note: A new video on income inequality has gone viral. In this video, the authors want us to believe that wealth inequality is far away from our national “ideal” distribution. [youtube]http://youtu.be/QPKKQnijnsM[/youtube]   The following is my response to the video and the study on which it was based: Everyone knows the social sciences are fuzzy. […]

Refusing to Associate Isn’t Wrong by Brian Lasorsa

I was troubled by a column that ran in The Freeman last week. Many other libertarians and conservatives were, too. Author Casey Given offered a convoluted critique of Arizona’s Senate Bill 1062, colloquially known as the “antigay bill” and the “religious liberty bill,” depending on whom you ask. Given claimed that hidden beneath the proposed legislation lurks a “homophobic […]

Check Your History by B.K. Marcus

In a recent Freeman article, “Check Your Context,” columnist Sarah Skwire brought my attention to a popular meme on the political left, both online and off: “Check your privilege.” At its gentlest, this is advice to raise our awareness of those aspects of our personal histories that may lead to complacent assumptions about how the world works, […]

Against Libertarian Brutalism by Jeffrey A. Tucker

Will libertarianism be brutalist or humanitarian? Everyone needs to decide. Why should we favor human liberty over a social order ruled by power? In providing the answer, I would suggest that libertarians can generally be divided into two camps: humanitarians and brutalists. The humanitarians are drawn to reasons such as the following. Liberty allows peaceful […]

A Libertarian Frank Underwood by Elijah O’Kelly

If you’re involved or even interested in politics and haven’t heard about House of Cards, then it’s likely that neither you nor your friends own a TV, a tablet, or a smart phone. The series, one of Netflix’s new in-house production, portrays the ruthless, power hungry politician Frank Underwood. In addition to its critical acclaim, it […]