The media rarely celebrate ordinary people doing jobs for which they get paid. But the man selling several generators can be more impactful than the man giving one away.
It is a bedrock American principle that governments cannot discriminate against religious citizens and institutions.
The market can route self-interest toward the common good. But the market channels altruism better than the state too.
Any entrepreneur who succeeds in reducing costs faced by a laborer who suffers from a disability can earn a profit.
Here’s my opening statement for my Students for Liberty debate with Will Wilkinson. Enjoy. Libertarians have a standard set of fundamental criticisms of the welfare state. Forced charity is unjust. Individuals have a moral right to decide if and when they want to help others. Forced charity is unnecessary. In a free market, voluntary donations […]
Joe works in a Pennsylvania steel mill. Many of Joe’s fellow Americans start buying more imported steel and, hence, less American-made steel. Because of this change in trade patterns, Joe – a good, hard-working, honest, play-by-the-rules, middle-aged family man who toiled in the steel mill all of his adult life – loses his job. Joe […]
Recently, at a Center for Global Development conference, attendees criticized a wide swath of development programs that, these experts say, provide no evidence they are achieving their objectives.
Although Rawls is part of the liberal tradition, he is arguably the pinnacle of the “high” liberal tradition, which is a far cry from the “classical” side I’m more comfortable with.
Isn’t a Universal Basic Income just another name for a negative income tax, such as Tax = -$10,000 + .3*Income? If so, isn’t a Universal Basic Income means-tested by definition?
I was initially excited to see that progressive Dean Baker has written a piece on “Eight Market-Oriented Proposals That Reduce Income Inequality” for AEI. It begins promisingly by criticizing overly strict occupational licensing for high-skilled workers. But it then studiously avoids the really big wins. Namely: 1. Immigration. High-skilled immigration reduces conventionally measured inequality by […]
Zwolinski concludes his series on William Graham Sumner with the question of how we ought to help the poorest among us.
Zwolinski examines William Graham Sumner’s critique of “social justice.”
We spend a lot of time and energy getting gifts for our loved ones. Yet a look at the return lines in many stores this time of year seems to indicate our time could be better spent wrapping a corresponding amount of cash. Why don’t we?
Indeed, classical liberals are usually much more concerned with the alleviation of poverty, rather than hand-wringing about who might have a larger slice of an ever-widening pie.
The holiday season is a time for love and cheer. So this Christmas, as you’re huddled in front of fire drinking eggnog and singing carols, be thankful for the wealth and opportunity that the free market has generated, and signal your love by giving a gift that matters.
A personal story about Vance’s climb from poor, white Appalachia to a Yale law degree and a white-collar career, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis will make you laugh, cry, and think carefully about the importance of culture for economic wellbeing.