Economics

Walter E. Williams | Future Prospects for Economic Liberty

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"...Most of what they [America's Founders] understood as legitimate powers of the federal government are enumerated in Article 1, Section 8 [of the Constitution]. Congress is authorized there to do 21 things, and as much as three-quarters of what Congress taxes us and spends our money for today is nowhere to be found on that list. To cite just a few examples, there is no constitutional authority for Congress to subsidize farms, bail out banks, or manage car companies....The fact is that it's unreasonable of us to expect even principled politicians to vote against things like crop subsidies and stand up for the Constitution [because they fear being voted out of office]. This presents us with a challenge. It's up to us to ensure that it's in our representatives' best interest to stand up for constitutional government." Keep the T.E.A. parties growing! Aside to Nancy et al: Astroturf doesn't grow, but our grassroots do! Thanks to Hillsdale College and its Imprimis.

Sharon Harris | The Invisible Hand Is a Gentle Hand

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Invisible hand or government force? The "invisible hand is a gentle one. A free market is a gentle market. A free society is a gentle society. A cooperative, compassionate, and generous society. An abundant and tolerant society...There are built-in incentives in the marketplace for service, courtesy, respect. The invisible hand becomes a friendly handshake between cooperating adults...We don’t have a dog-eat-dog business world; we have a dog-eat-dog government." Aside: I want to read a Socialist description of the true Utopia working like a charm. What would a socialist utopian world be like to live in?..Soylent Green comes to mind.

John Stossel | "Real Jobs Create Wealth"

"...What is difficult for government is creating jobs that produce wealth. Pyramids, holes in the ground and war do not produce wealth. They destroy wealth. They take valuable resources and convert them into something less valuable." Government jobs do not equal private sector jobs. Find out why by reading this article on Patriot Post.

Walter E. Williams | "Economic Miracle"

"The idea that even the brightest person or group of bright people, much less the U.S. Congress, can wisely manage an economy has to be the height of arrogance and conceit." Read this column (and "I, Pencil") and you'll begin to see the miracle of the invisible hand that drives the free market.

Leonard E. Read | "I, Pencil"

Uses the construction of a lowly pencil to illustrate how “the invisible hand” functions in a free market. Easy-to-understand must read for every American starting in 7th grade.   Click here to read "I, Pencil."

Walter Williams | "How can it be?"

"Here's Williams' roadmap out of poverty: complete high school; get a job, any kind of a job; get married before having children and be a law-abiding citizen. Among both black and white Americans so described, the poverty rate is in the single digits." Squelches the argument that the "rich are getting righer and poor are getting poorer." Tip: Commit time to reading Williams' archived articles.   Click here to read this article  

Thomas Sowell | "A Letter from Venezuela"

"...the consequences of price controls. The government of leftist President Hugo Chavez has imposed price controls -- and seems to be surprised that lower prices have led to reduced supplies, even though price controls have led to reduced supplies in countries around the world and for thousands of years." Makes sense, no? Then, why don't we get it?   Read more.  Tip: Read other articles about this topic and others by Sowell.

Stephen Moore | "Atlas Shrugged: From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years"

Whether you are an Ayn Rand fan or not, find out why her Atlas Shrugged has such a profound impact on so many leaders. This article is also a great summary for this long book.  Click here to read this article. SparkNotes also has a good summary of the book.

Robert Fulsom | Myth of the Robber Barons

Click here to read article. This article is adapted from a lecture Professor Folsom gave at the History and Liberty seminar at FEE in June based on his book of the same title.

Friedrich A. Hayek (1899-1992) | "The Use of Knowledge in Society"

For the PhD in you. "If we can agree that the economic problem of society is mainly one of rapid adaptation to changes in the particular circumstances of time and place, it would seem to follow that the ultimate decisions must be left to the people who are familiar with these circumstances, who know directly of the relevant changes and of the resources immediately available to meet them. We cannot expect that this problem will be solved by first communicating all this knowledge to a central board which, after integrating all knowledge, issues its orders." Leave it to the invisible hand. Click here to read the entire article.