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Lawrence W. Reed

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Hickory.jpg

Class Warfare and the Hero of Hickory Farms →

April 22, 2016

I’m reminded of the words of Tacitus some 2,000 years ago: “When men of talents are punished, authority is strengthened.”

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Three Great New York Democrats →

April 19, 2016

The Forgotten History of Classical Liberalism in the Empire State.

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Why Liberty is so Important →

December 14, 2015

Liberty is precious, rare, never guaranteed, and always threatened. It can be lost in a single generation if it’s not advanced and defended.

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The Speech Francis SHOULD Have Given →

September 24, 2015

This guy badly needs some basic Economics.

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The Slow-Motion Financial Suicide of the Roman Empire (w/ Marc Hyden) →

August 17, 2015

Rome fell to invaders in 476 AD, but who the real barbarians were is an open question. The Roman people who supported the welfare state and the politicians who administered it so weakened society that the Western Roman Empire fell like a ripe plum that year. Maybe the real barbarians were those Romans who had effectively committed a slow-motion financial suicide.

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The Man Who Sowed the Seeds of Puerto Rico's Collapse →

July 31, 2015

Planning, welfare statism, and the curse of the awful New Dealer Rexford Guy Tugwell.

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The Inevitable Chinese Stock Market Crash →

July 9, 2015

If China’s leaders pile more “expert” central planning on top of their already mile-high pile, a busted stock market will be one of the least of their long-term worries.

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Frédéric Bastiat Deserves a Posthumous Nobel →

June 30, 2015

The world in the 21st century is beset with economic fallacies that are, for the most part, modern versions of those that Bastiat demolished 16 decades ago. 

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A Shrine to a Jackass →

June 8, 2015

If you produced the same results while advocating capitalism, you’d be reckoned a monster.

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Marking the Centennial of the Birth of John James Cowperthwaite →

April 17, 2015

In an important sense, free economies don’t have “architects.” However, the “planned chaos” of socialist economies has lots of architects. Some are well-meaning busybodies eager to knead other human beings like dough on a social kneading board. Others are presumptuous con artists who savor the power their plans require. John James Cowperthwaite knew the folly of central planning.

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Capitalism at the Corner of Karl Marx and Ho Chi Minh →

April 15, 2015

Entrepreneurship survives on streets named for Communists — from the Mackinac Center’s Michael Van Beek.

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Do Progressives Have Good Intentions? Is That All That Matters? →

April 10, 2015

Good intentions are not enough. Nowhere near enough, in fact. Other things matter too, such as reason, logic, moral principles, evidence, outcomes, history and experience, reality and facts.

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Myth: Profit is Evidence of Suspicious Behavior →

February 13, 2015

Profit is responsible for more good things—by a long shot—than all the charity in the world.

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The Holiday That Isn't →

December 15, 2014

A “Bill of Rights Day” is not on the calendar, but a free people don’t have to wait for Congress to declare a holiday to celebrate one. On December 15, take a moment to reread the Bill of Rights and reflect on its importance. Call it to the attention of friends and family. 

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Myth: Government is an Inflation Fighter →

December 12, 2014

A currency’s value is not bottomless. Its erosion must cease either because government stops its reckless printing or prints until it wrecks the money. 

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The 1932 Bait-and-Switch →

November 21, 2014

The 1932 election is perhaps the best example of the rule that prevails all too often in the political world: You get what you voted against.

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The Myths of the Balance of Trade →

September 19, 2014

By this logic, draining the country of all goods and accepting none from abroad would be the best possible trade news. We wouldn’t be able to celebrate, however, because we’d all starve. But at least the government’s books would register one heck of a trade surplus.

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Obama's Student Loan Plan A Dud →

June 24, 2014

Don't expect Washington to fix the fundamentals when it's time horizon ends with the next election. In the perverse world of politics, problems don't get solved as much as they get perpetuated. 

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Myth: Capitalism Fosters Greed and Government Policy Must Temper It →

May 23, 2014

There’s nothing about government that makes it less “greedy” than the average guy or the average institution. Indeed, there’s every reason to believe that adding political power to natural self-interest is a surefire recipe for magnifying the harm that greed can do. 

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Myth: Economic Equality Serves the Common Good →

May 2, 2014

Coercive measures that aim to redistribute wealth prompt the smart or politically well-connected “haves” to seek refuge in havens here or abroad, while the hapless “have-nots” bear the full brunt of economic decline. 

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