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Lawrence W. Reed

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Patriotism.jpg

The True Meaning of Patriotism →

July 1, 2016

Freedom—understanding it, living it, teaching it, and supporting those who are educating others about its principles. That, my fellow Americans, is what patriotism should mean to each of us today.

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The Case Against Protectionism →

July 1, 2016

An oldie from 1980 but its principles still apply today.

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The Mania for Regulating People →

June 17, 2016

Justice George Sutherland on Private Rights and Government.

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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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Recent “Best of Web”

Featured
Democrats Promise That If Elected, Every Voter Will Give Them $5,000
September 19, 2026
Democrats Promise That If Elected, Every Voter Will Give Them $5,000
September 19, 2026

Nothing motivates Democrats more than promising to take away people's hard-earned money — Babylon Bee.

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September 19, 2026
Rob from the Rich 100% and You Still Won’t be Able to Pay the Bills
September 10, 2026
Rob from the Rich 100% and You Still Won’t be Able to Pay the Bills
September 10, 2026

Sell the yachts. Sell the stocks. Sell the businesses. Empty the bank accounts.

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September 10, 2026
Schools Abandoned Teaching Perseverance and Personal Responsibility
September 7, 2026
Schools Abandoned Teaching Perseverance and Personal Responsibility
September 7, 2026

Education should prepare students for reality, not shelter them from it. A damning indictment of the schools.

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September 7, 2026

Recent Quotes

Featured
Reed on Socialist Thinking
September 2, 2026
Reed on Socialist Thinking
September 2, 2026

Socialists think there’s no such thing as a bad poor person or a good rich person. Among socialists, it seems there’s no such thing as a thinking person — Lawrence W. Reed.

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September 2, 2026
Murphy on America
February 11, 2025
Murphy on America
February 11, 2025

“The true meaning of America, you ask? It’s in a Texas rodeo, in a policeman’s badge, in the sound of laughing children, in a political rally, in a newspaper. ... In all these things, and many more, you’ll find America. In all these things, you’ll find freedom. And freedom is what America means to the world. And to me” — Actor, poet, and the most decorated American of World War II, Audie Murphy.

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February 11, 2025
Mill on Freedom
February 1, 2025
Mill on Freedom
February 1, 2025

“The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily, or mental and spiritual. Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest.”

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February 1, 2025

Recent Blogs

Featured
Rich and Poor: When Questions Answer Other Questions
September 27, 2026
Rich and Poor: When Questions Answer Other Questions
September 27, 2026

People who hate the rich often speak as though there’s an evil-doing rich person under every bed.

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September 27, 2026
Change Your Name? To What?
September 21, 2026
Change Your Name? To What?
September 21, 2026

One of the coolest names I’ve ever heard would be high on my list of candidates if I ever had to find a new one.

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September 21, 2026
A Forgotten Document
September 19, 2026
A Forgotten Document
September 19, 2026

Roger Sherman was the only person to sign all of the Four Great State Papers of the United States.

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September 19, 2026