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Lawrence W. Reed

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Hacksaw Ridge.jpg

The Heroism of Hacksaw Ridge →

February 25, 2017

Three cheers to the brave men and women who have fought in defensible wars for the right causes, such as liberty, self-determination, independence and security.

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Why Trade Restrictions Always Backfire →

January 22, 2017

Trade is a two-way street. Closing the door to imports closes the door to exports.

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Timeless Advice from Rudyard Kipling →

December 11, 2016

His politics were both good and not, but his personal advice is fantastic.

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What Human Action Means to Me and to FEE →

September 13, 2016

If only the world appreciated how he brilliantly and thoroughly demolished socialism nearly a century ago, millions of early deaths and untold misery could have been avoided in the decades since. Fifty Nobels would be insufficient to appropriately honor the man, but the world we know is hardly fair.

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Lenroot for VP? →

July 24, 2016

The best person might not be the pick of the nominee. It wasn’t in 1920.

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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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Rome.jpg

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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Economists.png

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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Recent “Best of Web”

Featured
Investors Force Uncle Sam to Confront Debt Addiction
August 23, 2026
Investors Force Uncle Sam to Confront Debt Addiction
August 23, 2026

Lawmakers marked the $40 trillion milestone by pointing fingers at each other while failing to look in the mirror and acknowledge their own culpability. Thanks to author Ryan Meilstrup for the shout-out in this article.

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August 23, 2026
The Age of Big Spending Republicans is Here
August 20, 2026
The Age of Big Spending Republicans is Here
August 20, 2026

Merrill Matthews writes, “Republicans used to be serious about controlling federal spending, but that was before Trump and the age of big-spending Republicans. We may soon find voters and the economy demanding they return to their conservative roots.”

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August 20, 2026
Making the Pregnant Woman Take the Stairs: The Problem with Minimum-Quality Regulation
August 11, 2026
Making the Pregnant Woman Take the Stairs: The Problem with Minimum-Quality Regulation
August 11, 2026

Raymond Niles asks, “Which apartment would you rather live in? One with a larger bedroom or a tiny bedroom, a large living room with a window that lets in natural sunlight, or a dingy room facing an air shaft? A tall skyscraper with an elevator, or a five-story walkup? A building with parking or one with no parking lot?”

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August 11, 2026

Recent Quotes

Featured
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
Best-Selling Japanese Novelist Eiji Yoshikawa on Do-Gooders
March 20, 2023
Best-Selling Japanese Novelist Eiji Yoshikawa on Do-Gooders
March 20, 2023

“There’s nothing more frightening than a half-baked do-gooder who knows nothing of the world but takes it upon himself to tell the world what’s good for it — from his book, Musashi.

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March 20, 2023

Recent Blogs

Featured
Defending the Constitution
September 1, 2026
Defending the Constitution
September 1, 2026

The state legislatures during the War for Independence and from its conclusion in 1783 until 1787 were not models of limited and responsible, republican government.

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September 1, 2026
Books I Recommend for Late Summer/Fall 2026 Reading
August 31, 2026
Books I Recommend for Late Summer/Fall 2026 Reading
August 31, 2026

Lots of good history here!

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August 31, 2026
How Principles, Faith & Courage Forged America
August 29, 2026
How Principles, Faith & Courage Forged America
August 29, 2026

Doug Stuart of the Libertarian Christian Institute interviews me on the key ideas, events, and people of the American Revolution.

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August 29, 2026