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Lawrence W. Reed

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The Power of the Free Market →

November 22, 2025

We should be in awe of the endless miracles that come our way from the marketplace of invention, innovation, and exchange. A podcast interview from the Cato Institute’s Libertarianism.org, October 2025.

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Montana's First Non-Indigenous Settlement

November 18, 2025

The St. Mary’s Mission and Museum in Stevensville is well worth your time when you’re in western Montana.

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Dusting Off an Old but Important Story

November 13, 2025

France was on the verge of national bankruptcy when the Revolution began in 1789. A rising chorus of panicked legislators called for printing paper money as a solution, but many people still remembered the ruin their ancestors suffered only 70 years before.

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I (Identify As), Pencil

November 11, 2025

I was born a lawnmower but now I am a pencil. You can’t erase me, but I can erase you. Literally. So don’t offend me.

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From "I, Pencil" to "I, Smartphone" →

November 6, 2025

The late Milton Friedman figures into this October 2025 video interview of me by Libertarianism.org. Topic: From “I, Pencil” to “I, Smartphone.”

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Red Flags or Green Lights?

November 4, 2025

Opposition arises every time new technology emerges. Often it is promoted by those whose livelihoods would be most directly affected. Their short-term, vested interest focus might grant them temporary security, but it does so at the expense of the well-being of everyone else.

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I, Smartphone: Far Smarter Than You Ever Imagined →

October 30, 2025

You will be amazed at what goes into a handheld device that nearly everybody uses. Inspired by Leonard Read's famous piece, "I, Pencil," it will be a success if it becomes just a fraction of the classic Leonard's essay was.

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How Taft Got Its Name →

October 26, 2025

A stone’s throw from the Idaho line, the town was a large work camp without a name but with a notorious reputation. It was described by a Chicago Tribune reporter as “the wickedest city in America.” (Image credit to the great painter and sculptor, Charlie Russell.)

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The Velvet Glove and the Iron Fist

October 21, 2025

Power rots the soul. Rare is the individual who becomes a better person for having possessed it.

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A Better You, A Better World

October 20, 2025

In my mind, becoming a better person means striving to be a model in everything we do so that others will be inspired by our examples.

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For the Love of Critters

October 18, 2025

Few things anger me more than when an innocent animal is abused or neglected; such occasions make me wish I was a judge so I could throw the book at the guilty.

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Civil Society--America's Great Heritage

October 15, 2025

Genuine cultural progress occurs when individuals solve problems without resorting to politics or politicians.

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Remembering Leslie Delatour →

October 14, 2025

Nearly 40 years ago, I went to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to interview the Finance Minister, Leslie Delatour. He was one of the smartest people I ever met. Afterwards, I published this interview. His time in the job was short but he did the right thing, as you can see from his amazing insights in this interview (click on headline). Sadly, he died of cancer in 2001 at the age of 51.

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Big Government Equals Bad Government →

October 9, 2025

If you’ve supported the monstrous expansion of the federal government in recent decades, or if you’ve got a laundry list of things you want it to do because you think it’s not yet big enough, then don’t blow smoke about clean and honest politics. You’re part of the problem.

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Always Have Hope

October 7, 2025

Hope is a potent stimulant. Never, ever, let it slip away. No matter what.

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We Will Never Forget You, Pelé!

October 6, 2025

Born for soccer, just as Beethoven was born for music.

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Selective Sustainability

October 5, 2025

Leftists are awfully selective about what’s “sustainable” and what isn’t.

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Learning the Lessons from the Fall of Rome →

October 1, 2025

What can we learn from the experience of the Roman Republic? Delivered at Northwood University in Midland, Michigan, on September 30, 2025.

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As Good As Any Man

September 28, 2025

She had overcome huge challenges and proved that a woman could be just as good in business as any man—and far better than those who defrauded her with their depreciating paper money.

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Hated by the Envious for Her Financial Genius

September 27, 2025

The City of New York on numerous occasions asked her for loans to keep the city from going broke.

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Recent “Best of Web”

Featured
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
Suspicions Of Ayatollah's Death Rise After His Name Appears On California Voter Rolls
September 2, 2026
Suspicions Of Ayatollah's Death Rise After His Name Appears On California Voter Rolls
September 2, 2026

U.S. intelligence officials had previously been unable to assess with any level of certainty whether Khamenei was still alive, despite his prolonged absence from public view. Those uncertainties quickly faded after analysts discovered that he had registered as a Democrat in Los Angeles, Alameda, and Santa Clara counties.

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September 2, 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
Britain Should Spurn the Reparations Panhandlers
September 5, 2026
Britain Should Spurn the Reparations Panhandlers
September 5, 2026

I doubt there’s a soul on the planet who never had an ancestor who was victimized by somebody, but that’s no reason to find the victim’s innocent living descendants and make them pay for it.

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September 5, 2026
Poisoned History
September 2, 2026
Poisoned History
September 2, 2026

A country that uses its tax dollars to distort and vilify its own history is likely to embrace stupid ideas and elect a lot of bad people. The Smithsonian, unfortunately, is just the tip of the iceberg.

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September 2, 2026
Three Cheers for Dolly!
September 2, 2026
Three Cheers for Dolly!
September 2, 2026

Just days after she was laid to rest, we learned that somebody didn’t like Dolly.

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September 2, 2026