Posts byJeffrey Tucker

In 1946, oil baron William F. Buckley Sr. sent his extremely bright son Bill to Yale University. The father wanted to pass on one book to prepare him to think independently. His household had thousands of books on hand. The book he chose was Memoirs of a Superfluous Man, by a family friend named Albert …

In the final segment of my appearance on Capital Account last week, the hosts mentioned that plenty of Americans don’t know the names of the president or vice president. Is that awful? Most people think so. But I said in response that this is not a terribly bad thing. It might be evidence that people …

Before the third of the Batman trilogy hit theaters, I had heard that The Dark Knight Rises was a film without hope, with a long and dreary narrative that never loosens its grip. It leaves the viewer without a sense of answers. I saw it and left confused. It saw it again, and left confused …

In my town this week, two tribes shouted each other down, each claiming that the other is destroying the country. At issue: whether to eat or not eat a chicken sandwich from Chick-Fil-A. Yes, this is what democracy has been reduced to. People have so little effective control over their own lives and their political …

Is a blowout bust coming for high-flying Internet stocks? There was the disappointing Facebook IPO, but many people wrote that off as due to managerial errors at the Nasdaq. But those errors must have persisted, because the stock has been down nearly 40%, reaching a low point. Every talking head is muttering about the problem …

After Sept. 11, the American system of government became crazy obsessed with security. The implementation has not only been brutal and contrary to human liberty; it has completely lacked creativity. Instead of real security, we get what’s called “security theater,” and at the expense of the customer, who feels the brunt of all the new …

In today’s political climate, the more implausible the claim, the more likely it is to stick. One that seems to be sticking now is that government today is small by historical standards and constantly shrinking. Run that one by the man on the street — looted by the tax man, harassed by police, hounded by …

While attending the Agora Financial Symposium in Vancouver, I became aware that Americans enjoy some rights that Canadians do not: among them, the limited ability to carry weapons. Even private security guards seem unable to be armed in Canada.This does not make me feel safer. Quite the reverse. Private people who carry guns make me …

If they had listened to Mises in 1927, the world might have been saved. There would have been no Holocaust, Gulag, bombing of civilians, prolonged Depression and vast human suffering. That was then. What can we do now? We can revisit his great work Liberalism, drink deeply from its wisdom and apply it in our …