Many people complain about government control of currency, but only a few do something about it. I’m not talking about movements to “audit the Fed” and such. I’m talking about real innovation that makes an end run around the government’s iron grip on the monetary system. A few of us old folks might like to …

[Editorial note: Doug French is co-author of this piece today] Why all the long faces? The election results seem to have sent many people into fits of depression, hysteria, and rage. Commentators on the right are proclaiming that the last days are here. The hordes of welfare dependents are taking over. The wealthy will be …

As soon as the noose settled around his neck, Guy Fawkes broke free from the hangman and jumped off the scaffolding — guaranteeing a quick drop with a stop sharp enough to break his neck cleanly. Sudden death seems like an odd goal for a man to reach in a hurry. Until you consider the …

Madison, Wis., was in lockdown mode last night, a day before the visit by the president of the United States. It is Obama’s last stop before Election Day. It just so happened that he and I were in town on the same day to speak to students, faculty, and residents. My host, Young Americans for …

One of the key pillars to returning money to the people, as Ron Paul mentions in a new edition of The Case for Gold which will be released this week for free to Spy Briefing members, is to undo government’s monopoly on money creation. None of us can imagine what that would be like because …

It’s crazy in New York and New Jersey, and commentators are mystified. Hurricane Sandy was bad enough. That’s a natural disaster, and we are dealing with it. But then came the unnatural disaster in the form of the government’s response. This is where the real catastrophe begins. Check out the mess in New Jersey. The …

The election year of 2012 reminds us of the sheer waste and lunacy of democracy. Like soccer’s World Cup or the Summer or Winter Olympics, presidential elections in the United States come every four years. The campaign is a carnival that begins the minute after a winner is declared in November. Each successive campaign is …

During the last debate, Mitt Romney emphatically stated he would blast China for manipulating its currency the first day he takes office. Talk about priorities. Of all the nation’s pressing issues, the minute the oath is over, he’ll be calling out China for manipulating the yuan. A remark like that should cause exasperation for anyone …

In a natural disaster like Hurricane Sandy, the only thing people should fear more than the storm is the government’s response. Let us count the ways. Mandatory evacuations presume that politicians know the risks better than property owners themselves. That can’t possibly be true. In an information age, we all have access to the same …

As the old saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished. The chronicling of my courtroom rant against drug laws has prompted a few readers to question my libertarian bona fides and label me as statist, self-righteous grandstander. My piece has given these readers a reason to take their eye off the state for the moment …

It occurs to every kid of a certain age. Let’s say the kid has a hamster, and then two, and they make babies. New value, new commodities. This is fantastic! Maybe the kid can breed hamsters, sell them, and make a few bucks. The capital investment is low and the returns are potentially very high …

I was strolling along the wharf in Bodrum, Turkey, and I was intrigued to see some natural sea sponges on a table with a merchant behind the table telling me something about them in Turkish. I vaguely recall seeing an item like this when I was a kid but I long ago dismissed them as …

Until last week, I had managed all of my adult life to avoid jury duty. As a young adult in Topeka, Kan., I was never summoned. For my two decades living in Las Vegas, I was able to call in a couple times declaring economic hardship. Most of the time, I seemed to be off …

It’s happened yet again: I found another movie presumably made for kids that easily beats many of this season’s predictable box-office yawners. The movie this time is The Pirates! Band of Misfits. It is the story of a socially complex group of failed pirates — people doing their best to make a life for themselves …

After the bust of 2008, well-connected corporations and banks lobbied for and received many billions in bailouts from the government. The public was outraged. The term “crony capitalism” came into new prominence as a designation for capitalists who live off the taxpayer. But how far do we want to take this language? In a mixed …

My neighborhood is filling up with political yard signs. Vote for this guy! Vote for that guy! I can’t understand why people are willing to give up precious real estate on their front lawns, make friends mad at them, and put their own credibility on the line to back some politico who will certainly betray …

FRANKLIN Delano Roosevelt famously used the term “forgotten man” in a 1932 speech to describe those at the bottom of the economic pyramid whom, he felt, government should aid. But the originator of the phrase “forgotten man” — William Graham Sumner (1840-1910) — had a whole different meaning in mind. Sumner aimed to expose the …

I hit a nerve whenever I write about voting and democracy. Point out the sheer lunacy of the civic religion and a certain group of readers will blow their stacks, sending back long emails stuffed with long words, calling me things like “intellectually vacuous” and insisting I’m full of “self-aggrandizement.” Such is the case with …

Let’s say that a thief demands $100 and lets you keep $10 because he likes your suit. He calls that a deduction. The next day, he demands the whole $110. He says that he is not stealing more. He is only eliminating deductions and closing loopholes. That’s the GOP’s tax plan in a nutshell. They …

Proponents of liberty argue over what parts of the economy or society government should not touch. Government should get out the education business, stay out of health care, and even leave roads and infrastructure to the private sector. But when it comes to criminal justice, even many libertarians think government should supply the police and …

What is the world’s smallest country? Monaco? Nope. Malta? Too big. Even Vatican City with a mere population of 770 is huge in comparison. It’s called Sealand, founded and ruled by Paddy Roy Bates, a remarkable man who died this week at the age of 91. He was the original pirate radio operator and the …

Mortgage credit is tight, and extremely so. Romney and Obama were even questioned about it in their first debate. Think of all the potential issues that presidential candidates might address–fiscal cliffs, budget deficits, mass unemployment. That they were even asked about this matter illustrates how much government sponsors and supports the nation’s housing market. People …

Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem, the ebook of the week in the Spy Briefing Club, is a story about a government that hates, fears, and bans technology precisely because it wants to keep the people enslaved in a primitive state of being. Preposterous right? Wrong: this is going on every day right in the United States, …

Spreading the ideas of freedom and glories of free markets is an ongoing job. One thing we do here at the Spy Briefing Club is resurrect the works of previous generations of freedom fighters. It is the Rothbards, the Chodorovs, and Nocks on whose shoulders we stand. The works of these champions of laissez faire …