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What the Labor Pool Collapse Means
Where have all the workers gone? One of the most bizarre happenings in our current economic environment has been the surprising collapse of the …
Aaron Swartz, Hero and Martyr
My apologies for the sad tone of this piece, but a hero has fallen and we need to pay him tribute — and make …
AIG Is Right: Sue the Bastards
AIG, the mega-insurer that was bailed out by the government in 2008, wants to sue the government. People’s automatic reaction: How terribly ungrateful! The …
Progress, Despite Every Attempt to Stop It
The typical libertarian sees the world’s glass of water as half-empty. No wonder people avoid freedom lovers. While they tend to be smart and …
The Great Robbery of Wage-Earners
If you think of American wage-earners as swimmers, they were mostly underwater after 2008. Then last year, wages increased a bit. It was only …
The Failure of Common Knowledge
It takes a shockingly long time for the masses of people to pick up on new realities. This is especially true if the new …
India’s Gold Mania
Less than 1% of the world’s gold is mined in India. The rest comes from somewhere else. Still, India can’t get enough. It is …
The Man the Keynesians Fear
The great battle since 2008 has pitted the ghosts of F.A. Hayek against John Maynard Keynes. Team Keynes dictated the policies we know too …
Markets Stagnate Until They Clear
What the home and mortgage market needs — and it will not recover until then — is a rebooting to current values. To do …
The Meaning of GPS
I am one of those people who has a seriously deficient sense of direction. In other words, I feel lost most of the time. …
The New Year’s First Heist
The high priests of the civic religion are very worried that people no longer seem to trust government. The law stands discredited. Once-hallowed institutions …
Inflationary Illusions in Real Estate
Real estate, and the careers that depend upon it, is a boom-bust business in the age of inflation. The illusion of wealth is everywhere..until …
Javert’s Religion of Statism
Those who take prosperity for granted — and all of us do whether we admit it or not — would do well to make …
The Exploitation of Labor by Government
Considering taking a job with the government? You might want to rethink that. The new survey from Partnership for Public Service paints an ugly …
The Little Book That Could
Finally, after years of economic turmoil, of boom and bust in the global economy, the great Austrian Friedrich von Hayek (1899-1992) is making an …
Anarchy in the Holidays
One of the best features of the holidays is that many government offices are shut down. Peace on Earth, indeed. I’m travelling for the …
The Freest Place in the World
Interviewed by Louis James, Editor, International Speculator L: Doug, we’ve gotten a lot of follow-up questions to our conversation on currency controls. People want …
Dumb Ways (for an Economy) to Die
[Doug French is coauthor of this piece] A viral video from Australia, complete with a clever song and dance step, describes the many dumb …
Give the Gift of Capitalist Understanding
The enormous tragedy for young people today is that so many are sealed off by law from any involvement in the commercial marketplace… until …
Down and Out In California
Gas in Vegas is a dollar cheaper a gallon than in the Golden State, or so a friend and recent LA transplant tells me. …
Casey the Cleanup Crew
There are some authors (I could count them on one hand) who have a transforming effect on the human mind. My list of people …
Why Can’t Schools Secure Themselves?
My inbox has been slammed with notes concerning the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. Given the accessibility of information, and the …
Government, the New Debtors’ Prison
An old banking buddy of mine has been out of work for a full year. I met up with him yesterday, and he told …
The Great Disconnect
Ben Bernanke began his press conference with a touching tribute to the unemployed. Oh, how he cares! And so deeply! His description of the …