Donald J. Boudreaux
The Many Ways in Which a Nation Is Not Like a House
The nation does not belong to anyone in the same way that a home belongs to its owner.
A Protectionist Is Someone Who…
A protectionist cannot adequately explain why each and every household in the world does not itself literally build its own home.
Protectionists in Plunderland and Wonderland
The Wonderland of sincere protectionists is truly a crackpot unreality.
Currency Devaluation Is No Ticket to National Prosperity
If a government manages to undervalue its currency in terms of foreign currencies, it subsidizes the consumption of foreigners who purchase its country’s exports. And while gains are reaped by those of its citizens who work to supply goods for export, currency undervaluation makes most of that country’s citizens poorer.
Is Trump’s Ultimate Goal Global Free Trade?
Trump has pontificated on trade for decades, with words that reveal him as a clichéd economic nationalist.
Democracy and the Toxic Metastasizing of a Sound Idea
Because the American government is democratically elected, there’s a widespread presumption that the actions of this government are, as a rule, the best ones possible. Yet this presumption is mistaken.
Flimsy Justifications to Restrict Your Freedom
Even a young child understands, without need of further elaboration, that no action is rendered acceptable simply because lots of other people do it.
Antitrust’s Sordid History
The goal was to protect existing, politically influential producers from the competition of newer, more efficient firms.
Science Alone Will Not Create Prosperity
Modern knowledge of physics clearly is not a sufficient condition for mass prosperity. If it were, Soviet citizens in the 20th century would have been just as prosperous as American and Canadian citizens.
An Economy Is Neither a Family Nor a Firm; It Is a Catallaxy
Unlike progressives and conservatives, libertarians judge society and government policy by how well individuals are able to fulfill their goals; libertarians do not suppose that individuals who comprise the large collectives that we call “countries” do or should aim at fulfilling the non-existent higher goals of these large collectives.
