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LearnLiberty: Why Do Politicians All Sound the Same?


Via LearnLiberty, In a two-party, majority rule system, moving toward the center is not likely to alienate the voters on the ends because they feel there is not another viable candidate to vote for instead. This means, there really isn’t any penalty for a candidate chooses to move toward the middle. And it explains why all politicians end up sounding the same. Too cynical? Try reading this excellent primer on public choice theory. But what can you do about it? […]

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Bootleggers and Baptists – explaining the characteristics of government regulation


Because I am today a member of a small Baptist church, I feel I can get away with posting this great video which is a little unkind about us. There may be some people at my church who don’t drink but I’m not aware of anyone having a theological objection to alcohol sales on a Sunday and lobbying for a ban. I guess the author of the video has other experiences. The video explains why government regulation tends to have […]

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Why do we exchange things? Because it makes us happier.


Via LearnLiberty, Why Do We Exchange Things? The answer is simple. In voluntary exchange, both parties benefit. We exchange things because it makes us happier. Gifts are often wonderful but the giver’s reward is the warm glow of altruism. Only the recipient is better off and only if they received something they wanted. In voluntary exchange, both people swap something they want less for something they want more: they are both better off.

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Does Government Create Jobs?


Another superb video from LearnLiberty, Does Government Create Jobs: Related reading: Kirzner, How Markets Work

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LearnLiberty.org: Should we End the Fed?


Another excellent video from LearnLiberty.org, in which Lawrence White concludes it would be dangerous to leave the control of money with the same institutions which caused the present crisis, hoping they will do better in future: What would it mean to “End the Fed?” Free banking expert and professor Lawrence White begins his answer by explaining the functions of the central bank of the United States, also known as the Federal Reserve or just “the Fed.” As the hub of […]

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Ending crony capitalism – how markets work


Crony capitalism — businesses capturing the state for commercial advantage, serving politicians and officials instead of the public — ought to be brought to an end. A prerequisite to that is a good understanding of how social cooperation in the market works. Israel Kirzner’s, How Markets Work: Disequilibrium, Entrepreneurship and Discovery (PDF) provides a brief and readable explanation. From the book’s page at the IEA: Human action consists of ‘grappling with an essentially unknown future’, not being confronted with clearly-specified […]

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Who favors more freedom, liberals or conservatives?


Via Learn Liberty, a fascinating analysis of the breakdown of the traditional left-right political spectrum: See also The Political Compass.

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An old question attempted by Dr. Stephen Davies: Why Should Conservatives Like Libertarian Ideas?


Via Learn Liberty, Dr Stephen Davies attempts to answer briefly the question of why Conservatives should follow the philosophy of freedom: I’m reminded of two things: that the Conservative Party has a habit of absorbing proper liberals, believers in freedom in the general interest, and that Lord Acton said, At all times sincere friends of freedom have been rare, and its triumphs have been due to minorities, that have prevailed by associating themselves with auxiliaries whose objects often differed from […]

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The economics of Valentine’s day


Via LearnLiberty, Chris Coyne presents The Economics of Valentine’s Day:

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Via LearnLiberty – Social Cooperation: Why thieves hate free markets


Via LearnLiberty.org: And also: Society is concerted action, cooperation. Society is the outcome of conscious and purposeful behaviour. … Individual man is born into a socially organized environment. In this sense alone we may accept the saying that society is–logically or historically–antecedent to the individual. In every other sense this dictum is either empty or nonsensical. The individual lives and acts within society. But society is nothing but the combination of individuals for cooperative effort. It exists nowhere else than […]

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