Easier said than done, though certainly worth doing: Cuba is flirting with free-market reforms, while Cuban Americans try to help prepare the country for life under a version of capitalism. (This story’s from the left-of-center Public Radio International — and that provenance offers another of many signs of the inevitable return to free markets in…
Free Markets
Free Markets, Laws/Regulations
Reason.tv: Discussing Fees for Fire Protection
by JOHN ADAMS •
America and places beyond have heard the story about how firefighters in Obion County, Tennessee let a house burn down because the homeowners, the Cranicks, had not paid the $75 annual firefighters’ fee. (The department is from South Fulton, but serves areas in the county beyond the South Fulton city limits.) At Reason.tv, there’s a…
Free Markets
Don Spencer: Need open market for raw milk, too
by JOHN ADAMS •
Economy, Free Markets
“Free Market” Doesn’t Mean “Pro-Business” – Art Carden – The Economic Imagination – Forbes
by JOHN ADAMS •
No, it certainly doesn’t. Art Carden, at Forbes‘s Economic Imagination blog, explains the difference: Is a “free market” agenda the same thing as a “pro-business” agenda? Economists of a libertarian persuasion find this frustrating because our enthusiasm for free markets is often mistaken as enthusiasm for specific businesses or corporate interests. But just because something…
Free Markets, Government Spending
Craig Piersma: No free market wails over Harley credits
by JOHN ADAMS •
Well, Craig’s mistaken that there aren’t any. I’ll say that I think that credits were a bad idea, and are a form of corporate welfare. The free marketers of this state should be up in arms over the latest government handout to big business.Apparently, Wisconsin taxpayers will pony up $25 million in tax credits to…
Economy, Free Markets
Joyce Appleby on the Relentless Revolution of Capitalism
by JOHN ADAMS •
Capitalism is humanity’s best arrangement for prosperity. Alternatives are, to one degree or another, schemes of enforced poverty. Reason.tv has an interview with professor emerita Joyce Appleby of UCLA. It’s eight minutes of clarity and insight. The video is below, with Reason‘s description thereafter. Enjoy. Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZktWEAWLvM. “Exploitation is not exclusively capitalist, but wealth…
Economy, Free Markets, Tyranny
Wall Street Journal: Cuba Unveils Huge Layoffs in Tilt Toward Free Market
by JOHN ADAMS •
There could be few happier headlines than this: Cuba Unveils Huge Layoffs in Tilt Toward Free Market. Few happier because it signals the beginning of the end of the tyrannical regime that has so devastated Cuba. That Castro has lived to see the end of his oppressive life’s work is satisfying. There are, though, many…
Free Markets, Liberty
Arthur Brooks and Paul Ryan: The Size of Government and the Choice This Fall – WSJ.com
by JOHN ADAMS •
Well said: As we move into this election season, Americans are being asked to choose between candidates and political parties. But the true decision we will be making—now and in the years to come—is this: Do we still want our traditional American free enterprise system, or do we prefer a European-style social democracy? This is…
Free Markets, Planning
Associated Press: Cuba embraces 2 surprising free-market reforms
by JOHN ADAMS •
Best reform would be a true free market…. Cuba has issued a pair of surprising free-market decrees, allowing foreign investors to lease government land for up to 99 years — potentially touching off a golf-course building boom — and loosening state controls on commerce to let islanders grow and sell their own fruit and vegetables.…
Free Markets, Government Spending
Pres. Obama’s Mission Accomplished Moment at GM – Forbes.com
by JOHN ADAMS •
….[the] administration’s wanton disregard for both taxpayers and the company shows just how desperate it is getting to deliver some sliver of economic good news to angry voters ahead of the November elections. But its actions only bespeak of the dangers of government bailouts. GM has a long way to go before it is truly…
Free Markets
Markets and (Bathroom) Scales
by JOHN ADAMS •
Free Markets, Freedom of Speech
Dr. Laura Schlessinger: Confused Whiner
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve never listened to Dr. Laura Schlessinger on the radio, but I’ve read that she’s quitting radio because, by her account, her “First Amendment rights have been usurped” because she used the “n-word” on the air. (I know who she is, and know of her manner; I’m not, however, a listener.) Schlessinger’s claim in nonsense,…
Free Markets
Poll: Most Americans Pick Free Market Over Government-Run Economy
by JOHN ADAMS •
Free Markets
William Watson: Free Market Winning Fans
by JOHN ADAMS •
Canadian blogger William Watson, writing at the Financial Post, notes that throughout the world, majorities support free markets: Despite anti-market views in the media, polls show an eye-opening level of support for free markets around the world How do you feel about the following statement? “Most people are better off in a free market economy,…