From one of the most oppressive regimes on earth, having brought the people it rules to the brink of death, a belated, desperate effort to save itself through private markets: Bowing to reality, the North Korean government has lifted all restrictions on private markets — a last-resort option for a leadership desperate to prevent its…
Free Markets
Economy, Free Markets
Can Capitalism Save the World from Poverty? Actually, it’s already doing just that…
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s a new PBS documentary that you may have seen, called “The New Recruits,” about efforts of free-market advocates to bring capitalism to the developing world. It’s not easy, but the documentary shows how a few dedicated market proponents can make a difference even in dire conditions. No economic system has produced greater prosperity for…
City, Economy, Free Markets, Government Spending
Why is America So Successful?
by JOHN ADAMS •
John Stossel asks, “Why is America So Successful?” Stossel concludes, following Friedman, that it’s not natural resources that gave America “a standard of living that’s the envy of most of the world.” Instead, it’s limited government and free market choices that make America prosperous: More than any other American, Friedman, who won the Nobel Prize…
Development, Free Markets, Planning
The Wall Street Journal on Private Campaigns Against Walmart
by JOHN ADAMS •
In prior posts, I’ve made clear the difference between competition between private merchants and local government’s endorsement of a campaign that expressly favors one kind of merchant over another. That’s not the place for government, either on principle (government should be limited) or prudently (government has a poor record of picking winners in the marketplace).…
Economy, Free Markets
Tonight on Stossel: Milton Friedman and Prosperity (7 PM Central on Fox Business Channel)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Tonight is sure to be a great episode of John Stossel’s program on the Fox Business Channel. Stossel will discuss the contribution of the late Milton Friedman to prosperity. His lifelong study of markets and monetary policy helped countless people around the world to freer, more prosperous ways of living. Viewers can tune in tonight…
Free Markets, Laws/Regulations, Liberty
Huffington Post: Making the Business Case for Dairy Farmer Civil Disobedience
by JOHN ADAMS •
The war against raw milk sales in a dairy state, a war whose generals are big business interests, is underway in Wisconsin. I’ve written about previously about Governor Doyle’s veto of a bill allowing modest raw milk sales, and about regulatory badgering of dairies that offer raw milk for sale. (Some raw milk may be…
Free Markets, Laws/Regulations
Motion Hearing for Walworth County Raw Milk Case
by JOHN ADAMS •
Yesterday, I posted about Wisconsin’s regulatory badgering of dairy farmers trying to sell raw milk within existing legal requirements. Even that’s now hard to do, following Governor Doyle’s veto of a bill that would have allowed expanded, yet still modest, raw milk sales. See, Ongoing Harassment of Dairy Farmers in America’s Dairyland. One of the…
City, Economy, Free Markets, Government Spending, Planning, Uncategorized
America’s War Between Free Enterprise and Government Control
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s an essay in the Washington Post, that wonders if we face America’s new culture war: Free enterprise vs. government control. Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, considers the topic and concludes that we do face such a cultural clash. First, Brooks considers the irreconcilable systems of free enterprise and state control: This…
Free Markets, Liberty
“Tracy Foster is Free Enterprise”
by JOHN ADAMS •
There are many inspirational videos available online, but few more so than one of the entries to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s “I am Free Enterprise” video contest. A video about small-business owner Tracy Foster, who makes a line of stylish camera bags, is now a finalist in the Chamber’s contest. (I wrote about the…
Free Markets
Reason.tv: A Delicious Free Enterprise Contest Entry
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s a video from Reason.tv’s Meredith Bragg. Entitled, “A Delicious Free Enterprise Contest Entry,” it’s one of the finalists in the the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s “I Am Free Enterprise” video contest. The winner of will receive a $50,000 grand prize, to be determined through online voting. Readers can vote and view the other finalists…
City, Free Markets, Planning, Politics
Whitewater Local Government’s Favoritism of Some Local Businesses Over Others
by JOHN ADAMS •
In towns across America, private businesses and groups compete for support. This is to be expected and defended in a free society. That competition for support need not — and should not — receive a preferential boost from local government. It’s only in a community where bureaucrats are confused about the limits of government that…
City, Development, Free Markets, Laws/Regulations, Planning
Local Merchants and Whitewater’s Walmart, Co-Existing
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve contended before that many local businesses can do very well alongside Walmart, and will weather an expansion of our current Walmart, store number 1274 of that retail chain. I can safely say this, because in towns across America with Walmarts, there are other businesses, too. They co-exist. Consumers should be able to make choices…
Free Markets, Law, Laws/Regulations
Freeing Small Farms: Minnesota Farms Fight Protectionism
by JOHN ADAMS •
One often hears that residents should ‘shop locally.’ That’s a choice any consumer should be able to make. What would happen if a city told residents that not only should they shop locally, but that they could only buy products produced locally? Not a suggestion, not a request, but a law that said: Residents can…
City, Free Markets, Laws/Regulations, Planning
Whitewater’s Planning Commission Meeting: Residential Overlay Miscellany
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s a bit more on the proposed overlay — there are arguments that I’ve made before, but did not repeat in my 5/16/10 post about the May 10th Planning Commission meeting. The proposed overlay has a grandfather clause for existing rental properties, but that hardly solves the long-term problem of restrictions on buying and selling…