Harry Browne, the former Libertarian Party candidate for president, used to say: "€œthe government is great at breaking your leg, handing you a crutch, and saying "€˜You see, without me you couldn’t walk.’"€ That ...

"€œCrony capitalism"€ is a term often applied to foreign nations where government interference circumvents market forces. The practice is widely associated with tin-pot dictators and second-rate economies. In such a system, support ...

During the height of New York City’s financial crisis in the 1970’s, President Gerald Ford had the good sense to turn down Mayor Abe Beame’s request for a federal bailout. The refusal prompted the famous New York Post ...

While economists and real estate investors “celebrate” the slight deceleration in the pace of home price declines in the recent data, a quick look at home price trajectories over the past 100 and 50 years reveals little to ...

When, during the invasion of Iraq, the United States Government issued its famous deck of playing cards with the 52 arch villains of the Iraqi police state, Saddam Hussein’s face adorned the Ace of Spades. If the Obama ...

With much fanfare this week, Congress and the Administration began a series of actions designed to protect over-leveraged consumers from the high fees imposed by credit card lenders. As with most other initiatives devised by government, ...

The key thought that underlies Obama's recovery plan is simple. The cure for severe recession lies in trying to "€œgrow the economy."€ Spending and investment have fallen off; the government, accordingly, must take up the slack. By ...

In a speech this week summarizing his administration’s economic policies, President Obama grossly overstated the support these policies enjoy by claiming, “economists on the left and right agree that the last thing the ...

Bush saw a terror crisis and spent like there was no tomorrow. Obama sees an economic crisis and spends pretty much the same. Conservatives are rightfully saying “no” to Obama’s “generational theft.” But ...

Apart from the obvious financial distress that the current economic crisis has inflicted on most Americans, perhaps one of the more irksome byproducts of the meltdown has been the inescapability of clueless economic blather. It’s ...

When elementary school kids want to escape the confines of their circumstances they pretend to be pirates, princesses, and Jedi knights. Now, with the relaxation of “mark to market” valuation rules announced on Thursday by ...

In Mandeville's infamous "€œFable of the Bees,"€ that witty writer makes the case that private vices generate public virtues. Specifically, he argues that the craving for gain, advancement, and luxury drives men to economic ...