Tag Archives : free markets
New Rankings from Economic Freedom of the World Reveal Dismal Impact of Bush-Obama Statism
The 2011 edition of Economic Freedom of the World, published by Canada’s Fraser Institute (with help from groups like Cato), has been released. Covering data through 2009, the new report provides damning evidence of the negative impact of the Bush-Obama policies of bigger government and more intervention. Here’s a relevant passage from the Executive Summary. […]
read more...Rich People Should Help the Poor by…Making Smart Investments and Earning Big Profits
There’s a very provocative article on the New York Times website that criticizes Steve Jobs for his supposed lack of charitable giving. Surprisingly, there is one thing that Mr. Jobs is not, at least not yet: a prominent philanthropist. Despite accumulating an estimated $8.3 billion fortune through his holdings in Apple and a 7.4 percent stake […]
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Bacon, Duct Tape, and the Free Market
It’s hard to imagine how we would get through life without necessities like bacon and duct tape. But have you ever thought about how the free market gives you so much for so little? Here’s a video that should be mandatory viewing in Washington. Too bad politicians didn’t watch it before imposing government-run healthcare. And […]
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Why Are Some Countries Rich and Others Poor?
Here’s a new video, less than 2-1/2 minutes, pointing out some of the key differences between rich nations and poor nations. Not surprisingly, small government, free markets, and sound institutions are critical. I narrated a similar video, released more than two years ago, that makes similar points. The production values are not as high, but […]
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Even World Bank Research Shows Economic Liberty Is Better than Government Dependency
Regular readers know that I’m not a big fan of the international bureaucracies. I don’t like the International Monetary Fund because it encourages bad policy by bailing out nations such as Greece. I don’t like the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development because it promotes bigger government with its anti-tax competition campaign. And I don’t […]
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Crikey, Australia’s a Good Role Model
The Economist magazine has a couple of good articles about Australia’s increasingly enviable economic status. Here’s a blurb from the first article, which outlines the pro-market reforms that enabled today’s prosperity. Only a dozen economies are bigger, and only six nations are richer—of which Switzerland alone has even a third as many people. Australia is […]
read more...In One Chart, Everything You Wanted to Know about the Relationship Between Good Policy and Economic Prosperity
Okay, the title’s an exaggeration, but this chart is rather revealing. It shows how per-capita GDP has changed between 1980 and 2008 in Chile, Argentina, and Venezuela. As you can see, Chile used to be the poorest of the three countries and now it is comparatively rich. Argentina has enjoyed a bit of growth. Venezuela, […]
read more...There Should Be No Role for Government in the NFL Labor Fight
Having just done a blog post where I explained that government should stay neutral in fights between labor and management in the private sector, let’s look at a real-world example to understand why. The millionaire owners and millionaire players from the National Football League are locked in a labor dispute. This is somewhat understandable since […]
read more...CF&P Announces Winners of 2010 Free Market Video Contest
The Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation (CF&P) has selected the winners of its first annual free market video contest. The contest seeks to identify, encourage, and reward the “new media” policy entrepreneurs with the most compelling messages for liberty.
read more...Comparing Reaganomics and Obamanomics with Minneapolis Fed Data
Ronald Reagan would have been 100 years old on February 6, so let’s celebrate his life by comparing the success of his pro-market policies with the failure of Barack Obama’s policies (which are basically a continuation of George W. Bush’s policies, so this is not a partisan jab). The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has […]
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