Free Markets

The Best Possible World and Concrete Living

I found Matthew Summers' critique of my essay "Capitalism and the Gospel of Love" illuminating in the sense that two serious thinkers can look at the same phenomenon from completely different viewpoints. He seeks to show that...

In Defense of Capitalism

The term capitalism has long been used by critics as a catch-all to denote a system replete with greed, indulgence, excess, and deprivation. It is easy to misinterpret self-interest as selfishness and write off capitalism and economics. But the truth of the matter is much more complicated...

All Work & No Play: How Schools Are Crushing Our Kids

We’re filling up so much of kids’ time with extracurriculars and studying that they don’t have time to play—and without play, it’s harder to develop the self-starter instincts and resilience of an entrepreneur... This election...

How the Myth of the ‘Robber Barons’ Began––and Why It Persists

Capitalism Worked, But We Were Told It Didn't We study history to learn from it. If we can discover what worked and what didn’t work, we can use this knowledge wisely to create...

Economists Must Answer for More than Just Economics

Romanticizing and moralistic contempt of the economy, including contempt of the impulses which move the market economy and the institutions which support it, must be as far from our minds as economism, materialism, and utilitarianism... Editor's Note: The following excerpt comes from Wilhelm Röpke's excellent book, 

Capitalism and the Gospel of Love

In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith was absolutely right: The widespread division of labor would cause the interior life to die; an unsurprising result, for under capitalism, the human person became a commodity, a resource, a thing used to further profits…

Distributism vs. Free Market Globalism

The whole notion of a global problem requiring a global solution is rooted in a false logic. Effectively it is saying that because bigness causes problems we need even more bigness to solve them. Distributism as a derivative of the principle of subsidiarity offers the only real...

Small Beer: Raising a Glass for Freedom

Distributism is the only practical solution to the problem of rampant corporatism and the globalism which is its inevitable consequence. Next time we raise a glass of craft-brewed ale, we should not merely enjoy its flavor, we should also raise a toast to the political and economic...

Thomas Jefferson in His Own Words

Editor's Note: We invite you to join Thomas Jefferson (portrayed by Bill Barker) as he explores the remarkable history of the early American Republic and the principles that undergird it. From Jamestown to Plymouth, from the American Revolution to the Louisiana Purchase, the promise of free enterprise...

A Disaster Has No Benefits

Destruction is always a net negative. Whether it’s a hurricane, tornado or earthquake or even a war, there is no silver lining in destroying capital... As Hurricane Harvey, now tropical storm Harvey, makes its way across the...

Where Have All the Apples Gone?

In their drive to provide abundance, mass markets suppress variety. Far from enriching a culture, mass markets can impoverish it... One of the benefits of modern mass markets is supposed to be the proliferation of choices. The...

Remembering The Road to Serfdom

Friedrich Hayek believed that the very institutions of liberalism and republicanism, when misused, can foster the totalitarianism of democracy... The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek (University of Chicago Press, 1944) Professor...

The Counsel of Despair? Albert J. Nock on Self-Government

In Zen Buddhism, the lineage of student to master is extremely important—it is the channel through which the Dharma is transmitted. There is a story of a Zen Master traveling at night over a bridge known...

Egalitarianism, American-Style

Russell Kirk posed as one of the “canons” of conservatism the existence of orders in society. Critics have responded for decades that such a view shows that traditional conservatives are by nature aristocratic in their orientation, that they...