Sandy Ikeda is a professor of economics at Purchase College, SUNY and the author of The Dynamics of the Mixed Economy: Toward a Theory of Interventionism. He is a regular contributor to The Freeman.
B. K. Marcus is managing editor of The Freeman, the magazine of the Foundation for Economic Education.
Wendy R. McElroy is a contributing editor of the Foundation for Economic Education’s magazine, The Freeman, editor of ifeminists.com, and Research Fellow at The Independent Institute.
Edmund A. Opitz authored Religion and Capitalism: Allies, Not Enemies and other works. The Reverend Opitz served on the senior staff of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) for many years.
Paul L. Poirot was a long-time editor of The Freeman, the magazine of the Foundation for Economic Education.
Sheldon Richman was editor of The Freeman, the Foundation for Economic Education’s magazine, for 15 years.
Ron Robinson is president of Young America’s Foundation. USA Today notes that Robinson “has been involved in conservative campus issues for three decades.” Time magazine wrote that Young America’s “[F]oundation—run by former Reagan Administration advisor, Ron Robinson—is now the nation’s largest advocacy group devoted to student politics.” Time referred to Robinson as one of the “seasoned generals of the right” who is leading the “diverse and well funded” generation of conservatives who are “winning battles on campus.” He is also the co-author with Nicole Hoplin of Founding Fathers: The Unsung Heroes of the Conservative Movement.
Hans F. Sennholz was chairman of the department of economics at Grove City College in Pennsylvania from 1956 to 1992. A noted economist and teacher of the Austrian school, he earned his Ph.D. under the tutelage of Ludwig von Mises. He was president of the Foundation for Economic Education from 1992 to 1997.
Tyler Watts is an Assistant Professor of Economics at East Texas Baptist University. His research has appeared in the Independent Review, the Review of Austrian Economics, and the Journal of Private Enterprise.
Walter Williams is a prominent commentator and has served on the faculty of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia as John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics since 1980. He is the author of more than 150 scholarly journal articles.
SUGGESTED READING LIST
THOSE WHO HAVE ENJOYED THE CONTENT IN THIS BOOK SHOULD EXPLORE THE following titles to delve further into the topics covered herein. Additionally, you can discover other interesting content at the websites of the Foundation for Economic Education and Young America’s Foundation found respectively at www.FEE.org and www.yaf.org.
Titles in the Suggested Reading List followed by an asterisk are available for no charge at www.FEE.org.
PHILOSOPHY & POLITICAL THEORY
A Conflict of Visions by Thomas Sowell
Anarchy, State, and Utopia by Robert Nozick
The Discovery of Freedom by Rose Wilder Lane
Funding Fathers by Nicole Hoplin and Ron Robinson
In Defense of Freedom by Frank S. Meyer
The Law by Frédéric Bastiat*
Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg
The Libertarian Mind by David Boaz
On Liberty by John Stuart Mill
The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley
Restoring the Lost Constitution by Randy Barnett
Upstream: The Ascendance of American Conservatism by Al Regnery
CULTURE
Are We Good Enough for Liberty? by Lawrence W. Reed*
Bourgeois Dignity by Deirdre N. McCloskey
God and Man at Yale by William F. Buckley
The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture by Paul Cantor
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
The Rise and Fall of Society by Frank Chodorov
The Theme is Freedom by M. Stanton Evans
The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith
The Virtue of Prosperity by Dinesh D’Souza
ECONOMICS
Anything That’s Peaceful by Leonard E. Read*
Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell
Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman
Economics In One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt*
The Government Against the Economy by George Reisman
I, Pencil by Leonard E. Read*
Individualism and Economic Order by F.A. Hayek
Liberalism by Ludwig von Mises
Liberty vs. the Tyranny of Socialism: Controversial Essays by Walter Williams
The Price of Everything by Russell Roberts
The Use of Knowledge in Society by F.A. Hayek*
HISTORY (U.S.)
Conceived in Liberty by Murray Rothbard
Constitution of the United States
Crisis and Leviathan by Robert Higgs
Declaration of Independence
The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton
Great Myths of the Great Depression by Lawrence W. Reed*
New Deal or Raw Deal by Burt Folsom
HISTORY (WORLD)
A Republic—If We Can Keep It by Lawrence W. Reed and Burton W. Folsom*
Greatness: Reagan, Churchill and the Making of Extraordinary Leaders by Steven Hayward
Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism by Joshua Muravchik
The History of Liberty by Lord Acton
The President, The Pope, and The Prime Minister by John O’Sullivan
Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke
The Triumph of Liberty by Jim Powell
We also recommend Regnery Publishing’s Politically Incorrect Guide® book series, which offers readers further insight into a number of topics including the Founding Fathers, the environment, the Constitution, the Bible, the Civil War and more.
INDEX
A
Affluent Society, The, 109
Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA), 158, 159
Aiyar, Swaminathan, 267
American Bankers Association, 85
American Dictionary of the English Language, 88
American Dream, 251
American Enterprise Institute, 89
American Federation of Labor, 233
American Leadership Tradition, The, 112
American Sugar Refining Company, 53
America’s Great Depression, 154–155
Anderson, Maxwell, 48
Andrews, Samuel, 206
antitrust law, 53–54, 55, 203–213
Antitrust Religion, The, 54
Antz (film), 130
Apple, 243
Archbold, John D., 206
Argentina, 171
Armentano, D. T., 54, 206
Art of War, The, 276
arts, subsidized by government, 163–167
Atlee, Clement, 259
ATMs, 240
B
Bain Capital, 175
Baker, Dean, 243
Banque de Luxumbourg News, 240
Baran, Paul A., 253
Barbarians Inside the Gates and other Controversial Essays, 22
barriers to entry, 84, 86
Barron’s, 1, 86
Baruch, Bernard, 155
Bastiat, Frédéric, xiii, 127
BBC, 264
Bentley, Wilson Alwyn, 77–78
Berkshire Hathaway, 228–230, 231
Berlin, Isaiah, 80
big business, 83–86
Bill of Rights, 36
Black Death, 262, 263
black market, 11, 269, 270
Black Thursday, 155, 161
Bloomberg, Michael “Nanny,” 120
Bodleian Library, 117
Bodley, Sir Thomas, 117
Boeing, 84
Böhm-Bawerk, Eugen von, 243
Bolivia, 172
Boudreaux, Donald, 3
Bradford, William, 234
Bradley, Anne, 78
British Colonial Administrative Service, 259
British Library, 115
broken-window f
allacy, 125–128
Brooks, Arthur, 89
Brudenell family, 116
Bryant, Kobe, 18
Buffett, Warren, 18, 227–231
Bureau of Labor Statistics, 193
bureaucracy, 72–73, 74
Bureaucracy, 74
C
Calhoun, John C., 265
Canada
forests in, 7
healthcare in, 58–59, 60
capitalism
child labor and, 93–95, 137–141
crony, 1–2, 63, 85, 242–243
greed and, 21–24
in Hong Kong, 258
Industrial Revolution and, 137–141
sweatshops and, 93–95
Carney, Tim, 85
Carter, Jimmy, 169
Cassiodorus, 116
Castro, Fidel, 17–18, 93
Castro, Raul, 17–18
Cato, 116
CCC, 182
Center for Economic Policy Research, 243
central planning, 29–33, 147–151, 257–260
Cerf, Vint, 242
Chamber of Commerce, 85
charity, 45–46, 99, 234
distress relief and, 111–114
healthcare and, 57
historical preservation and, 115–118
Chavez, Cesar, 93
Chesterton, G. K., 29
child labor, 93–95, 137–141
China, 17, 18, 252, 257
Christ’s College at Cambridge, 259
Cicero, 116
Civil War, 153, 172
Civil Works Administration, 159
Cleveland, Grover, 111, 112
Clichés of Politics, xii, 42, 74
Clichés of Socialism, xii, xiii, 14, 27, 49, 109, 113, 145
CNN, 115
cnsnews.com, 277
coercive monopoly, 52–53, 204, 213, 242–243
Cole, Harold L., 147–148
collectivism, 77, 79–80
Commerce Department, 104
Common Sense of Political Economy, The, 99
Commons, 6–7
Tragedy of, 7–8
Communist Manifesto, The, 264
compassion, 87–91
competition
cooperation versus, 51–55
“perfect,” 62
restricted by government regulation, 83–85, 129–136
computerization, 239–244
Comte, Charles, 265
Confucius, 117
cooperation, competition versus, 51–55
Cowperthwaite, Sir John James, 258–259, 260
crapitalism, 1–2, 86
crony capitalism, 1–2, 63, 85, 242–243
Crumpacker, E. D., 131–132
Cuba, 17–18, 164
D
Dante, 117
Declaration of Independence, 40
Democratic Republic of Congo, 252
Department of Agriculture, 132
Department of Energy, 83
Department of Health and Human Services, 89
Department of Justice, 53
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), 274
DiLorenzo, Thomas, 148
discrimination, 245–249
Divine Comedy, The, 117
Dixon, Larry, 246
Don Quixote, 117
Dragon’s Teeth, 134
Drake, Edwin, 204
DreamWorks, 80
Dunoyer, Charles, 265
duty, created by right, 40, 41–42, 57
Dwolla, 84
E
E. C. Knight Company, 53
East Germany, 252
economic equality, 9–12
failed legislation and, 10–11
Economic Freedom of the World Index, 258
Economics in One Lesson, xiii, 127
economy
broken-window fallacy and, 125–128
central planning and, 29–33, 147–151, 257–260
complexity of, 13–15
inflation and, 169–173
minimum wage and, 185–190, 197
outsourcing and, 175–179
without competition, 55
education, 221–225, 248
efficiency monopoly, 53, 204, 206, 211, 242
Ehrlich, Paul, 253
Einstein, Albert, 79
elasticity of demand, 54
Eliot, Charles W., 212–213
England, 253. See also Great Britain
Black Death in, 262, 263
Robin Hood story and, 261–266
English Peasants’ Revolt, 263–265
entrepreneur
economic, 1–2, 73, 74
education and, 223–224, 225
political, 1–2, 74
envy, 3, 18, 30
EPIC (“End Poverty in California”), 134–135
Epstein, Gene, 1, 86
Export-Import Bank, 83, 84
F
Facebook, 85
Factory Commission, 140
Fannie Mae, 23
farm bills, 84
Federal Emergency Relief Administration, 159
Federal Reserve, 23, 148, 154–155, 161, 171
FEE.org, 127, 135, 148, 161, 193, 213, 220
First Amendment, 41
Flagler, Henry M., 206
Flatten, Mark, 274
Flivver King, The, 133
Folsom, Burton, 147, 182
For the Least of These: A Biblical Answer to Poverty, 90
Forbes, 194, 230, 242
Fordney-McCumber Tariff of 1922, 156
Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), xii, xiii, 14, 42, 46, 49, 74, 91, 97, 113, 123, 127, 135, 147, 165, 178, 184, 189, 213, 248, 254, 259, 266, 271
Fraser Institute, 58, 258
Freddie Mac, 23
free market, 25–27
barriers to entry and, 84, 86
competition in, 52, 54–55
in healthcare, 59
labor unions and, 143–145, 160
market arrangements in, 97–101
outsourcing and, 175–179
profit and loss in, 62, 233–237
public education and, 221–225
robots and computerization in, 239–244
“using” people in, 97–101
wealth created in, 90, 91
working women in, 191–195
freedom, security and, 47–49
Freeman, The, xii, xiii, 46, 69, 95, 106, 123, 135, 178, 184, 189, 213, 244, 248, 254, 259, 266, 271
Friedman, Milton, 5, 18, 258, 259
Friedman, Thomas, 251–252
G
Galbraith, John Kenneth, 109
Garner, John Nance, 149, 156
Gates, Bill, 3, 18
General Motors, 183
George Mason University, 23
Germany, 17, 182, 236
Gompers, Samuel, 233
good intentions, 273–277
Google, 85, 243
Goose-Step, The: A Study of American Education, 134
Gore, Al, 251
Goslings, The: A Study of the American Schools, 134
government
appointment of “czar” and, 73
arts subsidized by, 163–167
balance of trade deficit and, 103–106
big, 83–86
bureaucracy and, 72–73, 74
central planning and, 29–33, 147–151, 257–260
coercive monopoly created by, 52–53, 204, 213, 242–243
compassion and, 87–91
control by, 13–15
corruption in, 23–24
distress relief and, 111–114, 159
expansion of, 71–72
farm bills and, 84
“greedy,” 23–24
historical preservation and, 115–118
inflation and, 169–173
interference by, freedom from, 36
labor law intervention and, 93–95
land controlled by, 63
ownership by, 66–67
privatization and, 72
proper functions of, 71
public education and, 221–225, 248
“putting right person in charge of,” 71–75
redistribution and, 2, 9, 18, 20, 45, 65, 90, 121, 127, 200, 201
regulation by. See government regulation
resources managed by, 5–8
spending by, economic stimulation and, 125–128
“throwing the rascals out” of, 71, 74
“welfare reform” and, 88
government policy, greed and, 21–24
government regulation
competition restricted by, 83–85
of meat-packing industry, 85, 129–136
for people’s own good, 119–123
Great Britain, 257. See also England
Industrial Revolution and, 137–141, 258
Great Chain of Being, doctrine of, 263
Great Depression, 88, 135, 147–151, 153–162, 181–184
appropriately viewed as four consecutive depressions, 154
end of, 184
Hoover administration took a recession and created, 155–157, 158, 161
Roosevelt administration errors greatly extended, 147–151, 157–162
taxes increased during, 149, 151, 157, 158, 160, 161, 162, 183
unemployment during, 148, 155, 159, 181, 182–183, 184, 242
Great Recession of 2008, 23, 242
Great Society, 88, 198
Greaves, Percy, 169
greed, 21–24, 218
H
Hammond, J. L. and Barbara, 137, 138
Harkness, Stephen V., 206
Harvard University, 212, 253
Civil Rights Project of, 247
Hayek, Friedrich A., xiii, 31, 32, 33, 100
Hazlitt, Henry, xiii, 127
Health Savings Accounts, 59
healthcare, 57–60, 274
Hell Bent for Election, 148
Heritage Foundation, 257, 258
Hessen, Robert, 139
Heyne, Paul, 97, 100
Higgs, Robert, 160
Hirohito (emperor of Japan), 182
historical preservation, 115–118
History of Britain, A, 263–264
Hitler, Adolf, 17, 171, 182
Holbrook, Stewart H., 131
Hong Kong, 252, 253
as freest economy in world, 257–260
Hoover, Herbert, 149, 151, 153
recession turned into Great Depression by administration of, 155–157, 158, 161
Horwitz, Steven, 6, 193–194
House Agriculture Committee, 131, 133
human right(s), 35–37, 40
fundamental, 41
I
“I, Pencil,” 32, 90, 99