The recent story in the New York Magazine, “Has the ‘Libertarian Moment’ Arrived?” by Robert Draper, has given rise to a great deal of speculation about whether we are poised for another great political transformation. Needless to say, the prospect of this “moment” fills the New York Times set with dread. The Times’ all-purpose scold […]
Read MoreTo stop mass killers, we should let people like off-duty police and security guards carry concealed weapons. The recent senseless killings in Isla Vista, California of six college students at the hands of an obviously troubled 22-year-old Elliot Rodger, who then killed himself before he could be apprehended by the police, has provoked another […]
Read MoreBoth progressives and conservatives fundamentally misunderstand our most important founding document. This coming week, Harvard University Press will publish my new book, The Classical Liberal Constitution: The Uncertain Quest for Limited Government. This 700-page volume took me over seven years to complete, and it offers a distinctive third approach to constitutional law that helps explain […]
Read MoreWhat we can all learn from the late Ronald Coase about protecting wetlands and wildlife. The recent death of Ronald Coase has given rise to an outpouring of praise about his contributions to the field of economics and his influence on the complex world of institutional politics. In my interactions with Coase, he was always cautious and diffident about […]
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FREE has the great good fortune to work with many of America’s most perceptive scholars. I find their insights most helpful when grappling with complex and important policy issues. Health care reform is a prime example. It’s remarkably complex and important to all. It also fosters opportunistic and dishonest behavior. Disentangling and understanding Obamacare is […]
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On the differences between Social Darwinism and laissez-faire economics. President Obama’s recent speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors signaled the opening of a political gambit in the upcoming presidential election. In dealing with the proposed budget of Representative Paul Ryan, the president sought to discredit nineteenth-century laissez-faire economics by linking that movement to […]
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