A Faith-Based Budget for the State?
As expected, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget resolution (H. CON. RES. 112), which he called “The Path to …
Tag: economics
Humane Values and the Free Economy
By Edmund Opitz, author of The Libertarian Theology of Freedom and Religion and Capitalism: Allies, Not Enemies. This article originally …
Religion as a Firm
Any time individuals wish to exchange with one another there are transaction costs. The cost of travelling to the location …
News of the Week
Recapping the interesting and significant news of this past week. From the nanny-state department… The Feds have now mandated that …
News of the Week: The Great Gibson Guitar Raid
Recapping the interesting and significant news of this past week. Last week I mentioned that I would be defending my …
The Story of Broke Response
Art Carden is a Christian economist who has a knack for bringing complex subjects down to understandable terms. While he …
The Vatican’s Confused Statement on the Marketplace
This past monday, the Vatican’s Justice and Peace Department issued a statement condemning “idolatry of the market” and calling for …
Trade is Made of Win
Have you heard of LearnLiberty.org? If not, you should check it out. It’s a great resource of video content for, …
Don’t be duped by this dope, errr, Pope.
According to Pope Benedict, “The economy cannot be measured by the maximum profit but by the common good.” I’m still …
Why Religious People Struggle with Economics
By Jeffrey Tucker, originally posted at Mises.org on March 30, 2011. For years I’ve puzzled over the question of why …
The Bleeding Heart Conversation
I couldn’t be more excited about the conversation going on at the Bleeding Heart Libertarians blog. The BHL blog is an …
News of the Week: Austrian Scholars Conference 2011
Recapping and highlighting the interesting news this week. I have been in Auburn, Alabama this week attending the Austrian Scholars …
The Robber Barons and the Real Gilded Age
By Edmund Opitz, author of The Libertarian Theology of Freedom and Religion and Capitalism: Allies, Not Enemies. The Civil War …
The War on Poverty Revisited
By Edmund Opitz, originally published in the February 1986 edition of The Freeman. —- Capitalism, by conquering poverty, creates the …
Jim Wallis Hates Tax Cuts
My friend Doug Stuart sent me Jim Wallis’s response to the renewed tax cuts: The quote that drove me nuts: …
News of the Week: October 31 – November 6
Recapping interesting things in the news and on the net in the past week. Unfortunately, I missed posting this on …
Biblical Roots of American Liberty
Originally by Edmund Opitz in the July 1991 (41) edition of The Freeman. —- The First Amendment to the Constitution …
New Copyright Rules Released
Intellectual property, especially copyright and patents, is purely fictitious, a construction of the State. Stephan Kinsella has definitively proved such …
Social Slavery
The current Social Security (aka “socialist insecurity”) system is designed as a pay-as-you-go system, in which current workers’ tax dollars pay for the benefits of retirees. And the system is in serious trouble. With increased life expectancy and a declining birth rate, there are fewer workers to support a greater number of retirees. In 1950, there were 16 workers paying for the benefits of one retiree. Today, there are about three workers per retiree, and by 2025 there will only be two. According to the Social Security Administration itself, if unreformed, Social Security will begin running a deficit by 2017, and by 2060 Social Security and Medicare combined will make up 71 percent of the federal budget.
What is the point of private property if you cannot use it?
An interesting example of confusion about private property came up this past week. I formerly lived in St. Louis, and …
ObamaCare finishes what LBJ started
Yesterday evening, the illustrious U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 4872, the Health Care & Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of …
Communism Kills
Communism is the vision of an egalitarian society with common ownership of property. Karl Marx, the father of communism, stated that the prevailing capitalist environment is responsible for class struggle and inequality among people. He believed that people’s lives are determined by their economic environment and in order to achieve the communist utopia, that environment has to be changed. For this change to occur, the working class (proletariat) must overthrow the existing regime, dismantle all capitalist institutions, and eliminate the possibility of a counterrevolution by the merchant class (bourgeoisie).
Mises Circle Houston Recap
I’ve been reticent to post a recap of Mises Circle Houston because I didn’t have any photos of the event until yesterday. But now, everything is here and I’m happy to tell you a little about it.
“Panderer to Power: The True Story of Alan Greenspan” Book Review
Book Review of Panderer to Power, by Frederick Sheehan. McGraw-Hill: New York, 2010. Retail: $29.95 For the bulk of my …
How Libertarian Are You?
My friend Wes at The Humble Libertarian put together a neat list of quizzes that you can take on the …
Defending Freedom and the Free Society
By Edmund Opitz. Countless generations of men have lived in unfree societies, but many men dreamed of freedom and hoped …
Why the Free Market Rocks, Reason #497…
I came across a great video yesterday and was just blown away, for multiple reasons… First, I love soda. Well, …
Book Review: Leviathan at War edited by Edmund A. Opitz
Perhaps the most valid justification of government is its defense of citizens against foreign aggressors. But when governments wage war, a thin line separates defense and offense. And even in a defensive war, governments typically deprive their own citizens of many liberties. Historically, war has done more than anything else to enhance the power of governments and to diminish the liberties of the people. Classical liberals have always recognized the dangers of war and supported policies, such as free international trade, that reduce the likelihood of war.
A Tribute to Edmund A. Opitz
Mr. Robert Sirico, President of the Acton Institute, made these remarks on the occasion of the retirement dinner of Mr. …
Ed Opitz, RIP
Edmund Opitz [OWEpitz] was for 37 years one of the senior staff members at the Foundation for Economic Education. He died on February 13, four days before his colleague at FEE, Paul Poirot, also died. Opitz was 92. Poirot was 90. Opitz was FEE’s resident theologian. He was an ordained Congregational minister. Earlier, he had been a Unitarian minister, but as he grew older, he grew more conservative.