Value and Exchange

The way that government collects taxes is awful. The process of spending it is even worse.

Man is not evil merely because he wants to enjoy pleasure and avoid pain — other words, to live.

Thanks to government loans, the price of college has skyrocketed in recent years because student loans mean colleges can raise their prices without driving away otherwise-price-sensitive students. Only a fraction of the hefty price hikes go toward classroom instruction or core educational functions.

The Lou Church Memorial Lecture sponsored by the Lou Church Foundation.

The Ludwig von Mises Memorial Lecture sponsored by James Walker.

Subsidies, government quotas, and regulations of workers won't make us richer or better off. Only private owners and entrepreneurs can determine the best way to use labor (and capital). 

A successful economy depends on innovative entrepreneurs who are willing to take large risks in return for the chance at great profits.

Imposing restrictions on trade is not a mere academic exercise. It requires government agents, courts, prisons, police, and the whole panoply of the punitive, coercive state. To oppose free trade is to support more jails, fines, regulations, and more.

The US government owns immense amounts of dry land, but the US government also owns far larger amounts of ocean floor. Government ownership of such immense amounts of natural resources causes substantial distortions to prices and markets.

Recognizing they have little chance of changing the outcome, people often vote to send a message about themselves. But, whatever the motivation, voting contrasts sharply with market choices where people actually bear the costs of their own decisions.