Political Economy

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For wherever violence is used, and injury done, though by hands appointed to administer Justice, it is still violence and injury, however colour'd with the Name, Pretences, or Forms of Law, the end whereof being to protect and redress the innocent, by an unbiassed application of it, to all who are under it; wherever that is not bona fide done, War is made upon the Sufferers, who having no appeal on Earth to right them, they are left to the only remedy in such Cases, an appeal to Heaven.

John Locke, The Second Treatise of Civil Government, §20

At left:
the Liberty Tree Flag of 1775

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Editorial Essays

• Economics & Politics

  • Taken, 2009 [14.1K]

  • Koyaanisqatsi and the "Qatsi" Trilogy [28.1K]

  • The Age of Reagan, 1980-2008 [22.1K]

  • Anti-American Americans [19.0K]

  • Say's Law and Supply Side Economics [60.2K]

  • The Practical Rules of Bureaucracy [21.1K]

  • Essential Truths of Corporate Business [13.5K]

  • The Crooked Timber of Humanity [97.3K]

  • The State of Nature and Other Political Thought Experiments [54.2K]
    • The "Monopoly of Force" and Mala Prohibita

  • John Locke (1632-1704) [72.1K]

  • Smith's Law, Free Trade, and Free Immigration [42.3K]

  • "Justly Discredited," Trade, Moneylending, & Capital [26.9K]

  • The Paternal State, the Liberal State, and the Welfare State [28.3K]

  • Friedrich A. Hayek (1899-1992) [4.9K]
    • Exchange with Mark Notturo on Popper and Hayek [111.9K]

  • Rent-Seeking, Public Choice, and The Prisoner's Dilemma [43.8K]
    • Rent-Seeking
    • Public Choice Theory
    • The "Prisoner's Dilemma"
      • Positive, Negative and Zero Sum Games
      • John Nash

  • Capitalism, the Free Market, and the Duties of Property and Contract [64.2K]
    • The Astors
    • The Vanderbilts [107.9K]
    • The Rockefellers
    • The Hearsts
    • The Fords
    • The Hiltons [7.3K]
    • Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) [14.0K]
    • "Justly Discredited," Trade, Moneylending, & Capital [26.9K]

  • Creationism & Darwinism, Politics & Economics [26.3K]

  • Business, Government, & Freedom of Association [26.2]

  • The Marxist-Leninist Theory of History [96.5K]
    • The Essential Anti-Communist Bibliography [37.6K]
      • The Post-Modern Left

  • Islâmic Fascism and Satyagraha in Palestine [35.2]

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It is clear to me now that the
Republic no longer functions.

Queen Amidala [Star Wars, The Phantom Menace, 1999]

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• Politics

  • Machiavelli and the Moral Dilemma of Statecraft [36.3K]

  • Human Nature, Anarchy, and Capitalism [19.0K]

  • Positive & Negative Liberties in Three Dimensions [40.2K]
    • Liberties in Two Dimensions
      • The "Instant" Quiz
      • The Times of London Poll
      • The Rasmussen Poll
      • The Supreme Court
    • Liberties in Three Dimensions

  • Conservatism, History, and Progress [26.9K]

  • Violence, Non-Violence, and Progress in History [40.2K]

  • Rights, Responsibilities, and Communitarianism [21.8K]
    • The Bill of No Rights

  • In Praise of Apathy [10.4K]

  • The Great Republic: Presidents and States of the United States, and Comments on American History [172.6K]
    • Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
    • The Old Republic, 1789-1861
      • The Star-Spangled Banner [40.2K]
      • Governors of New Mexico [140.0K]
      • California [67.4K]
      • Sequoia
      • Sam Houston & Texas
        • Elisabet Ney
      • The Astors [64.2K]
      • The Vanderbilts [107.9K]
    • The Middle Republic, 1861-1933
      • I am a Union man [52.3K]
        • John Brown's Body and The Battle Hymn of the Republic [40.2K]
        • Marching Through Georgia [15.2K]
      • American Colonial Possessions
      • The Kings of Hawai'i [36.2K]
        • How to Pronounce "Hawai'i"
        • A Syllabary for Hawaiian
      • The Rockefellers [64.2K]
      • The Hearsts
      • The Fords
      • The Roosevelts & Delanos
    • The New Republic, 1933-2005?
      • Six Kinds of United States Paper Currency [48.7K]
        • American Dollars
          • Statistics on Inflation, 1946-1997
      • Alpine County and Equal Representation [26.2K]
      • The Hiltons [7.3K]
      • The Kennedies [60.7K]
      • The Bushes [67.4K]
    • The Next Republic, 2005?-?

  • Plato's Republic [35.6K]
    • Machiavelli's View of Government

  • Islâmic Fascism and Satyagraha in Palestine [33.1K]

• Law

  • A Modest Proposal: Separation of Lawyers and Politics [4.3K]

  • Two Logical Errors in Constitutional Jurisprudence [27.4K]

  • The Fiction and Tyranny of "Administrative Law" [15.6K]

  • The Corruption of Civil Rights and Civil Law [60.7K]
    • Note on Civil Society
    • Note on Alan Dershowitz
    • Varieties of Civil/Social Rights [26.2K]
      • Alpine County and Equal Representation

  • Jury Nullification and the Rule of Law [28.3K]
    • Judge Dread -- Note on Robert Bork
    • An Oath for Jurors [3.8K]
    • On the Powers and Duties of Juries [6.9K]

• Economics

  • Essential Truths of Corporate Business [13.5K]

  • Money, Value, and Monetary History [33.4K]
    • Statistics on Inflation, 1946-1997
    • A Simple Deflator
    • Money in Plato's Apology of Socrates
      • Discussion of Wages

  • Six Kinds of United States Paper Currency [48.7K]
    • American Dollars

  • British Coins before the Florin, Compared to French Coins of the Ancien Régime [57.1K]
    • The Bank of England
    • British Coinage of India, 1835-1947

  • Historical Statistics and Analysis on Employment, Poverty, Urbanization, etc., in the United States [30.7K]
    • Chart of Federal Budget Surpluses & Deficits, 1946-1998 [14.5K]

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The statesman who should attempt to direct people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals, would not only load himself with a most unnecessary attention, but assume an authority which could safely be trusted, not only to no single person, but to no council or senate whatever, and which would nowhere be so dangerous as in the hands of a man who had folly and presumption enough to fancy himself fit to exercise it.

Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, p. 423; quoted by Thomas Sowell in A Conflict of Visions, pp. 48-9.

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Reviews

• Taken, 2009 [14.1K]

• Koyaanisqatsi and the "Qatsi" Trilogy [28.1K]

• Michael Steinberg, The Fiction of a Thinkable World,
  Body, Meaning, and the Culture of Capitalism, Monthly Review Press, 2005 [16.4K]

• Harry Potter and the Empire of Evil -- the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling [12.6K]

• When I Was a Kid, This Was a Free Country, G. Gordon Liddy, Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2002 [20.1K]

• The Future and Its Enemies, The Growing Conflict over Creativity, Enterprise, and Progress, Virginia Postrel, Free Press, 1998 [65.5K]

• The Natural Law, a Study in Legal and Social History and Philosophy, Heinrich A. Rommen, Liberty Fund, Indianapolis, 1998 [20.4K]

• American Sphinx, The Character of Thomas Jefferson, Joseph J. Ellis, Alfred A. Knopf, 1997 [18.8K]

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A prince who is not wise himself cannot be wisely counseled...

Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince [Daniel Donno translation, Bantam, 1981, p. 82]

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Quotes

• On Politics and Government [35.4K]

• On the Powers and Duties of Juries [6.9K]

Humor

• Who Reads the Newspapers [2.3K]

• A Modest Proposal: The Restoration of Slavery [15.7K]

• A Modest Proposal: Second Class Citizenship

• A Short Guide to Comparative Government [4.8K]

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Minds are of three kinds: one is capable of thinking for itself; another is able to understand the thinking of others; and a third can neither think for itself nor understand the thinkings of others. The first is of the highest excellence, the second is excellent, and the third is worthless.

Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince [Daniel Donno translation, Bantam, 1981, p. 80]

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Letters

• A Letter to The UCLA Foundation, UCLA Fund [2.3K]

• Letter Replying to: "U.S. Workers and the Law," Rodger Doyle, "News Scan," Scientific American, August 2001, p.24; published December 2001 [3.9K]

• Reply to a column, Commentary: "U.S. Won't Let Japan Inc. Get Moving Again," Chalmers Johnson, Wednesday, in the Los Angeles Times, Wednesday, March 21, 2001 [2.0K]

• Reply to a column, Opinion, The State: "A Multiracial and Multilingual Progressivism Is Born in L.A.," Peter Dreier and Robert Gottlieb, in the Los Angeles Times, Sunday, March 11, 2001; published Thursday, March 15, 2001 [2.0K]

• An Open Letter to Judge George H. King, United States District Court, on the Death of Peter McWilliams [3.2K]

• Reply to "Rude Britannia," The Women's Quarterly, No. 20; published The Women's Quarterly, No. 23, Spring 2000, p.30 [3.2K]

• Reply to a story, "Judge Denies AIDS Patient's Request for Marijuana," Los Angeles Times, A18, Wednesday, March 10, 1999; published Tuesday, March 16, 1999 [2.1K]

• Reply to a story, "GOP Holds Fast Against Pressure to Slash Taxes," Janet Hook, Los Angeles Times, Monday, March 30, 1998 [3.4K]

• Reply to a column, "Asia Fights the Virus of the Capitalism Culture," by William Pfaff, in the Los Angeles Times, Monday, December 1, 1997 [3.6K]

• An Open Letter to David W. Tandy on Warriors into Traders, The Power of the Market in Early Greece, University of California Press, 1997 [5.6K]

• Defense of John Stuart Mill against Gertrude Himmelfarb published in The American Scholar

• Reply to a Review by Jedediah S. Purdy of The End of Work, by Jeremy Rifkin [G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1995], in the April 1995 Perspective, Harvard-Radcliffe's Liberal Monthly.

• Reply to a column, "A Warning From a Consummate Player," by Robert Kuttner, in the Los Angeles Times, Monday, January 27, 1997

• Reply to a column, "War-rocked Congo could be wealthy leader for Africa," Kevin Danaher, in the Los Angeles Daily News, Thursday, June 5, 1997; published Friday, June 6, 1997

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A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until a majority of voters discover that they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury.

Alexander Tytler (variously attributed)

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Contributed Essays

• Mysticism and the Idea of Freedom: A Libertarian View, by Neal Donner, Ph.D. [91.1K]

• Politics and the Ideals of Culture, by Tudor B. Munteanu [29.3K]

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Links

• Campaign Site, Kelley L. Ross, for United States Congress, 28th District, 2006

• The Millennial Files

• Professor Bryan Caplan, Department of Economics,
  George Mason University
  • The Museum of Communism

• Laissez Faire Books

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FME -- How does it work? Terry Anderson gives some real world examples for Denver radio program Independent Thinking. Watch Recycling PERC Sr. Fellow Dan Benjamin explains the myths of recycling. Listen FME -- Getting the Law Right Terry Anderson says incentives matter when relying on markets to produce environmental quality. Listen FME African Style PERC Media Fellow Wycliffe Muga reports from Kenya. Listen Midnight Regulations Terry Anderson discusses Bush's last minute environmental regulations on NPR. Listen The Tragedy of the Commons A lecture by PERC Sr. Fellow Bruce Yandle with implications for environmental regulation. Listen A closer look at Obama's spending policies The Hoover Institution just released online Reacting to the Spending Spree: Policy Changes We Can Afford which analyzes whether the Obama Administration can adequately deal with the overwhelming set of problems it faces, even though vast amounts of government money are being spent. Chapter 5: At What Price, Green? was contributed by PERC Executive Director Terry Anderson and Senior Fellow Gary Libecap. Read more To save the earth, think Thoreau Remember Thoreau's thoughts about government -- often more of a hindrance than a help -- according to PERC's Laura Huggins, writing in the Los Angeles Times. For environmental protection, she recommends an approach Thoreau would approve of, more entrepreneurial thinking and private investment. Read more Wealth will save the planet New York Times writer John Tierney cites research showing that over time, environmental quality improves as incomes rise. Slowing economic growth could also slow progress toward a cleaner environment. PERC Senior Fellow Bruce Yandle provided background for this article. Read more The illusion of 'green jobs' Is it possible to save the economy and the environnment at the same time? PERC Senior Fellow Andrew P. Morriss writes in the Baltimore Sun about how green jobs are being touted as the answer to many problems, perhaps too many. Read more Public land management is failing environmentally and economically In her new book , Who is Minding the Federal Estate?, PERC Research Associate Holly Lippke Fretwell traces the history of land management that has so devastated the public domain. She examines the problems and suggests major institutional changes to restore the environmental and economic health of America's public lands. Read more Creating marine assets to save ocean fisheries In this PERC Policy Series, Creating Marine Assets: Property Rights in Ocean Fisheries, Robert Deacon considers how economic incentives can prevent the destruction of sustainable stocks of marine life and reduce environmental damage. Read more Questions about government's proposed new cap and trade Terry Anderson describes Obama's proposed cap-and-trade programs as “market like,” not full-fledged free-market environmentalism. Read more Warming up to water markets Scarce water resources can best be managed with market-based institutions that are efficient, environmentally sound, and responsive to climate change. Read more International Fisheries Forum The World Bank and PERC are sponsoring a forum of distinguished academics and practitioners to address the policies and institutions necessary to establish sustainable fisheries and sustainable fishing economies on May 7-10 in Emigrant, MT. Read more American Indian Economies Strengthening property rights and the rule of law on Indian reservations will empower Indian economic well-being, writes Terry Anderson. Read more Economic development lessons for and from reservations The Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, January 2009, by Terry Anderson and Dominic Parker. Read more Stable rule of law on reservations Terry Anderson and Dominic Parker write in the Journal of Economics, November 2008, on state judicial jurisdiction vs. tribal. Read more Our public lands need better stewardship. Read PERC commentary at Forbes.com and add your thoughts to PERC Online.