Lynne Kiesling While I’m delving into history, consider this week’s revelation that a secret panel drawn from the White House National Security Council can put the names of any American on a watch list and “kill list” — and that action is entirely secret. American militants like Anwar al-Awlaki are placed on a kill or …
A Disturbing Historical Parallel: The Patriot Act and the Star Chamber Read More »
Lynne Kiesling UPDATE: I’ve had a report that the link to the slides is not working, but I can’t get it not to work … so if you are having trouble please let me know in the comments and I’ll go bug-stomping. UPDATED UPDATE: mischief managed, I think! On Saturday I was honored to be …
Students for Liberty Talk: Economics and Complexity Read More »
Michael Giberson Perhaps you’ve seen the video of Elizabeth Warren, hoping to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts, in which she declaims that since roads and police and fire protection are funded through taxes, people have no real claim to their income or wealth against a government that wants to take it. After …
On the Obligations of Income-Earners and Property-Owners to Pay Taxes Read More »
Lynne Kiesling Last week the new Economic Freedom of the World report was released, and it’s pretty sobering. The Fraser Institute and a large international coalition of think tanks collaborate to publish this annual report, and the research papers written over the past 20 years using the EFW data indicate the positive role that economic …
New Economic Freedom of the World Report, and Some Suggestive Connections Read More »
Lynne Kiesling In previous posts on the TSA and security here, here, here, and here, I’ve argued emphatically for taking a relative risk assessment approach to our security and surveillance policies and spending. Courtesy of Meg McLain, here’s a vivid graphic representing why that’s a good idea, and why we should not be spending so …
Lynne Kiesling This week we have many introspective analyses of the consequences of an evil act perpetrated 10 years ago. Those consequences are a mix of good and bad, ranging from no successful coordinated attacks in the U.S. to foreign wars with gruesome human and financial costs. The consequences in which I am most interested, …
Lynne Kiesling Pace Don Boudreaux for my shamelessly copying his “quote of the day” meme … my quote of the day is this striking one from Hayek’s essay “Principles or Expediency” (1971): From the insight that the benefits of civilization rest on the use of more knowledge than can be used in any deliberately concerted …
Quote of the Day: Hayek on Expediency and Freedom Read More »
Lynne Kiesling The Independence Day holiday is a good day to reflect on the values and principles that animated the American Revolution and the origins of the United States. Given the continuing erosion of our civil liberties, including economic liberties, this year that reflection is more important than ever; as I’ve done before I’ll invoke …
Michael Giberson Steve Horwitz argues that Classical Liberals have become so focused on the size and reach of government that they have lost touch with another important Classical Liberal project: promoting equality before the law. Part of the problem today is that an increasing number of libertarians lean toward the anarchist position. When one’s whole …
Lynne Kiesling On a subject too important to overlook … today Steve Horwitz wrote a short, clear argument providing evidence that we are indeed living in a police state. As evidence he offers 3 related phenomena: The immoral, ineffective, and financially irresponsible security theater we endure in the form of the Transportation Security Administration (as …
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