Monthly Archives: September 2008

The Importance of Individualism Tibor R. Machan Over the last several weeks I have run across numerous efforts bydifferent political thinkers and activists to discredit individualism. Some have argued that the idea of the individual is a myth created for … Continue reading →

Zakaria: Cheerleader of Regulation Tibor R. Machan Over a decade ago I read an essay in The New Republic on the topic ofbusiness ethics written by the then Harvard graduate student FareedZakaria. It was insightful and lacked the standard ingredient … Continue reading →

Bush’s Confusion Tibor R. Machan It is generous to call it that. More likely President George W. Bush wasprevaricating, not confused, when he stated, looking straight out at theaudience listening to is speech about the current financial disaster, “Themarket is … Continue reading →

The Regulation TrapTibor R. MachanMercantilism, socialism, and fascism have pretty much been discredited aseconomic systems by Adam Smith, Ludwig von Mises, F. A. Hayek, and actualeconomic history. One could have learned from the lessons that governmenteconomic regulation was no less … Continue reading →

Are Air Fares Too High?Tibor R. MachanIn genuinely free markets prices reflect the overall intersection betweensupply and demand, so there are no prices that are too high or too low.Such notions express personal expectations and nothing objectively true.An exorbitant price … Continue reading →

It’s Always Freedom’s Fault Tibor R. Machan In the middle of the financial scares I went to a little college in NewHampshire to debate whether politics ought to be about moral virtue ofindividual liberty. I took the position that even … Continue reading →

Welfare State FolliesTibor R. MachanBy all historical accounts the fully free society has never been tried, soarguing about it will always be to a large extent theoretical. But thannearly all of contemporary astrophysics is theoretical, as it much ofpsychology and … Continue reading →

Rejoicing at Liberty’s Delights Tibor R. Machan When I was a kid living in Budapest, Hungary, massive censorship was justbeginning to descend on the country, in the wake of the takeover by theSoviet communists in 1948. Afterwards virtually all interesting … Continue reading →

Another Problem with Welfare RightsTibor R. MachanA welfare or positive right, so called, is something that can only beprotected by coercing others to provide it. Consider the right to healthcare. This supposed right can only be honored by making health … Continue reading →

Bad v. Good Pitch to VotesTibor R. MachanDo voters actually believe it when candidates promise them health,happiness, vacations, clean air, and all those other goodies while alsodemanding that they stop being selfish, stop joining special interestgroups and dedicate themselves only … Continue reading →