Written by Jeffrey N. Herbener for Mises.org. The wellspring of all economic theory is the reality of the human condition. As a finite being, man makes a distinction between ends and means. He cannot attain his ends by an act of will alone, but must apply means to attain his ends. Man lives in an…
Tag: markets
The Virtues of Competition
Differing attitudes about market competition divide people needlessly. An appreciation of what competition makes possible could prepare the ground for a convergence between libertarians and those we might call latent libertarians, that is, those who value individual liberty but don’t yet see the market as its natural home.
Trust Government, Not the Free Market
Guest post by Richard J. Maybury. Originally published in The Voluntaryist, June 1988. All this talk about liberty is exciting, but let’s get serious for a moment. The evidence shows clearly that liberty does not work. Many things are too important to be left to the whims of the free market. Imagine the chaos if…
The Magic of Free Trade
Guest post by Arthur E. Foulkes. The fifth graders looked up as I placed a gift on each of their desks. Each student randomly received a small item, such as candy, a box of crayons, a magic trick, or a comic book. After giving each child a gift, I told the students they could each…
Karen De Coster
“Toward Freedom” is an Everything-Voluntary.com series sharing personal stories about the journey toward freedom. Archived stories can be found here. Submit your story to the editor. Originally published in I Chose Liberty: Autobiographies of Contemporary Libertarians. Typically, when I say I’m a praxeological austro-paleolibertarian, Rothbardian anarchocapitalist extremist, Hoppean propertarian, and politically incorrect canonist, people say…
Can a Free Market in Healthcare Work?
Guest post by John C. Goodman. From time to time, I hear policy wonks claim that the market cannot work in healthcare. Usually, they cite a very old article by Stanford University economist Kenneth Arrow, who claimed that the market for medical care is inherently imperfect. True, but most markets are imperfect. The question is:…
The Fundamentals of Nonvoting
Our rulers know they are illegitimate. Voluntaryists know they are illegitimate for a myriad of other reasons, but what I wanted to examine here is the voluntaryist’s position to abstain from electoral politics. The following arguments are the fundamentals of the nonvoting position.
Free-Market Healthcare Solutions Are Already in Place
Guest post by Riley Risto. How many health care professionals would trade a small portion of their incomes or leisure time for the satisfaction of joyfully practicing their craft without worrying about malpractice lawsuits or insurance collection? Apparently enough of them to staff at least 1,200 clinics throughout the USA. The DVC has a part-time,…
Spankings, Surplus Crops, and Infant Schooling
Send him mail. “One Voluntaryist’s Perspective” is an original weekly column appearing every Monday at Everything-Voluntary.com, by the founder and editor Skyler J. Collins. Archived columns can be found here. OVP-only RSS feed available here. As mentioned in the inaugural edition of this column, I will give my voluntaryist perspective on “two or three” popular…
Markets Make Us Smarter and Better
Guest post by Isaac Morehouse. Airlines are loaded with passengers who surf the Internet while soaring through the air, chatting in real-time to anyone else on the globe, posting in social media, shopping, and downloading and reading books on a wide variety of readers. Such a scene would have astonished a person living 50 years…