Private Sector Truck Drivers Are Nepal’s Lifeline to Clean Water
February 16, 2020 – Doug French …… Government officials have repeatedly failed to deliver clean water to the people of Kathmandu. So the private sector stepped in to get the job done.
Common Sense Economics
Pope Francis Owes It to the Poor to Be More Informed about Markets
January 28, 2020 – Antony Davies, James R. Harrigan …… For the sake of the poor, it’s time for Pope Francis to get a better understanding of basic economics.
What the Survival of the Fittest Tropes Get Wrong — and Right
January 26, 2020 – Gary M. Galles …… The Darwinian imagery of the survival of the fittest people was emphasized not by capitalism’s proponents, who recognized its dramatically un-Darwinian results, but by capitalism’s opponents.
Entitlement Liabilities Are a Graver Threat to the Next Generation of Americans Than Climate Change
January 23, 2020 – John Phelan …… We are on the brink of inter-generational strife. We have the political shortsightedness of decades past to thank for that.
Henry Ford Did More for Workers than Unions Did
January 9, 2020 – Chris Calton …… In the early 20th century, Henry Ford’s factories had a hard time keeping workers because the work was monotonous. In a successful effort to retain workers, Ford doubled their pay, reduced their hours, and provided vacation time and other benefits that are now considered typical.
We Don’t Need Sunday “Blue Laws”
December 10, 2019 – Ryan McMaken …… The reason businesses open on Sunday is due to bottom-up pressure from consumers, not top-down conniving on the part of management. As much as some people would prefer otherwise, the fact is we live in a society where most people see no problem at all with going to the movies or shoe shopping on Sunday. Business owners merely respond by attempting to meet this demand.
Serving the Consumer: The Secret to Walt Disney’s Success
December 9, 2019 – Barry L. Linetsky …… Had consumers in 1938 been uninterested in a feature-length cartoon, Snow White would have bankrupted the Disney studio. Instead, Walt Disney was richly rewarded for his risk-taking.
The Driving Force of Free Markets Is Empathy, Not Greed
December 4, 2019 – Dr. Rainer Zitelmann …… Only the entrepreneur who prioritizes other people’s needs can be successful.
Intellectual Property as the New Guild System
November 28, 2019 – Frank Hollenbeck …… The standard justification for intellectual property — i.e., patents and copyrights and trademarks — is that the creative process would be significantly reduced if such protection did not exist. But did inventors or artists starve before IP laws? The answer is no because they benefited from the first-to-market advantage.
PG&E’s Failures Show the Dangers of Government-Imposed Utility Monopolies
November 12, 2019 – Robert P. Murphy …… The reason PG&E can get away with such outrageous mismanagement is that the California government literally guarantees them their business.