Adam Smith described an “invisible hand” that, in a free market economy, fosters growth based on competition, supply and demand, and private decision-making. But the economy produces winners and losers, and given the latest jobs report — indicating unemployment surged to 9.2 percent last month — the U.S. needs more winners: companies making smart investment decisions, producing things more people want, and providing more jobs for American employees. (more)
Today marks the anniversary of the publication of Adam Smith’s most famous work, The Wealth of Nations, which was published on March 9, 1776. It’s one of my favorite books. (more)
The U.S. House of Representatives voted to censure U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) for ethics violations today ranging from failure to disclose his finances to failure to pay taxes. Getting censured is just one step shy of getting expelled from Congress. Only 22 members—including two members who were censured in 1983 for improper, um, contact with congressional pages—have been censured before. (more)
Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) eulogizes the career of Rep. Ike Skelton(D-MO) on December 2, 2010. (more)
Vice President Joe Biden recently said that, “Every single great idea that has marked the 21st century, the 20th century, and the 19th century has required government vision and government incentive.” To Biden, progress doesn’t just happen. It has to be systematically ordered, top down. Call it the intelligent design theory of economics. Biden is a classic example of the “man of system,” as Adam Smith explains in his Theory of Moral Sentiments: (more)
“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.” — Adam Smith (more)
The latest offering from conservative humorist P.J. O’Rourke, Don’t Vote — It Just Encourages the Bastards, is a real page turner. You may find yourself staying up way past your bedtime because you just can’t put it down. (more)
One of the most inexcusable things about America’s ongoing economic decline by means of free trade is how clear the historical portents are. For example, we are today treading the same path trodden by a nation that Americans know reasonably well: Great Britain. It is easy to forget that until about 1850 Britain, not the U.S., was the world’s leading economic power. But then, of course, they blew it. Though there were many causes of Britain’s decline, free trade was undeniably a major one. (more)
“Go on a 4-year recess!” many people are telling Congress right about now. (more)
Since assuming office, President Obama has garnered his fair share of high-profile critics. But few have been as omnipresent and implacable as John Bolton. From his near constant appearances on Fox News and HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” to his steady stream of op-eds in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Daily News, the 61-year-old former Ambassador to the United Nations and Under Secretary of State for Arms Control under President George W. Bush has been relentless in his critiques of President Obama’s agenda, especially in the realm of foreign policy. (more)
As high-school seniors across the country ready themselves for the grueling college application process, we at The Daily Caller have compiled a definitive ranking of America’s very best colleges. Over the next several days, we will lay out what schools made the cut. (more)
One of Plato’s most famous works is The Trial of Socrates, which outlines Socrates’ discourse with his Athenian jurors as he contests the two charges against him: corrupting the youth and impiety. The charges were notoriously vague and served as a mere vessel for a much deeper question – the legitimacy of democracy. (more)
The debates raging over what policies will pull the U.S. economy out of its Great Recession replicate one that occurred during the Great Depression. Thanks to the efforts of Richard Ebeling, a professor of economics at Northwood University, we have compelling and concise documentary evidence. He has unearthed letters to the Times of London from the two sides that mirror today’s debates. (more)
America’s financial mess and our festering trade crisis were both caused by bad policies that mainstream economics told us were OK. This has made the public cynical about economists, but has produced few specific suggestions on how to actually fix the discipline. So—what should we do to restore its ability to give sound advice? (more)
It makes sense to set aside a day to celebrate our planet. Unfortunately, that is not what Earth Day is about. Instead, it is a day to celebrate public policies that have had disastrous consequences—both for humanity and for the environment. If we want to celebrate the environment and humanity, then let’s celebrate Free Market Earth Day and promote the principles of Free Market Environmentalism (FME). (more)
Sick of foreign businessmen and oil magnates buying up the Premiership’s best, then driving them into the ground, the government has proposed some ways to put teams back in the hands of the fans. They’re all unworkable. (more)
Wow. Just. Wow. The St. Pete Times Adam Smith interviewed former Marco Rubio chief of staff Richard Corcoran, and things get weird. (more)
Americans everywhere should applaud the Texas Board of Education action to reconstitute a more historically accurate (read: open and balance) traditional stamp on school curriculum taught in the Lone Star State. (more)
President Obama is calling more than two dozen House Democrats to the White House Thursday as he steps up the pressure on his party to pass health-care reform. (more)
During the first few minutes of his high-profile keynote address to the Conservative Political Action Conference, Glenn Beck said: “We have a guy in the Republican Party who says his favorite president is Theodore Roosevelt. Well, I thought so too, until I read Theodore Roosevelt.” (more)
