For most of human history–and sadly in many parts of the world today–the alternative to child labor is starvation. Prior to taking a job in a factory, a young person in an under-developed nation was not exactly spending their time playing with friends or staring into the clouds. Far more likely, their new factory job […]
In the aftermath of natural disasters, essential supplies (ie water, food, fuel, generators) are often in low supply and can be hard to find. Left alone, market forces of supply and demand quickly act to resolve such an issue: suppliers make special arrangements to get the supplies into the hands of buyers customers. Since natural […]
In 1850, the US Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, requiring all citizens and officials of every state to return escaped slaves to their “owners”. Yes, that is all states, including “free states”. The 1850 law did not come out of the blue, however. The precedent had been set long before, dating back to the US […]
Making sure that every worker is paid a “living wage” is a good thing, right? Well, it certainly sounds good, but let’s unpackage the premise to confirm that we’re not actually advocating a policy which does more harm than good. Minimum wage laws prohibit any person from being employed if the value they offer is less […]
As Americans, we are indoctrinated from an early age to believe that democracy, or “majority rules”, is a virtuous system. At the same time, we’re taught that mob rule and the idea of “might makes right” is immoral and dangerous. The reality: democracy is exactly mob rule. The desires of the majority are forced upon […]
The tragedy of the commons is a term used in social science to describe a situation in a shared-resource system where individual users acting independently according to their own self-interest behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling that resource through their collective action. The concept and phrase originated in […]
1950’s, Interstate Commerce Commission forced private railroad companies to keep open lines which were losing money, and set rates instead of letting market decide. Unions helped cripple railroad companies. Even though the job of stoking the old steam engines had been eliminated, railroad unions fought for 35 years to keep firemen in diesel locomotives. After […]
1977-1995 From CRA to ACORN, banks were forced into giving loans to people with bad credit and insufficient incomes. 1992 HUD forced Freddie and Fannie to purchase the loans 1995 Treasury Department established the Community Development Financial Institutions Funds which funded banks with tax dollars to encourage even more risky loans. Federal Reserve slashed interest […]
