Here is Independent Institute Senior Fellow Robert Higgs speaking on “Ethanol Subsidies Have Many Bad Consequences,” from the Mises Circle seminar, “Agricultural Subsidies: Down on the D.C. Farm,” held May 14th in Indianapolis. Download audio file (27:51 minutes) Please also see the following books: Plowshares & Pork Barrels: The Political Economy of Agriculture, by...
Read More »

Anyone who knows me well also knows that I revere my father. Two years ago, on the one-hundredth anniversary of his birth, I wrote a short remembrance of him as a tribute to the most important man in my life, the kind of man who might well inspire others, as he inspired me. In...
Read More »

In a recent piece in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Ralph Nader bemoans President Obama’s failure to use his position and standing to advance the non-profit sector: Yet, though he rhetorically urges more volunteerism, as all presidents do, in his travels around the country, he stops most often at factories and campaign fund-raising events patronized...
Read More »

Aasif Mandvi from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central hilariously skewers the hypocrisy, authoritarianism, and foolishness of “progressive” San Francisco’s Nanny-State ban of Happy Meals at McDonald’s restaurants in the city. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c The Daily Show on Facebook HT: Carl Haberberger

On November 13, 2010, unsuspecting shoppers got a big surprise while enjoying their lunch at the Welland Seaway Mall in Welland, Ontario, Canada. More than 100 members of the Christmas Flash Mob broke out to sing the “Hallelujah Chorus,” from George Frideric Handel’s oratorio “Messiah.” This YouTube video of the event has now also...
Read More »

With Thanksgiving upon us once again, we offer a reminder of the economic lesson that made our first Thanksgiving possible: The Pilgrims’ Real Thanksgiving Lesson by Benjamin Powell Feast and football. That’s what many of us think about at Thanksgiving. Most people identify the origin of the holiday with the Pilgrims’ first bountiful harvest....
Read More »

San Francisco, a wonderful American city known for its traditions of tolerance and freedom, banned Happy Meals. My home county of Santa Clara already had. So this isn’t just the most far-left radicals pushing this agenda; it’s the center-left progressives who dominate the Bay Area. Some friends have wondered why I care about this...
Read More »

Jeffrey Tucker reports from FreedomFest. I’m not there, but Vegas is one of my favorite cities. It’s a place that’s coursing with energy. A couple of quick thoughts: 1. Market forces aren’t doing anything about the weather outdoors, but they’re helping alleviate it. My guess is that there’s someone on every street corner who...
Read More »

Here is The Onion-SPAN2 satirically reporting on a “hearing” for the emergency bill H.R. 323 (under the provisions of the National Emergency Legislation Act) that has been proposed by a bipartisan group of congressmen, “The IHOP Should Stay Open All Night So That We Can Get Some Pancakes Act.” Submitted the previous night at...
Read More »

The Obama Administration has announced that it wants to spend at least $3.5 billion—and I wonder where they’re getting that kind of money?—over the next 3 years to help as many as 60 poor nations feed themselves. While it is very good news that this involves ending the practice of sending U.S. crops to...
Read More »