• reject all manifestations of socialist economic theory and return to the principles of "laissez-faire" capitalism that raised the American standard of living to the highest in the world.

Kevin Craig supports capitalism and opposes all forms of socialism. Capitalism (also called "Free Enterprise," "Free Market," and "Laissez-faire" economics) has brought human beings the highest standard of living. Socialism brings poverty and tyranny. Both Republicans and Democrats favor various levels of socialism.

Socialism is institutionalized theft. It destroys the incentive for productivity, and reduces the living standard of us all.

• Capitalism = Civilization  (Reisman on Ludwig von Mises)
• Some Fundamental Insights Into the Benevolent Nature of Capitalism
• What is "Classical Liberalism"? (Answer: Free Market Economics)
• Ayn Rand, Objectivism
• Book Reviews (fff)
• Collectivism (independent.org)
• www.capitalism.net (Reisman)
• Defending Capitalism Against a Capitalist (a Critique of George Soros)
• Early Classical Liberalism
• Economics
• Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth
• Economic Freedom and Interventionism
• Free-Market Conservatism
• General Economic Theory
• Liberty and Property
• Political Ideology and Philosophy (independent.org)

  What are the elements of the laissez-faire capitalism and how does one of its most illustrious proponents, Milton Friedman, apply its tenets to issues facing the United States today? Milton Friedman, Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Inst., Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences discusses how he balances the libertarians' desire for a small, less intrusive government with environmental, public safety, food and drug administration, and other issues.
  
  This is a 4 part video. Here are the links to all 4 parts.
  
  Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PaN9M... (7:21)
  
  Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUDV0Y... (7:42)
  
  Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhgy0y... (4:31)
  
  Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64mr-c... (5:59)

What is "Austrian Economics?" (Answer: Free Market Economics)

This theoretical school differs from other schools of economics because it does not deal with aggregates, large numbers, or historical data. It uses a micro rather than a macro approach to economics. It traces all economic phenomena back to the actions of individuals -- to their subjective values and to the value each market participant places on the marginal utility of a particular good or service. The Austrians view the world economy as a giant auction in which everyone is always bidding for the various goods and services he or she wants by offering something he or she has. By starting from the viewpoint of the individual actor and by reasoning logically step by step, Mises and his fellow Austrian economists were able to explain the development of prices, wages, money, production, trade, and so on.
Bettina Bien Greaves, "Foreword," Interventionism, An Economic Analysis, by Ludwig von Mises

• What is "Austrian Economics"?
• Why Austrian Economics Matters
• Austrian Economic Theory
• An Essay on Austrian Economics
• Austrian Economics

An Introduction to Economic Reasoning

These three books, all relatively short and available online or for purchase, are an excellent starting point for an education in sound economics.

Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt; online here

Essentials of Economics by Faustino Ballve; online here (.pdf)

An Introduction to Austrian Economics by Thomas C. Taylor; online here and here (.pdf)

A useful companion to Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson is this series of videos, recorded in July-August 2008, in which various professors comment on each of the book's chapters — explaining the argument, elaborating on it, and applying it to present conditions.

Video 1: The Lesson

Video 2: The Broken Window

Video 3: Public Works Mean Taxes

Video 4: Credit Diverts Production

Video 5: The Curse of Machinery

Video 6: Disbanding Troops and Bureaucrats

Video 7: Who's Protected by Tariffs?

Video 8: "Parity" Prices

Video 9: How the Price System Works

Video 10: Minimum Wage Laws

Video 11: The Function of Profits

Video 12: The Assault on Saving

Additional Introductory Reading in Economics

Study Guide to Human Action: A Treatise on Economics (PDF)

It has been a work years in the making, but finally the Study Guide to the Scholar's Edition of Ludwig von Mises's Human Action, is available. You can order the handsome volume here, and — as we've come to expect — the Mises Institute is generously providing the entire book free for download.

The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul, ch. 4; the audiobook is here

The Concise Guide to Economics by Jim Cox

Making Economic Sense by Murray N. Rothbard

Pillars of Prosperity: Free Markets, Honest Money, Private Property by Ron Paul

Economic Policy: Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow by Ludwig von Mises

Free Market Economics: A Reader by Bettina Bien Greaves

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism by Robert P. Murphy

Free Market Economics: A Syllabus by Bettina Bien Greaves

The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? by Richard J. Maybury (a great introduction to economics for homeschoolers; study guide included)

Introduction to Austrian Economic Analysis: A Ten-Lecture Course

This course with Professor Joseph Salerno of Pace University, courtesy of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, is available in both video and mp3 audio at the links below. To learn more about the Austrian School of economics, read this essay and this essay.

Recommended supplemental reading follows each lecture.

      Lecture 1: Scarcity, Choice, and Value — Audio and Video

Percy L. Greaves, Jr., Understanding the Dollar Crisis, pp. 1-20, 27-54

Milton M. Shapiro, Foundations of the Market-Price System, pp. 81-113

Thomas C. Taylor, An Introduction to Austrian Economics, pp. 40-51 (ch. 4)

      Lecture 2: Exchange and Demand - Audio and Video

Shapiro, pp. 31-58, 115-78

Taylor, pp. 12-39 (chs. 2-3)

Leonard Read, "I, Pencil"

      Lecture 3: The Determination of Prices — Audio and Video

Greaves, pp. 65-91

Shapiro, pp. 179-233

Taylor, pp. 52-62 (ch. 5)

Murray N. Rothbard, The Mystery of Banking, pp. 15-27 (online pp. 14-23)

      Lecture 4: Price Controls: Case Studies — Audio and Video

      Lecture 5: Profit, Loss, and the Entrepreneur — Audio and Video

Taylor, pp. 74-89 (ch. 7)

Ludwig von Mises, "Profit and Loss," in Mises, Planning for Freedom and Sixteen Other Essays and Addresses, pp. 108-30

      Lecture 6: Pricing of the Factors of Production and the Labor Market — Audio and Video

Henry N. Sanborn, What, How, For Whom: The Decisions of Economic Organization, pp. 112-85

Taylor, pp. 63-73 (ch. 6)

Greaves, pp. 105-32

Murray N. Rothbard, "Restrictionist Pricing of Labor," in Rothbard, The Logic of Action Two

      Lecture 7: Capital, Interest and the Structure of Production — Audio and Video

Shapiro, pp. 235-60

Mark Skousen, The Structure of Production, pp. 133-49

Richard Fink, "Economic Growth and Market Processes," in Fink, ed., Supply-Side Economics: A Critical Appraisal, pp. 372-94

      Lecture 8: Competition and Monopoly — Audio and Video

Shapiro, pp. 319-72

Sanborn, pp. 62-65

Hans Sennholz, "The Phantom Called 'Monopoly,'" in Bettina B. Greaves, ed., Free Market Economics: A Basic Reader, pp. 162-69

Sudha R. Shenoy, "The Sources of Monopoly," in New Individualist Review, pp. 793-96

      Lecture 9: Money and Prices — Audio and Video

Greaves, pp. 141-67

Rothbard, What Has Government Done to Our Money? pp. 1-96 (online, chs. I-III; online .pdf, pp. 7-48).

Rothbard, The Case Against the Fed, pp. 29-69 (or Rothbard, The Mystery of Banking, pp. 77-177; online, pp. 52-108)

      Lecture 10: Banking and the Business Cycle — Audio and Video

Ludwig von Mises, et al., The Austrian Theory of the Trade Cycle and Other Essays, Read: Garrison, Introduction and Summary;
     Mises's essay and Rothbard's essay.

Taylor, pp. 90-95 (ch. 8)

Advanced Texts in Austrian Economics

     Man, Economy, and State: A Treatise on Economic Principles by Murray N. Rothbard

The Scholars' Edition of this book, which we link to, also contains the book Power and Market, which had originally been intended as the concluding section of Man, Economy, and State but was released in 1970 as a separate book. The entire text is also available online here. A study guide is available for purchase and online here (.pdf).

     Human Action: A Treatise on Economics by Ludwig von Mises

This entire book is available online here. A study guide to this book is now available here.

     Money, Banking, and Economic Cycles by Jesús Huerta de Soto

A sweeping and historic contribution to the literature of the Austrian School, showing how monetary freedom avoids the disadvantages of fiat money, including inflation, business cycles, and financial bubbles.

Foreign Aid and Development Economics

Equality, the Third World, and Economic Delusion by Peter Bauer

From Subsistence to Exchange and Other Essays by Peter Bauer

"The Marshall Plan: Myths and Realities" (.pdf) by Tyler Cowen

The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics by William Easterly

"The History of Foreign Aid Programs" (mp3) by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

Miscellaneous Readings in Economics

 

"Politically Contrived Gasoline Shortage" (.pdf) by Craig S. Marxsen

"The Anatomy of Social Security and Medicare" (.pdf) by Edgar K. Browning

Losing Ground: American Social Policy, 1950-1980 by Charles Murray

The Conquest of Poverty by Henry Hazlitt

The Economics and Ethics of Private Property (advanced) by Hans-Hermann Hoppe

The Role of Government in the Economy

Dr. Mary Ruwart has written a wonderful book entitled Healing Our World. Here are links to the old edition of this book. Chapter 1. The Golden Rule We are well aware that if we commit certain violent or aggressive actions against our neighbors, fighting and impoverishment will result. Somehow we think these same actions create peace and plenty if applied to our community, state, nation, and world. Chapter 2. Wealth Is Unlimited! Wealth is created when we use existing resources in new ways. Since creativity is virtually limitless, wealth is too. Government does not increase creativity or wealth. It only redistributes wealth to the winning voters and the most powerful lobbies. Chapter 3. Destroying Jobs When we use aggression to increase the wealth of disadvantaged workers, we succeed only in making them poorer. Chapter 4. Eliminating Small Businesses "Only in America" could penniless immigrants become affluent by starting their own businesses. Today, our aggression keeps the disadvantaged from following in their footsteps. Chapter 5. Harming Our Health Licensing of health care services gives us the illusion that we are protected against selfish others who would defraud us. Instead, our aggression boomerangs back to us, costing us our wealth, our health, and our very lives. Chapter 6. Protecting Ourselves to Death By using aggression to avoid medications that might harm us, we lose access to life saving drugs. Chapter 7. Creating Monopolies that Control Us Most monopolies are not created by selfish others, but by our own aggression. Chapter 8. Destroying the Environment We are more likely to protect the environment when we own a piece of it and profit by nurturing it. Chapter 9. Banking on Aggression We established the "money monopoly" in the hopes of creating economic stability. By using aggression as our means, we created boom-and-bust cycles instead. Chapter 10. Learning Lessons Our Schools Can't Teach How can our children learn to abhor aggression when we teach them in a system built on it? Chapter 11. Springing the Poverty Trap When we use aggression to alleviate the poverty caused by aggresssion, we only make matters worse. Chapter 12. By Their Fruits You Shall Know Them It's just as well that our aggression creates poverty instead of wealth. Otherwise, we'd be eternally at war with each other! Chapter 13. The Other Piece of the Puzzle Justice does not consist of punishing the aggressor, but of making the victim whole. Chapter 14. The Pollution Solution Restoring what we have harmed is the best deterrent of all! Chapter 15. Dealing in Death Using aggression to stop drug abuse kills more people than the drugs themselves! Chapter 16. Policing Aggression We can protect ourselves from aggression only by refusing to be aggressors ourselves. Chapter 17. Putting It All Together The practice of non-aggression domestically creates a peaceful and prosperous nation. Chapter 18. Beacon to the World The most effective way to help poorer nations is to practice non-aggression. Chapter 19. The Communist Threat Is All in Our Minds Using aggression domestically creates a foreign enemy here at home. Chapter 20. National Defense The best defense against foreign aggression is the practice of non-aggression domestically. Chapter 21. A New Age or a New World Order? Once we understand how global peace and prosperity are created, we cannot be easily fooled. Chapter 22. How to Get There From Here If each of us works on the piece of the puzzle that appeals to us most, the final picture will reflect the composite of our dreams.

What role should the government play in our daily affairs?

Let's look at the different departments of government and see if they play a legitimate role in our economy.

• Department of Agriculture
  • The Constitution of 1787 did not provide for a Department of Agriculture. Agricultural innovation and productivity increased without one. We don't need the government involved in this important segment of our economy.
  • This Department gives millions of tax dollars to wealthy corporations (like McDonald's) so that they can advertise their products (like Big Macs) in Europe.
• Department of Commerce
  Or perhaps it should be called, "The Department of Getting-Involved-in-the-Economy."
  • This department performs functions that benefit private corporations. They should pay for these services themselves.
  • Other functions are not legitimate, and should not be paid for by anyone.
• Department of Education
  • Education is a huge part of our economy, and it should be run like any other business. It provides a valuable service, like agriculture, and government has no economic or constitutional right to control it.
• Department of Energy
  • It is unconstitutional
  • It diminishes competition, creativity, and progress towards new energy sources which are valued by consumers (and not just special interests).
• Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
  • Socialized Medicine is a big issue in the summer of 2009. It is a huge part of our economy. The government has no constitutional authority to be involved in health, and it increases our costs because it decreases our productivity.
• Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
  • The creation and bursting of the housing bubble of 2008 was the direct result of socialistic intervention in the economy, contrary to the Constitution.
• Department of the Interior (DOI)
  Since most people don't know what the Interior Dept does, here's a survey of activities which were never authorized by the Constitution:
  • Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
  • Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
  • Bureau of Reclamation
  • Fish & Wildlife Service
  • Geological Survey
  • Minerals Management Service
  • National Park Service
  • Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation & Enforcement
• Department of Justice (DOJ) - Attorney General
  The DOJ includes the following:
• Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
  We don't need the DEA
• Federal Bureau of Prisons
  We don't need federal prisons
• Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
  Immigrants made America. Abolish the unconstitutional INS.
• Department of Labor (DOL)
  This department includes
  • Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration
    Imagine the government telling businesses how to run their pension plans! If the government's Social Security ponzi scheme were judged by Wall Street standards, government administrators would go to prison. Much worse than Bernie Madoff.
  • Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)
    Unconstitutional and harmful to our economy.
• Department of State (DOS)
  • Ignores the most fundamental axioms of foreign policy as articulated by America's Founders.
• Department of Transportation (DOT)
  • Who should be trusted to enhance America's transportation: bureaucrats appointed by powerful lobbies, or Henry Ford and Karl Benz competing for our transportation dollars?
• Department of the Treasury
  Does much more than mint our coins
  • Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (ATF)
    Completely, totally unconstitutional.
  • Bureau of Public Debt
    Done a great job, eh?
  • Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
    Violates the Tenth Amendment.
  • Financial Management Service (FMS)
    Nobody manages finances better than the government
  • Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
    Evil and Unconstitutional
  • Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS)
    Did a great job in the years leading up to the massive recession.
  • United States Secret Service
  • United States Customs Service
  • United States Mint
  • Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
    compare Ron Paul's Competing Currencies
• Department of Defense
  Should be called "Department of Offense" because it fails to defend (e.g., Pearl Harbor, 9/11), aggresses, rather than defends, and offends people around the world.
• Department of Veterans Affairs
  Just another welfare system.

So how much should government be involved in our economy?

Much less, to start; eventually, none.

If you believe the government should be involved in a certain aspect of our economy, type your suggestion in the box below. I will send you a link to the webpage that shows how "The Government" can be replaced by self-government and trust in "Divine Providence."

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next: Prosperity: The Pursuit of Happiness