‘William Anderson’ Archives
The Yugo: The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William Anderson In my M.B.A. economics class I emphasize the Austrian view of entrepreneurship, noting that successful entrepreneurs are rewarded for moving resources from lower-valued to higher-valued uses in a free market. Alas I also spend time explaining “political entrepreneurship”: exploiting [...]
The Mainstream Media and the Bonds Case
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William Anderson The federal conviction of Barry Bonds for obstruction of justice has the mainstream media looking the wrong way. Instead of examining the government’s conduct, the media quote government agents as though they speak for God, rarely soliciting opinion critical of the State’s [...]
“Sustainability” Isn’t Sustainable
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson A number of college and universities have introduced “Sustainability Studies.” Of course, “sustainability” is just another term for environmentalism, but it exposes the mentality of the environmental movement very well. The idea is that unless we are forced use fewer [...]
The Keynesians’ Special Case
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson Some economists claim the economy is in a Keynesian liquidity trap, which makes it a special case calling for “unorthodox” policies. Paul Krugman writes: I know that some people find this hard to understand — perhaps because they don’t want to understand — but people like me [...]
Defining “Terrorism” Down
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William Anderson In this politicized age, government officials are constantly expanding the meaning of “terrorism.” Once upon a time a “terrorist” was someone who killed or attempted to kill unarmed civilians in a surprise attack that was meant to make a political statement or to undermine a [...]
Japan’s Supposed Silver Lining
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson Anyone familiar with Henry Hazlitt’s classic Economics in One Lesson (pdf) knows about the “broken window fallacy” in economics. The fallacy lies in thinking that the destruction of wealth that occurs in natural and manmade disasters has a silver lining: the economic activity [...]
Government Borrowing Won’t Create Savings
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson I long have believed there are two schools of thought on our current economic crisis and its effect on the federal government’s budget. The first is that the government must stop destroying the dollar, cut back all spending, and give up trying to “stimulate” the economy back to [...]
Earth to New York Times: Governments Are Broke
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson During a recent interview on Russia Today about the end of NASA’s space shuttle program, I said that the U.S. government was broke and Washington needed to curtail spending. However, I now stand corrected, at least according to the New York Times and the ubiquitous Michael [...]
“Clean Energy” and the Depressed Economy
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson The New York Times recently gave editorial space to four former governors to share their economic and political brilliance on how to revitalize our economy. While all four dazzled readers with their wisdom, I have decided to highlight the brilliance of Bill Ritter, Jr., the former [...]
Medical Fraud in Wisconsin
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson Patient’s rights advocate Siobhan Reynolds is currently under criminal investigation simply for speaking out against the federal prosecutions of doctors accused of writing pain medication prescriptions the government claims have “no medical purpose.” Indeed, the government has [...]
Are We Lacking “Ideas on a Grand Scale”?
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson There are times when I read the editorial page of the New York Times to see what people might say when they believe they have a firm grasp of the obvious. No one has a tighter grip than op-ed writer Bob Herbert, who forever is telling anxious readers this economy is in a [...]
Revolutions and Government Institutions
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson Republicans are fond of referring to the “Reagan Revolution” of the early 1980s, when in fact it was no revolution at all. I would go as far as to say that the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Iranian Revolution of 1979 were not revolutions in the sense that the institutions of [...]
“Losing” Egypt
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson Egyptians have taken to the streets to demand the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, the U.S.-backed leader who came to power after the assassination of Anwar Sadat nearly 30 years ago. We can be sure that sooner or later someone will condemn Barack Obama as the president who “lost [...]
Is Ethanol a Good Choice for Consumers?
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson The Environmental Protection Agency has decided that gasoline can contain at least 15 percent corn-based ethanol. Ethanol is what I call a “political fuel.” The EPA (despite all the claims that it operates according to the dictates of pure science) is a political tool of President [...]
Bureaucrats Keep Us Safe?
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson One of the Holy Writs of Progressivism is that government rules and regulations keep us safe. Thanks to government orders, claim Progressives, we have safer cars, safer food, and safer homes. Were it not for the bureaucracies, they argue, our lives would be fraught with danger. The [...]
Sue the Government
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson Numerous Americans have sued McDonald’s for making them fat. However, the former “World’s Fattest Man” has another idea: Sue the government. Paul Mason is suing the British National Health Service (NHS) for “letting him grow.” Given the philosophy of modern Progressivism, I [...]
Do We Need the “Next Level” of State Security?
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson When a university hires a football coach, the athletic director often declares that the new coach will take the team to “the next level.” What the director means is that he hopes the coach will lead State U’s team to a championship or a high-ranking bowl. However, when [...]
False Foreclosures and the Free Market
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson One thing heard ad nauseum is that the housing bubble was the result of free markets. To the critics the financial markets ran over the cliff because that is what naturally happens when markets are free. For that matter, when government fails to regulate producers, they overproduce, which [...]
Should NCAA Rule Infractions Be Crimes?
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson In a 2009 Reason article Candice E. Jackson and I asked: How did breaking sports rules become a federal offense? We believed the question had merit, since federal prosecutors had found ways to jail star athletes who run afoul of rules in their sports. Sports Illustrated recently reported [...]
Is the EPA Necessary?
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson A repeated myth is that government intervention comes only after private markets have clearly failed and the bureaucracy must step in to stop the abuse. For example, we hear that Congress created the Food and Drug Administration in 1906 because conditions in American meatpacking plants had [...]
Algorithms Can’t Pick Football Champions or Predict Economies
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson At the end of this week we will know who will play for the national championship of major college football. Will it be Oregon? Auburn? Boise State? Texas Christian University, or another team? We won’t know until a mathematical equation tells us. That’s correct. A mathematical [...]
A Nation of Consumers?
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson In its April 25, 1934, edition, the British humor magazine Punch published “I Want to Be a Consumer” by Patrick Barrington in which a young boy says that when he grows up, he wants to consume. The poem provides commentary not only on the Keynesian mentality of that day, but also for our [...]
Inflating Our Way to Prosperity?
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson According to Paul Krugman, getting out of this depression is as easy as cranking up the printing presses at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. However, I believe, as a card-carrying member of the “Pain Caucus” (foolishly, or maybe my motives are darker), that the government’s [...]
Voting, Accountability, and the Rise of Executive Power
Does Congress Matter Anymore? By William L. Anderson I write this column before the elections the media trumpets as being “historic.” This is different from the “historic” elections of 2008, or the “historic” elections of 2006, but I guess they’re “historic” nonetheless. Here’s what I want to know: Does Congress matter [...]
Progressivism and the Criminal Law
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson The development of the criminal law under Progressivism, which began more than a century ago, is revealing. Before the Progressives hit the scene, criminal law pretty much was limited to dealing with actual harm that individuals visited on other individuals, including robbery, assault, [...]
Does The U.S. Economy Need Inflation?
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson So it now is official. Officials at the Federal Reserve System claim the United States is mired in a “liquidity trap,” so the government must engage in inflationary policies to end the recession and bring the U.S. economy into recovery. The Financial Times (registration required) [...]
Public Works and Pyramids
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson When New Jersey Governor Chris Christie recently pulled out of the proposed Hudson River rail tunnel, angst gripped the editorial pages of the New York Times and elsewhere. Columnists and some economists declared in effect: We need the tunnel! It will provide jobs! We have too much [...]
CS – I Don’t Think So!
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson A popular television drama, CSI, features attractive, intelligent, scientific crime fighters who solve complex cases from their laboratories. No matter how clever the criminal, these CSI techies are even more clever, and they always get their man. There is something to forensic science. [...]
Will “Clean Energy” Lead an Economic Recovery?
Can Pigs Fly? Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson Keynesians and semi-socialists claim that “clean energy” supposedly will create jobs and net economic growth. From Al Gore to the New York Times, “green energy” is almost religious in scope, as advocates claim that not only will it give us better air and weather, but [...]
How to End the Great Recession
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson It is official: The Great Recession ended – in June 2009. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) says the GDP has risen, which means we are in recovery. For people who can’t find work, it doesn’t feel like a recovery, and there is good reason for that feeling: This is not a [...]
Are We Headed for Deflation – or Inflation?
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson For the past few years economic debate has fallen into two general camps. The first, which features Paul Krugman as its chief spokesman, says that the government must be bold in spending money for a “stimulus” — the more the better. The second camp has people like Peter Schiff and [...]
Will More Infrastructure Cut Unemployment?
Free Enterprise Zone, William Anderson Whenever the economy is in recession, lots of people claim we can “put America back to work by rebuilding the infrastructure.” So I am not surprised that President Obama has decided to continue the “infrastructure” mantra as his latest economic idea. According to the Associated Press: Vowing to [...]
Is Anyone Shocked by High Teenage Unemployment?
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson In his nomination speech at the 1932 Democratic National Convention, Franklin D. Roosevelt declared, “We must lay hold of the fact that economic laws are not made by nature. They are made by human beings.” Indeed, much, if not all, of the New Deal was an attempt to circumvent economic [...]
Cause, Effect, and the Current Depression
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson Every semester I assign the first chapter of Carl Menger’s Principles of Economics to my MBA economics students, and I make sure they understand the very first paragraph: All things are subject to the law of cause and effect. This great principle knows no exception, and we would search in [...]
Will Increasing Taxes Bring Economic Recovery?
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson I often read economic commentary in the New York Times, not because I believe it is sensible, but rather because I want to know what America’s ruling-class spokespersons have to say about economic matters. It has been a long time since I read sound, intelligent economic commentary in [...]
The Smart State — William L. Anderson
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson Modern Progressives love the term “smart” to describe their approach to everything from zoning to energy. For them, attempts to expand the role of the State are smart, which means free markets must be “stupid.” By the late nineteenth century, Progressives believed that scientific [...]
Reaping the Whirlwind of Progressivism, Part I — William L. Anderson
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson How Much More Can We Take? When I recently criticized an editorial cartoonist for slamming libertarians — he said a libertarian “lifeguard” would let everyone drown — he wrote back claiming that libertarians would abolish numerous federal departments and agencies, like the [...]
Do We Need “Alternative Energy” Because of the Oil Spill? — William Anderson
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, William L. Anderson The Crisis Isn't Going to Waste As crude oil continues to pour into the Gulf of Mexico, the politicians are waving the “green energy” shirt again. The logical chain goes as such: (1) crude oil is messy and dirty, especially when it is spilled into water; (2) “green” fuels and [...]
Liquidity Trap or Malinvested Resources? — William Anderson
By William L. Anderson Keynes versus the Austrians Many people claim today that the U.S. economy is in a “liquidity trap” and only government can spend us out of this mess. Commentators from Paul Krugman to Martin Wolf of the Financial Times assert we are in a “Keynesian situation”; unless government spending rescues us, we are [...]
