Brian Phillips is the founder of the Texas Institute for Property Rights. Brian has been defending property rights for nearly thirty years. He played a key role in defeating zoning in Houston, Texas, and in Hobbs, New Mexico.
He is the author of three books: Individual Rights and Government Wrongs, The Innovator Versus the Collective, and Principles and Property Rights.
Visit his website at texasipr.com.
In 1839, John O’Sullivan, editor of The United States Magazine and Democratic Review, wrote a piece titled “The Great Nation of Futurity” in which he argued that the United States had a divine destiny to occupy the American continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific....
Every day, millions of Americans dispense advice to friends, relatives, and complete strangers through blogs, websites, and a variety of online publications. And each time they do so, many of these Americans could be risking substantial fines and perhaps even...
There was a time when business owners competed on the basis of their products or services. They would try to be more innovative than competitors. They would develop new products, offer better service, or charge lower prices in order to win market share. Today, it...
In 2009, I delivered a talk to the Houston Property Rights Association. I had previously spoken to that group in 1993 during the debate over Houston’s last attempt to implement zoning. In my earlier talk, I cautioned that we might win the referendum on zoning, but...
One of the primary justifications for zoning is to prevent “incompatible” land uses, such as keeping industrial facilities out of residential areas. Such “incompatible” uses are regarded as an inherent nuisance, and rather than wait for the nuisance to occur, the use...
The advocates of “natural monopolies” have a short-term mentality. They look at the way things are now, and cannot envision them being any different.
Madoff was completely selfless.
The poor have found remarkably innovative ways of helping themselves, educationally, and in some of the most destitute places on Earth have managed to nurture a large and growing industry of private schools for themselves.
Even among advocates of capitalism, there are many misconceptions about how roads might operate in a free society. One of the most common of these misconceptions is the belief that if all roads were private property, a road owner might charge outrageous rates or close...
Unlike contemporary politicians, the Founding Fathers recognized the importance of protecting property rights. They understood that, if individuals are to be free, prosperous, and happy, then they must be secure in their property. James Madison, the Father of the...
We are often told that property rights must occasionally be sacrificed for the “common good”. According to advocates of this position, we must find a balance between what is good for “the community” and the uncompromised protection of individual rights. What this...
In 2007, I served as a consultant to a group of citizens opposed to an attempt to bring zoning to Hobbs, New Mexico. During that time, I wrote a series of articles that were published in the local newspaper. This is one of those articles. In a referendum, zoning was...
If we look at any number of social problems, we find numerous similarities. No matter the issue–education, energy, infrastructure, pollution, and much more–Americans look to government to provide the solution. These issues provoke heated political debates, with...
Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck once wrote, “In many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city—except for bombing.” In the late 1970s, a poll of American economists found that ninety-eight percent agreed that “a...
According to the Small Business Administration, 50 percent of all new businesses fail within the first five years. There are many reasons why so many businesses fail, such as an insufficient demand for the product or service, an inability to obtain capital, or...
The fundamental issue is not wage rates, but productivity.
It makes no economic sense for an employer to pay $20 an hour for a job that is only worth $10 an hour.
It is often claimed that capitalism leads to all sorts of ills, such as racism and cartels (or monopolies). As with most attacks on capitalism, these claims attempt to blame capitalism for the consequences of government intervention into the economy. The Jim Crow laws...
Defenders of freedom must reject the entire notion of “states’ rights” and instead embrace the principle of individual rights.
For decades, America’s public schools have done an increasingly poor job of educating our children. Politicians love to put forth optimistically named programs, such as “No Child Left Behind” or “Save our Schools,” with grand promises of reforming our educational...
For decades, it has been argued that certain goods are “natural monopolies,” which Investopedia describes as: A type of monopoly that exists as a result of the high fixed or start-up costs of operating a business in a particular industry. … The utilities industry is a...
“Moneyball” is a baseball movie that isn’t about baseball. It is a movie about the passionate pursuit of values. And more fundamentally, it is a movie about the source of value creation—the rational, independent judgment of innovators. Starring Brad Pitt as Billy...
As an adult, have you ever been forced to eat or drink anything against your will? Have you ever been coerced into eating a bacon cheeseburger and a mountain of fries? Have you ever been compelled to drink one more beer than you should? What you put into your mouth...
In a capitalist society, the initiation of force is banned from the interactions between individuals. In a capitalist society, there is no regulation of businesses–no FTC, FDA, SEC, OSHA, or EPA. In a capitalist society, all funding for government is provided...
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