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...
Brian Phillips
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.
Social Problems and the Solution
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...
Rent Control: The Most “Peaceful” Way to Destroy a City
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...
End Farm Subsidies
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 Fallacy of “Living Wage”
The fundamental issue is not wage rates, but productivity.
I was a Farm Worker
It makes no economic sense for an employer to pay $20 an hour for a job that is only worth $10 an hour.
Jim Crow, Racism, and the Free Market
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...
The Danger of “States’ Rights”
Defenders of freedom must reject the entire notion of “states’ rights” and instead embrace the principle of individual rights.
Abyssal Failures: The Post Office and Education
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...
Telephones, Technology, and Freedom
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” and the Source of Values
“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...
According to the FDA: Americans are Idiots
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...
Government without Taxation
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...
The Freedom to Choose
You have a moral right to choose what will bring you satisfaction, joy, and happiness, as long as you respect the mutual rights of others.
Freedom versus Regulation
If a survey were taken, what would receive the lowest scores for quality, price, and value: The post office The state of our roads The quality of public education The price of gasoline Energy bills Wall Street Congress Chances are good that all of these would receive...
Private Mail Companies Deliver
We are often told that government must provide certain vital services, such as education, roads, and mail delivery. History provides a very different lesson.
Regulations Punish the Virtuous
We are often told that government regulations are necessary to protect consumers from unscrupulous businesses: The only thing worse than regulations is the absence of them. Without government regulation, how can you know if food, water, medicine, everything you use in...
The Tea Party and Individual Rights
If the Tea Party wants to have a long-term impact on American politics, it must embrace and defend individual rights.
Michael Moore’s Evasion About Capitalism
In some respects, filmmaker Michael Moore is a curious fellow. He has made millions denouncing capitalism. At the same time, he ignores the fact that capitalism is the only political/economic system that provides him such freedom. Like many progressives, Moore’s view...
Government Job Creation Kills Real Jobs
President Obama has long told us that “green” energy would create thousands of jobs. His administration has “invested” billions of tax dollars in a myriad of “green” industries. Predictably, the results have been the opposite of what we were promised. As one example,...
Critics of Privatization of Emergency Services: Where Is The Fire?
Faced with budget deficits, many municipalities are looking to privatization to solve their financial woes. But these efforts are not without their detractors. For example, when the issue of privatizing fire and emergency medical services (EMS) in Lansing, Michigan,...
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