Richard M. Ebeling

Dr. Richard M. Ebeling is the recently appointed BB&T Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Free Enterprise Leadership at The Citadel. He was formerly professor of Economics at Northwood University, president of The Foundation for Economic Education (2003–2008), was the Ludwig von Mises Professor of Economics at Hillsdale College (1988–2003) in Hillsdale, Michigan, and served as vice president of academic affairs for The Future of Freedom Foundation (1989–2003).

Celebrating Adam Smith on His 300th Birthday

Three hundred years ago, on June 5, 1723, one of the most important and influential thinkers in modern history, Adam Smith, was born in the small Scottish village of Kirkcaldy. There are few individuals who it can be said have left as lasting and as positive a legacy on humankind as Adam Smith.

The Benevolence of Capitalism vs The Paternalism of the Welfare State

The Benevolence of Capitalism vs The Paternalism of the Welfare State

Before the arrival of modern welfare state, voluntary, private-sector institutions had evolved to serve as the market providers for many of those “social services” now viewed as the near-exclusive prerogative of the government. Unfortunately, after nearly a century of increasing political and cultural collectivism, the historical memory of the pre-welfare state era has all but been lost.

A Gold Standard Can Limit Government Monetary Abuse

A Gold Standard Can Limit Government Monetary Abuse

The real long-run goal of monetary reform should be the denationalization of money. That is, the separation of money from the state by ending of central banking, altogether. In its place would emerge private, competitive free banking – a truly market-based money and banking system.

When The Supreme Court Stopped FDR’s Economic Fascism in America

When The Supreme Court Stopped FDR’s Economic Fascism in America

On May 27, 1935, in a unanimous decision the nine members of the Supreme Court said there were constitutional limits beyond which the federal government could not go in claiming the right to regulate the economic affairs of the citizenry. It was a glorious day in American judicial history and is worth remembering.

Consumers’ Sovereignty and Natural vs. Contrived Scarcities

Consumers’ Sovereignty and Natural vs. Contrived Scarcities

One of the great myths about the capitalist system is the presumption that businessmen make profits at the expense of the consumers and workers in society. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the free market, consumers are the sovereign rulers who determine...

The Berlin Wall and the Spirit of Freedom

The Berlin Wall and the Spirit of Freedom

The history of the Berlin Wall and the collectivist ideology behind it should remind us of how important a loss of any of our freedom can be as we determine in what direction – toward greater individual freedom and free enterprise or more government command and control – we wish our country to move in the 21st century.

Laissez-Faire Mr. President

Laissez-Faire Mr. President

For nearly six years, now, you have declared your intention and desire of being my Nanny-in-Chief. Your original campaign slogan of “Hope and Change” was really a promise of “Control and Command.” Well, Mr. President, I have a request: Mind your own business.

John Stuart Mill Illusion of Calculating “Social Utility”

John Stuart Mill Illusion of Calculating “Social Utility”

What John Stuart Mill rejected in attempting to redesign society according to this shaky premise of “social utility” was the older tradition upon which the great achievements of winning liberty was based in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the tradition of “natural rights.”

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