Economics

The government’s illegal de-bankings, unprecedented sanctions, unwarranted prosecutions, and endless, indiscriminate enforcement actions have sent a clear message to crypto innovators: You are not welcome here. Rather than allow a young, burgeoning industry to develop, the government aims to crush it.

Ivan Ko fled Hong Kong following China’s imposition of the national security law. Now he's working to create a new city with the goal of preserving and developing Hong Kong’s freedom-loving culture away from the influence of the Chinese Communist Party.

Whatever supports and furthers human life is morally good. Capitalism is the system that, from every standpoint and perspective, preeminently supports human life.

When I heard that two friends and highly successful businessmen—Tim Chermak and Mitchell Broderick—had launched a new venture called John Galt Mortgage Company, I immediately thought, Brilliant! But I didn’t realize then how brilliant their idea really is.

Adam Smith and Ayn Rand are widely considered to offer merely different flavors of pro-capitalist thought. But their differences are greater—and far more consequential—than their similarities.

“The key to remaining an optimist,” says Norberg, “is to ignore politics, at least a little. . . . Read a science magazine to look at the interesting research and the innovations that are taking place. You’ll realize that even under the worst of circumstances, the worst politics and the nastiest tempers, people continue to improve the world.”

Ayn Rand’s case for capitalism stands in marked contrast to what might be termed the classical defense of capitalism. “The classical economists attempted a tribal justification of capitalism on the ground that it provides the best ‘allocation’ of a community’s ‘resources,’” she wrote.

At Students for Liberty’s Freer Future Fest in Nashville, I spoke with Dr. Bryan Caplan about freedom and innovation. Caplan is a professor of economics at George Mason University, a scholar at Cato Institute, and the author of four books (plus several in progress), most recently Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration.

A king is only a king if he maintains his rule through force. An entrepreneur cannot resort to force; his means of success is voluntary exchange. Next time you hear someone criticize “tech moguls” or the “king” of any given industry, this distinction may come in handy.

“Money rests on the axiom that every man is the owner of his mind and his effort.” —Ayn Rand