This summer Roger Bootle won Lord Wolfson’s £250,000 prize for the best advice for a country leaving the European Monetary Union (one may assume that this advice is aimed at Greece). A more statist, anti-liberal policy than his could hardly
Regulation 
The State and Anti-Social Behavior
[This article is excerpted from Liberalism, Chapter 1] 12. Tolerance Liberalism limits its concern entirely and exclusively to earthly life and earthly endeavor. The kingdom of religion, on the other hand, is not of this world. Thus, liberalism and religion
Regime Uncertainty and the Fallacy of Aggregate Demand
In a recent New York Times column, economist Paul Krugman once again took to chastising a claim he has infamously dubbed  the “confidence fairy.â€Â According to the Nobel laureate, the “confidence fairy†is the erroneous belief that ambiguity over future
Equalization: A Program Without Foundation
Reprinted from Le Quebecois Libre Canada’s equalization program has been criticized in recent years, both in academic and newspaper articles. In a week-long series beginning May 28, 2012, the National Post invited contributors to evaluate our system. As shown below,
The Real Reason Behind War
To mark the 11year anniversary of the Afghanistan occupation, the death toll for the U.S. military reached two thousand. The soldier who had the misfortune of both dying and becoming a stark symbol of America’s longest running war died under
E.coli Breakout In AB: Another Failure of the Corporate Welfare State
As sure as the seasons change every year, so comes news of bacterial contamination in one CFIA-monitored processing plant or another. This time around the blanks are filled by “E.coli infested meat products†and “XL Foods, from Alberta.†The average
Air Guitars and Bitcoin Regulation
Reprinted from The Monetary Future No one really sends or receives bitcoin. They merely transfer their ownership and specific control rights to the block chain on the giant public ledger in the cloud. It’s like an air guitar. The bitcoin
Labor Unions and Worker “Rights”
In light of various measures to declaw the more harmful provisions of pro-union laws, the executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers has put out a memo to the association’s officers and presidents lamenting over what he sees
Democracy and Force
[This article is excerpted from Liberalism, Chapter 1] 9. Critique of the Doctrine of Force The champions of democracy in the eighteenth century argued that only monarchs and their ministers are morally depraved, injudicious, and evil. The people, however, are
Climate Alarmism: Our Sanity and Wallets Need a Break
Reprinted from The Moral Liberal Pick up any 40-year-old science textbook – on chemistry, biology, geology, physics, astronomy or medicine – and you’ll find a slew of “facts†and theories that have been proven wrong or are no longer the
No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority
From the Wikipedia description: No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority is an 1867 essay by American individualist anarchist, political philosopher and legal theorist Lysander Spooner. It is one of his most famous political tracts. In this lengthy essay, Spooner
Ohhh Henry on Free Trade and China
If the Canadian and Ontario governments had not wiped out people’s incomes and savings with taxation and inflation then they would not be placed in the position of having to decide whether to allow foreigners with higher savings rates to
Ohhh Henry on Immigrants, Government Workers, and Unions
New immigrants are not an essential ingredient in economic growth. The only essential ingredient is the formation of capital through savings. A large taxation burden caused by, among many other things, supporting immigrants (giving them free housing, welfare, health care,
How to Interpret the Quebec Elections
On September 4th more than 71% of eligible voters cast their ballots to elect a new government in Quebec. The result: Pauline Marois’ PQ (Parti Québécois) barely got a hold of power with 54 seats (and less than 32% of
Liberalism and the State
[This article is excerpted from Liberalism, Chapter 1] 6. Private Property and Ethics In seeking to demonstrate the social function and necessity of private ownership of the means of production and of the concomitant inequality in the distribution of income
The Case Against Reinstating the Bank of Canada
There is a legal case against the Bank of Canada going on right now. It seems that “we” own the BoC and can have the government direct the Bank to loan money “interest free” to finance government’s activities. There are
For “Great Projects,†Against “Great National Projectsâ€
Reprinted from Libertarianism.org New York Times columnist David Brooks doesn’t understand what community means. And like Barack Obama and Elizabeth Warren, he’s so enamored of the federal government that he can’t imagine anything outside it. In a column today, Brooks
Bernanke’s Muni Bubble and Pleasing Public Sector Unions
Back in December of 2010, banking analyst Meredith Whitney went on 60 Minutes and famously declared that a wave of municipal defaults was set to strike the U.S. in 2011. Alas, her prediction did not come to pass as municipal
Harper and Real Free Trade
Last February while Prime Minister Stephen Harper was visiting Beijing, he and China President Hu Jintao made great strides in establishing a trade agreement known as Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA). On September 9, 2012 the deal
In Review: Getting Rid of the Nanny State
Daring to Criticize the “Quebec Model†Five years after producing her famous pamphlet L’Illusion tranquille (The Quiet Illusion, in reference to the Quiet Revolution) – that didn’t use any public funds – Joanne Marcotte does it again, this time by
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