Economics
A Parable for Our Time
One of my fondest books as a child was Doctor at Timberline, by Charles Fox Gardiner. Gardiner was a doctor early in the settlement of western Colorado in the nineteenth century. Each chapter of the [more…]
Patrick Barron
America
Government Shutdowns: Unconstitutional, Ineffective, and Immensely Destructive
The Shutdowns Are Unconstitutional Our Constitution guarantees us certain rights that may not be abridged. The many government shutdown orders violate these rights. For this reason alone, the shutdown orders should be rescinded immediately. Furthermore, [more…]
19th Century
Lincoln Predicted How Americans Would Lose Their Freedoms
In 1839 Abraham Lincoln, a young twenty-eight year old lawyer, was asked by the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois to address the group on “The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions”. The result elevated Lincoln’s [more…]
Authoritarianism
Two Distinctly Different Approaches to Crisis Resolution
There are two very distinct approaches to crisis resolution. One is the socialist approach, adopted by most governments of the world in the latest coronavirus crisis. The other is the individualistic approach, used by few [more…]
America
Why I Want China to Stop Manipulating Its Economy
In his State of the Union Address–February 4, 2020–President Trump outlined his reasons for punishing nations like China that manipulate their economies in order to achieve some internal policy goal. The president claimed that such [more…]
Economics
Central Banks: Enemies of Freedom
Central banks are enemies of a free and prosperous society. Let me count the ways. Like the military, central banks are creatures of the state. Suggestions of them being independent are pure fantasy. There is [more…]
America
US Opposition to Russian Natural Gas Is Wrong on Two Fronts
On December 20, 2019 President Trump authorized sanctions against companies and individuals who are participating in building Nord Stream Two, a pipeline under the Baltic Sea that will bring Russian natural gas to Western Europe, [more…]
Economics
Fiat Money and Socialism
For some time now I have been mulling over the possible causes of what seems to be an increase in the desire for socialism among the young. For someone of my generation (an early post [more…]
America
Keeping Economics Simple
The US Department of Defence is a major customer of many private sector suppliers, including the Boeing Company. Although relationships between customer and supplier are mutually beneficial, that is by no means the only reason [more…]