Milton Friedman

Rockford, Illinois and the free society (Friedman, Tullock, Coase)

3 Comments / Economics, Politics /

Milton Friedman (Nobel Prize in Economics, 1976) received an honorary doctorate from Rockford College and was our commencement speaker in 1969. Gordon Tullock (co-founder of Public Choice economics with James Buchanan, Nobel Prize in Economics, 1986) was a native of Rockford. And I was charmed to find this bookplate in the Rockford University library’s copy […]

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Justifying liberal capitalism — flowchart

Leave a Comment / Economics, Politics /

Reprising this chart which integrates the major answers to the question: What makes liberal capitalism good? The chart diagrams the positive claims about liberal capitalism by its defenders — John Locke, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Ludwig von Mises, Ayn Rand, Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, and others. For elaboration, see my book Liberalism Pro and

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Friedman on market *and* government failures — which is worse?

Leave a Comment / Philosophy /

“All economists—monetarists, Keynesians, or what-not—recognize that there is such a thing as market failure. I believe that what distinguishes economists is not whether they recognize market failure, but how much importance they attach to government failure, especially when government seeks to remedy what are said to be market failures. That difference in turn is related

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Military draft — liberty or equality?

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In light of this USA Today report — “With women in combat roles, a federal court rules the male-only draft unconstitutional” — a reminder of the three competing positions. Traditional-conservatives: Governments can force anyone to engage in military service for the good of the community. Hence, a compulsory draft is justified. Liberal-libertarians: Governments should protect

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Conservatives against Free-market Capitalism [Good Life series]

1 Comment / Philosophy /

After beating up on some “left” icons (here, here, and here, for example), it’s time to give some grief to the “right.” American political vocabulary tends to sort people into liberals on the left and conservatives on the right. All are big-tent labels, and we argue continuously about how to place libertarians, progressives, socialists, theocrats,

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Transcript: William Kline on market-based business ethics

1 Comment / Business Ethics /

New transcription: Dr. William Kline spoke at Rockford University on business ethics. My follow-up interview with him on the main points of his talk are below in video and transcribed-text form: Interview with William Kline, Ph.D., on Business Ethics Interview conducted at Rockford College by Stephen Hicks, Ph.D. The Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship Hicks:

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Conservadores contra o capitalismo de livre mercado

Leave a Comment / Economics, Philosophy, Politics, The Good Life /

Depois de bater em alguns ícones “da esquerda” (aqui, aqui, e aqui, por exemplo), é hora de castigar alguns “da direita”. O vocabulário político norte-americano tende a dividir as pessoas entre liberais¹ (na esquerda) e conservadores (na direita). Todas essas definições são generalizantes, e a grande questão é como classificar libertários, democratas, socialistas, teocratas e

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