Category: Andrew Kern

Tariffs harm domestic consumers by making products more expensive. They also harm domestic producers who utilize inputs from other countries in their production lines.

For most of human existence child labor was the norm. Thanks to relatively recent advances in productivity in industrialized nations, most children are able to attend school and enjoy their childhood free from hard labor.

There are myriad problems that plague democratic government. One, in particular, is that in practice “the will of the people” actually means “the power of interest groups”.

Have you ever wondered why so many people have such bad political views? Why is it we all seem to have that extended family member who thinks they have the answer to every political question (despite dubious credentials)?

As long as people interact with others, rules which govern their behavior will be necessary. What often goes unnoticed, however, are the myriad non-state methods and institutions which create and alter the rules of our society.

What sets the “immigration policy” in a free market, is the private decisions of many different people who choose who to (and who not to) hire, purchase from, lease to, sell to, etc.

In underdeveloped nations, however, because society is much poorer, governments lack the resources to crack down on underground private schools. In his book The Beautiful Tree, James Tooley explored and researched numerous poor countries including India, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and China.

Immigration is controversial among libertarians for valid reasons. Many libertarians reduce their political opinions down to property rights and non-aggression. For immigration, however, it is difficult to see how appealing to property rights can address the question since it entails the movement of people over public property. Anti-State There is another common sentiment that is

A common libertarian understanding of the debate between minarchists and anarchists is to view it as a sliding scale. E.g. minarchism is far less State aggression and anarchism is none. There are lots of caveats, such as some minarchists think there can be a State without aggression, or that anarchism will actually have more aggression.

So you’ve got the basics of libertarianism down. Taxation is theft, the market does things better than the state, etc, etc. There’s still much more to be discovered, however, whether it be more sophisticated ethical arguments, or historical examples that bolster your intuitions. This list of books will expand your knowledge and understanding of the rich political