The draft is a monstrous violation of individual liberty, and even a good motive cannot make it otherwise. In a free society no one should be compelled to take up arms, or be forced to kill or risk being killed... But who can blame prospective volunteers from doubting that there is a threat from Iraq? The Bush administration has yet to make a persuasive argument to that effect.
Sheldon RichmanSome conservatives are surprised to find people on the Left supporting the war in Afghanistan. It's not surprising at all...It is hard for the government to prosecute a war and not expand...Conservatives may think they can support war and oppose the expansion of the state, but that is like trying to square the circle. What makes them think they can contain the expansion?
Sheldon RichmanIn an unmolested market economy - one where all dealings are consensual - the 'allocation' of wealth and income is the result of transactions.
Sheldon RichmanThe housing and financial crisis could not have occurred in the absence of government housing and monetary policies.
Sheldon RichmanThe alternative to the market process is government control, and we know where that principle leads.
Sheldon RichmanWe must acknowledge, of course, that what looks like failure to us Americans outside the privileged elite may not actually be failure for our overlords.
Sheldon RichmanWe think of prices as simply the notation of how much we must pay for things. But the price system accomplishes far more than that. Hundreds of millions of people buying and selling, and abstaining from buying and selling, generate a system of signals - prices to producers and consumers about relative scarcities and demand. Through this system, consumers can convey to producers their subjective priorities and entrepreneurs can invest accordingly.
Sheldon Richman