For those interested in learning more about the negative consequences of the minimum wage and why it hurts those it is intended to help, please refer to the work of Walter Williams, Peter Schiff, Ron Paul, Thomas Sowell, and Thomas E. Woods Jr. Those who blindly support the minimum wage are supporting a mandate that [...]
When President Franklin Roosevelt signed the National Industrial Relations Act on June 16, 1933, the National Recovery Administration (NRA) was created. The NRA, one of the major components of Roosevelt’s “New Deal” legislation, was created in response to accusations of “cutthroat competition” and the need for “fair competition.” Economic historian Thomas DiLorenzo explains the “NRA [...]
Today it was announced that banks foreclosed on 288,345 houses in the past three months, the highest amount of foreclosures in any three-month period since 2006. It’s estimated that 1.2 million homes overall will be foreclosed in 2010. Well, gee, looks like government bailouts of the financial industry have paid off! Despite hundreds of billions [...]
When reading Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, one is painted a picture of corporate abuses over helpless people who are finally saved after years of struggle by the government. Steinbeck blames banks and the invention of the tractor and other machinery for displacing thousands of “Okies” who were no longer needed to attend to [...]
It’s hard to not go gaga over the ideas and intentions of “stimulus packages” and ramped up government programs. After all, won’t it create a lot of jobs, boost the economy, and lift us out of a rough spot? This is what we’ve constantly heard from politicians and the media especially over the past couple [...]
The philosophy of competition has taken a backseat to government interference. In the recent cases of Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and Fannie Mae, among others, it was the government, not the marketplace, that determined whether the companies were fit to fail or survive. Traditionally, businesses are required to adjust to the harshest of circumstances if [...]
Today many people are discouraged with the business world and stock market as an investment possibility. This is understandable with the pain being felt right now, but people might be jumping the ship at a time when many opportunities abound. People are quick to diss stocks when the going gets rough, but they forget that [...]
The Great Depression has become one of the most misunderstood events in U.S. history. Many people believe the free market to be culprit that caused the incredible economic downturn, that the government didn’t do enough to stop it, and that it was largely President Hoover’s fault for not intervening enough into the economy. Today, to [...]
Presidential executive orders have become much more commonplace in government today. Historically, presidents generally used these orders to manage and direct federal agencies through laws already passed and arranged by Congress, and clearly not to create, or vaguely interpret, laws for expanding executive control. Presidents since George Washington have used executive orders, or “directives”, although [...]
Since the Great Depression, the federal government has taken an increased stake in the farming industry. The Agricultural Adjustment Act, enacted in 1933, is considered to be the first modern farming bill. The Act provided subsidies to farmers who left some of their fields undeveloped in an effort to reduce the crop surplus and therefore [...]
