When the American colonists complained that the British subjected them to taxation without representation, the British responded that the colonists’ interests were represented in Parliament. The colonists rejected that argument on the grounds that they didn’t consent to that representation. The principle of no taxation without representation doesn’t constrain government if government can impose unwanted … Continue reading No Representation without Consent – Not Even from Unions
Tag: donny ferguson
On the issue of climate change, there’s one particular claim of its apologists that has always bothered me. And I don’t think I’m alone. It’s not the idea that we should take better care of the earth—I’m all for adopting a less utilitarian view toward it. It’s not the idea that taking better care of … Continue reading The One Thing about ‘Climate Change’ That’s Always Bothered Me…
F.A. Hayek published The Road to Serfdom in 1944 as a response to the Russian communists and the German and Italian fascists of the 1920s, 1930s, and early 1940s, as well as to those in other parts of the West that might be tempted by the allure of a society based on total security or … Continue reading The Road to Serfdom: 15 Quotes
The tax system is bad news for professional sports, with plenty of anecdotal evidence showing that athletes (and even fans) get pillaged by government. Now we have some comprehensive academic research to augment the anecdotes. Playing Field Impact The Wall Street Journal opined today on a new study about the impact of marginal tax rates … Continue reading Your Team Would Win More in a Low-Tax State
It’s not looking good right now. The Democratic Party elected a new, younger, more ideologically extreme chairman than the older guard of liberal political veterans. Then this happened. Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez is now demanding conformity from his party members on the issue of abortion, claiming that “every Democrat” must support a woman’s … Continue reading Increasingly intolerant Democrats now look to terminate pro-life members
Duke theology professor Paul Griffiths created a firestorm recently by criticizing time-consuming racial equity meetings that, in his view, detracted from research, teaching, and study: It’ll be, I predict with confidence, intellectually flaccid: there’ll be bromides, clichés, and amen-corner rah-rahs in plenty. When (if) it gets beyond that, its illiberal roots and totalitarian tendencies will show. He … Continue reading Liberal colleges declare war on reality
One of the trickiest set of issues for defenders of free enterprise is environmental concerns, especially large-scale ones like climate change. What makes more sophisticated environmentalist arguments so challenging and so interesting is that they often use ideas and terms that are frequently used to describe economic systems. For example, both natural and social systems … Continue reading Why Environmentalism Flunks Basic Economics
Will the war on freedom just peter out? No. Let’s look at four reasons why not. People are fed up with political correctness. No guff. Bill Maher is. Clint Eastwood is. We are told that Canadians are fed up too. But so? Two Canadian literary magazine editors were forced to resign from their national publications this month because they do not … Continue reading The Left’s war on free speech is just beginning
There’s no shortage of familiar names floating to be the next FBI director, after President Donald Trump’s controversial firing of James Comey earlier this week. “The president shouldn’t nominate anyone who has a clearly partisan background,” Ron Hosko says. But it appears former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan could be an early favorite among … Continue reading Which of these 10 people will be the next FBI Director?
What word best describes the actions of government? Would it be greed? How about thuggery? Or cronyism? Writing for Reason, Eric Boehm has a story showing that “all of the above” may be the right answer. But I Am an Engineer At first it seems like a story about government greed. When Mats Järlström’s wife … Continue reading Exposing the Occupational Licensing Scam
DonnyFerguson.com 