On the social media website formerly known as Twitter, a user posted a receipt for $24 for a hamburger, fries, and drink at a Five Guys restaurant. One user responded by saying that five dollars for a small order of fries is “highway robbery.” While users debated whether Five Guys was overcharging, nobody seemed interested…
Last Friday, the Commander in Chief of the United States sent forth several tweets in response to China’s announcement that it would impose $75 billion in tariffs on American products. In one of those tweets, the Commander stated: Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including…
One aspect of property rights that is often overlooked is the freedom to create material values. If we are not free to create material values–property–then the right to property does not exist. Human life requires material values. An individual who is not free to create the values that his life requires is denied the means…
President Trump, among others, has made political hay of America’s trade deficit with China. To correct this alleged problem, the President has imposed a number of tariffs on goods imported from China. But trade does not occur between nations; trade occurs between individuals If a Texan buys groceries at Kroger, the exchange is not between…
Advocates of tariffs and other trade barriers often claim that their goal is “fair trade.” If another country imposes tariffs on American products, the argument goes, it is only fair for the American government to impose tariffs on products from that country. But this argument ignores a simple fact: trade does not occur between nations….