Excuse Me, Professor: Challenging the Myths of Progressivism

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Excuse Me, Professor: Challenging the Myths of Progressivism Page 24

by Lawrence Reed


  Sandy Ikeda is a professor of economics at Purchase College, SUNY and the author of The Dynamics of the Mixed Economy: Toward a Theory of Interventionism. He is a regular contributor to The Freeman.

  B. K. Marcus is managing editor of The Freeman, the magazine of the Foundation for Economic Education.

  Wendy R. McElroy is a contributing editor of the Foundation for Economic Education’s magazine, The Freeman, editor of ifeminists.com, and Research Fellow at The Independent Institute.

  Edmund A. Opitz authored Religion and Capitalism: Allies, Not Enemies and other works. The Reverend Opitz served on the senior staff of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) for many years.

  Paul L. Poirot was a long-time editor of The Freeman, the magazine of the Foundation for Economic Education.

  Sheldon Richman was editor of The Freeman, the Foundation for Economic Education’s magazine, for 15 years.

  Ron Robinson is president of Young America’s Foundation. USA Today notes that Robinson “has been involved in conservative campus issues for three decades.” Time magazine wrote that Young America’s “[F]oundation—run by former Reagan Administration advisor, Ron Robinson—is now the nation’s largest advocacy group devoted to student politics.” Time referred to Robinson as one of the “seasoned generals of the right” who is leading the “diverse and well funded” generation of conservatives who are “winning battles on campus.” He is also the co-author with Nicole Hoplin of Founding Fathers: The Unsung Heroes of the Conservative Movement.

  Hans F. Sennholz was chairman of the department of economics at Grove City College in Pennsylvania from 1956 to 1992. A noted economist and teacher of the Austrian school, he earned his Ph.D. under the tutelage of Ludwig von Mises. He was president of the Foundation for Economic Education from 1992 to 1997.

  Tyler Watts is an Assistant Professor of Economics at East Texas Baptist University. His research has appeared in the Independent Review, the Review of Austrian Economics, and the Journal of Private Enterprise.

  Walter Williams is a prominent commentator and has served on the faculty of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia as John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics since 1980. He is the author of more than 150 scholarly journal articles.

  SUGGESTED READING LIST

  THOSE WHO HAVE ENJOYED THE CONTENT IN THIS BOOK SHOULD EXPLORE THE following titles to delve further into the topics covered herein. Additionally, you can discover other interesting content at the websites of the Foundation for Economic Education and Young America’s Foundation found respectively at www.FEE.org and www.yaf.org.

  Titles in the Suggested Reading List followed by an asterisk are available for no charge at www.FEE.org.

  PHILOSOPHY & POLITICAL THEORY

  A Conflict of Visions by Thomas Sowell

  Anarchy, State, and Utopia by Robert Nozick

  The Discovery of Freedom by Rose Wilder Lane

  Funding Fathers by Nicole Hoplin and Ron Robinson

  In Defense of Freedom by Frank S. Meyer

  The Law by Frédéric Bastiat*

  Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg

  The Libertarian Mind by David Boaz

  On Liberty by John Stuart Mill

  The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley

  Restoring the Lost Constitution by Randy Barnett

  Upstream: The Ascendance of American Conservatism by Al Regnery

  CULTURE

  Are We Good Enough for Liberty? by Lawrence W. Reed*

  Bourgeois Dignity by Deirdre N. McCloskey

  God and Man at Yale by William F. Buckley

  The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture by Paul Cantor

  Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

  The Rise and Fall of Society by Frank Chodorov

  The Theme is Freedom by M. Stanton Evans

  The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith

  The Virtue of Prosperity by Dinesh D’Souza

  ECONOMICS

  Anything That’s Peaceful by Leonard E. Read*

  Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell

  Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman

  Economics In One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt*

  The Government Against the Economy by George Reisman

  I, Pencil by Leonard E. Read*

  Individualism and Economic Order by F.A. Hayek

  Liberalism by Ludwig von Mises

  Liberty vs. the Tyranny of Socialism: Controversial Essays by Walter Williams

  The Price of Everything by Russell Roberts

  The Use of Knowledge in Society by F.A. Hayek*

  HISTORY (U.S.)

  Conceived in Liberty by Murray Rothbard

  Constitution of the United States

  Crisis and Leviathan by Robert Higgs

  Declaration of Independence

  The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton

  Great Myths of the Great Depression by Lawrence W. Reed*

  New Deal or Raw Deal by Burt Folsom

  HISTORY (WORLD)

  A Republic—If We Can Keep It by Lawrence W. Reed and Burton W. Folsom*

  Greatness: Reagan, Churchill and the Making of Extraordinary Leaders by Steven Hayward

  Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism by Joshua Muravchik

  The History of Liberty by Lord Acton

  The President, The Pope, and The Prime Minister by John O’Sullivan

  Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke

  The Triumph of Liberty by Jim Powell

  We also recommend Regnery Publishing’s Politically Incorrect Guide® book series, which offers readers further insight into a number of topics including the Founding Fathers, the environment, the Constitution, the Bible, the Civil War and more.

  INDEX

  A

  Affluent Society, The, 109

  Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA), 158, 159

  Aiyar, Swaminathan, 267

  American Bankers Association, 85

  American Dictionary of the English Language, 88

  American Dream, 251

  American Enterprise Institute, 89

  American Federation of Labor, 233

  American Leadership Tradition, The, 112

  American Sugar Refining Company, 53

  America’s Great Depression, 154–155

  Anderson, Maxwell, 48

  Andrews, Samuel, 206

  antitrust law, 53–54, 55, 203–213

  Antitrust Religion, The, 54

  Antz (film), 130

  Apple, 243

  Archbold, John D., 206

  Argentina, 171

  Armentano, D. T., 54, 206

  Art of War, The, 276

  arts, subsidized by government, 163–167

  Atlee, Clement, 259

  ATMs, 240

  B

  Bain Capital, 175

  Baker, Dean, 243

  balance of trade, 103–106

  Banque de Luxumbourg News, 240

  Baran, Paul A., 253

  Barbarians Inside the Gates and other Controversial Essays, 22

  barriers to entry, 84, 86

  Barron’s, 1, 86

  Baruch, Bernard, 155

  Bastiat, Frédéric, xiii, 127

  BBC, 264

  Bentley, Wilson Alwyn, 77–78

  Berkshire Hathaway, 228–230, 231

  Berlin, Isaiah, 80

  big business, 83–86

  Bill of Rights, 36

  Black Death, 262, 263

  black market, 11, 269, 270

  Black Thursday, 155, 161

  Bloomberg, Michael “Nanny,” 120

  Bodleian Library, 117

  Bodley, Sir Thomas, 117

  Boeing, 84

  Böhm-Bawerk, Eugen von, 243

  Bolivia, 172

  Boudreaux, Donald, 3

  Bradford, William, 234

  Bradley, Anne, 78

  British Colonial Administrative Service, 259

  British Library, 115

  broken-window f
allacy, 125–128

  Brooks, Arthur, 89

  Brudenell family, 116

  Bryant, Kobe, 18

  Buffett, Warren, 18, 227–231

  Bureau of Labor Statistics, 193

  bureaucracy, 72–73, 74

  Bureaucracy, 74

  C

  Calhoun, John C., 265

  Canada

  forests in, 7

  healthcare in, 58–59, 60

  capitalism

  child labor and, 93–95, 137–141

  crony, 1–2, 63, 85, 242–243

  greed and, 21–24

  in Hong Kong, 258

  Industrial Revolution and, 137–141

  sweatshops and, 93–95

  Carney, Tim, 85

  Carter, Jimmy, 169

  Cassiodorus, 116

  Castro, Fidel, 17–18, 93

  Castro, Raul, 17–18

  Cato, 116

  CCC, 182

  Center for Economic Policy Research, 243

  central planning, 29–33, 147–151, 257–260

  Cerf, Vint, 242

  Chamber of Commerce, 85

  charity, 45–46, 99, 234

  distress relief and, 111–114

  healthcare and, 57

  historical preservation and, 115–118

  Chavez, Cesar, 93

  Chesterton, G. K., 29

  child labor, 93–95, 137–141

  China, 17, 18, 252, 257

  Christ’s College at Cambridge, 259

  Cicero, 116

  Civil War, 153, 172

  Civil Works Administration, 159

  Cleveland, Grover, 111, 112

  Clichés of Politics, xii, 42, 74

  Clichés of Socialism, xii, xiii, 14, 27, 49, 109, 113, 145

  CNN, 115

  cnsnews.com, 277

  coercive monopoly, 52–53, 204, 213, 242–243

  Cole, Harold L., 147–148

  collectivism, 77, 79–80

  Commerce Department, 104

  Common Sense of Political Economy, The, 99

  Commons, 6–7

  Tragedy of, 7–8

  Communist Manifesto, The, 264

  compassion, 87–91

  competition

  cooperation versus, 51–55

  “perfect,” 62

  restricted by government regulation, 83–85, 129–136

  computerization, 239–244

  Comte, Charles, 265

  Confucius, 117

  cooperation, competition versus, 51–55

  Cowperthwaite, Sir John James, 258–259, 260

  crapitalism, 1–2, 86

  crony capitalism, 1–2, 63, 85, 242–243

  Crumpacker, E. D., 131–132

  Cuba, 17–18, 164

  D

  Dante, 117

  Declaration of Independence, 40

  Democratic Republic of Congo, 252

  Department of Agriculture, 132

  Department of Energy, 83

  Department of Health and Human Services, 89

  Department of Justice, 53

  Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), 274

  DiLorenzo, Thomas, 148

  discrimination, 245–249

  Divine Comedy, The, 117

  Dixon, Larry, 246

  Don Quixote, 117

  Dragon’s Teeth, 134

  Drake, Edwin, 204

  DreamWorks, 80

  Dunoyer, Charles, 265

  duty, created by right, 40, 41–42, 57

  Dwolla, 84

  E

  E. C. Knight Company, 53

  East Germany, 252

  economic equality, 9–12

  failed legislation and, 10–11

  Economic Freedom of the World Index, 258

  Economics in One Lesson, xiii, 127

  economy

  broken-window fallacy and, 125–128

  central planning and, 29–33, 147–151, 257–260

  complexity of, 13–15

  inflation and, 169–173

  minimum wage and, 185–190, 197

  outsourcing and, 175–179

  without competition, 55

  education, 221–225, 248

  efficiency monopoly, 53, 204, 206, 211, 242

  Ehrlich, Paul, 253

  Einstein, Albert, 79

  elasticity of demand, 54

  Eliot, Charles W., 212–213

  England, 253. See also Great Britain

  Black Death in, 262, 263

  Robin Hood story and, 261–266

  English Peasants’ Revolt, 263–265

  entrepreneur

  economic, 1–2, 73, 74

  education and, 223–224, 225

  political, 1–2, 74

  envy, 3, 18, 30

  EPIC (“End Poverty in California”), 134–135

  Epstein, Gene, 1, 86

  Export-Import Bank, 83, 84

  F

  Facebook, 85

  Factory Commission, 140

  Fannie Mae, 23

  farm bills, 84

  Federal Emergency Relief Administration, 159

  Federal Reserve, 23, 148, 154–155, 161, 171

  FEE.org, 127, 135, 148, 161, 193, 213, 220

  First Amendment, 41

  Flagler, Henry M., 206

  Flatten, Mark, 274

  Flivver King, The, 133

  Folsom, Burton, 147, 182

  For the Least of These: A Biblical Answer to Poverty, 90

  Forbes, 194, 230, 242

  Fordney-McCumber Tariff of 1922, 156

  Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), xii, xiii, 14, 42, 46, 49, 74, 91, 97, 113, 123, 127, 135, 147, 165, 178, 184, 189, 213, 248, 254, 259, 266, 271

  Fraser Institute, 58, 258

  Freddie Mac, 23

  free market, 25–27

  barriers to entry and, 84, 86

  competition in, 52, 54–55

  in healthcare, 59

  labor unions and, 143–145, 160

  market arrangements in, 97–101

  outsourcing and, 175–179

  profit and loss in, 62, 233–237

  public education and, 221–225

  robots and computerization in, 239–244

  “using” people in, 97–101

  wealth created in, 90, 91

  working women in, 191–195

  freedom, security and, 47–49

  Freeman, The, xii, xiii, 46, 69, 95, 106, 123, 135, 178, 184, 189, 213, 244, 248, 254, 259, 266, 271

  Friedman, Milton, 5, 18, 258, 259

  Friedman, Thomas, 251–252

  G

  Galbraith, John Kenneth, 109

  Garner, John Nance, 149, 156

  Gates, Bill, 3, 18

  General Motors, 183

  George Mason University, 23

  Germany, 17, 182, 236

  Gompers, Samuel, 233

  good intentions, 273–277

  Google, 85, 243

  Goose-Step, The: A Study of American Education, 134

  Gore, Al, 251

  Goslings, The: A Study of the American Schools, 134

  government

  appointment of “czar” and, 73

  arts subsidized by, 163–167

  balance of trade deficit and, 103–106

  big, 83–86

  bureaucracy and, 72–73, 74

  central planning and, 29–33, 147–151, 257–260

  coercive monopoly created by, 52–53, 204, 213, 242–243

  compassion and, 87–91

  control by, 13–15

  corruption in, 23–24

  distress relief and, 111–114, 159

  expansion of, 71–72

  farm bills and, 84

  “greedy,” 23–24

  historical preservation and, 115–118

  inflation and, 169–173

  interference by, freedom from, 36

  labor law intervention and, 93–95

  land controlled by, 63

  ownership by, 66–67

  privatization and, 72

>   proper functions of, 71

  public education and, 221–225, 248

  “putting right person in charge of,” 71–75

  redistribution and, 2, 9, 18, 20, 45, 65, 90, 121, 127, 200, 201

  regulation by. See government regulation

  resources managed by, 5–8

  spending by, economic stimulation and, 125–128

  “throwing the rascals out” of, 71, 74

  “welfare reform” and, 88

  government policy, greed and, 21–24

  government regulation

  competition restricted by, 83–85

  of meat-packing industry, 85, 129–136

  for people’s own good, 119–123

  Great Britain, 257. See also England

  Industrial Revolution and, 137–141, 258

  Great Chain of Being, doctrine of, 263

  Great Depression, 88, 135, 147–151, 153–162, 181–184

  appropriately viewed as four consecutive depressions, 154

  end of, 184

  Hoover administration took a recession and created, 155–157, 158, 161

  Roosevelt administration errors greatly extended, 147–151, 157–162

  taxes increased during, 149, 151, 157, 158, 160, 161, 162, 183

  unemployment during, 148, 155, 159, 181, 182–183, 184, 242

  Great Recession of 2008, 23, 242

  Great Society, 88, 198

  Greaves, Percy, 169

  greed, 21–24, 218

  H

  Hammond, J. L. and Barbara, 137, 138

  Harkness, Stephen V., 206

  Harvard University, 212, 253

  Civil Rights Project of, 247

  Hayek, Friedrich A., xiii, 31, 32, 33, 100

  Hazlitt, Henry, xiii, 127

  Health Savings Accounts, 59

  healthcare, 57–60, 274

  Hell Bent for Election, 148

  Heritage Foundation, 257, 258

  Hessen, Robert, 139

  Heyne, Paul, 97, 100

  Higgs, Robert, 160

  Hirohito (emperor of Japan), 182

  historical preservation, 115–118

  History of Britain, A, 263–264

  Hitler, Adolf, 17, 171, 182

  Holbrook, Stewart H., 131

  Hong Kong, 252, 253

  as freest economy in world, 257–260

  Hoover, Herbert, 149, 151, 153

  recession turned into Great Depression by administration of, 155–157, 158, 161

  Horwitz, Steven, 6, 193–194

  House Agriculture Committee, 131, 133

  human right(s), 35–37, 40

  fundamental, 41

  I

  “I, Pencil,” 32, 90, 99

 

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