What is a nation?
In the modern political tradition, patriotism has always been revered. Not only is pride in and devotion to country seen as a positive, but its absence is also often taken as a sign of moral deficiency. Nationalism, on the other hand, is more suspect. The nationalist identifies with the nation and nationalism can manifest as a political ideology, as it did [...]
Man’s rights and the progressive rights inflation
Across the political spectrum, from Libertarians and Randian Objectivists to socialists, there is agreement on the existence and sanctity of basic individual (human) rights. [...]
A narrow escape for Britain: EU gears up for the Social Pillar
As the European Union turns 60, the future of the block is in doubt. On its southern borders, Greece is a problem that just won’t go away. To the North, Britain readies to [...]
The US education bubble
Austrian economic theory tells us that asset bubbles arise when artificial credit expansion distorts capital allocation and leads to production that is out of sync with [...]
Payday lenders and the unintended consequences of regulation
In the autumn of 2015 the FCA, the UK’s financial regulator, were hard at work on a new set of regulations. In their sights were payday lenders, who had been resurgent as [...]
Poor countries need trade, not aid
‘Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime’. This supposedly Chinese proverb expresses the idea that [...]
Why are US drugs prices so high? Because of government!
Progressive lawmakers in the US have not had much to celebrate lately, but they gained some traction late February, when President Trump gave his support to a bill opening up [...]
Should robots pay tax?
Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and the richest man on the planet, made headlines recently with a call for a tax on robots, to equalise some perceived advantage in employing [...]
Identity politics and the emergence of a new culture war
We live in an age defined by identity. No longer is a man judged by his actions, but by what demographic he belongs to. The idea that man (or woman, transgender or unisex) is [...]
Charity versus welfare: the moral bankruptcy of state benefits
The most common objection to the welfare state is that ‘without welfare the poor would die in the streets’. It pops up without fail in every conversation about the [...]
Were prices really falling? What you MUST know about inflation
Around the world, politicians and central bankers have been worried about the cost of the stuff we buy not being high enough. Official UK inflation has hovered around zero for [...]