Why a tolerant society is not a free society
Individual freedom is the libertarian ideal, the abstract value which guides moral action. As a political idea, libertarianism emerged in the latter part of the 19th century from liberalism, the overarching political paradigm to come from the Enlightenment. Liberalism centred the individual, both as the architect of his own destiny through his faculty for [...]
Why lockdown is about politics, not lives
Nine months into the global Coronavirus pandemic and the consensus around lockdown as the preferred strategy to combat it is starting to crack. Those who argue that the cure [...]
Quantifying the cost of lockdown
Businesses bankrupt. Workers on furlough. Schools and universities shut for months. Cancer treatments postponed or cancelled. Travel restrictions. Problems with domestic [...]
The madness of a maximum wage
A new report by the left wing think tank Autonomy has reignited debate about the concept of a maximum wage. The idea that the government should not only dictate the minimum [...]
When is government intervention justified in a pandemic?
While libertarians instinctively abhor government action, a global pandemic, as the one the world finds itself in the midst of, seems to put those of us who want to leave [...]
Why the Oscars’ new woke rules are so sinister
Last week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that the Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, will introduce new “inclusion standards” for [...]
High status, big power: the evolution of extreme opinions
Most people are opinionated. But many don’t really have any opinions of their own, rather, they adopt those opinions that they derive utility from. In politics, it often [...]
Government response to the pandemic is a catastrophe in the making
Economic history is marked by a series of paradigm changing moments. The response to the Great Depression saw Keynesianism triumph, the collapse of Bretton-Woods system of [...]
What about reparations for slavery?
The issue of reparations for slavery is once again dominating headlines. In a time of heightened racial tension in America and beyond, the question of whether today’s [...]
Orwellian Britain arrests 12-year old for offensive text
Britain’s dystopian hate crime laws were applied for perhaps the most absurd reason this week, when a 12-year old boy was arrested by West Midlands Police for sending an [...]
Racism in the welfare state
Anti-racism protests have engulfed the West. What started as a legitimate protest about police violence in the US soon morphed into a general challenge to perceived [...]