James Mill, David Ricardo and the Triumph of Free Trade
We are in the midst of marking the centenary of the First World War, which was fought from 1914 to 1918. But, in fact,…
Dr Richard M. Ebeling
Dr. Richard M. Ebeling is Professor of Economics at Northwood University
Economic Ideas: David Ricardo on Wealth, Inflation, and Freedom
David Ricardo (1772-1823) was one of the most influential economic theorists of the first half of the nineteenth century. Born in London, England, his…
Economic Ideas: Thomas Malthus on Population, Passions, Property and Politics
Those of us who have been fortunate enough to have been born in what is often still referred to as the Western World (Europe…
How to Be a Light for Liberty in the New Year
With the beginning of 2017, what might be a “New Year’s resolution” for a friend of freedom? One answer is for each of us…
The 25th Anniversary of the End of the Soviet Union
December 24, 2016 marks the 25th anniversary of the formal end of the Soviet Union as a political entity on the map of the…
Economics Ideas: David Hume on Self-Coordinating and Correcting Market Processes
David Hume was one of the most prominent of the Scottish Moral Philosophers. He is particularly famous as a philosophical skeptic, who, in his…
Economic Ideas: Inflation, Price Controls and Collectivism During the French Revolution
Governments have an insatiable appetite for the wealth of their subjects. When governments find it impossible to continue raising taxes or borrowing funds, they…
Economic Ideas: The French Physiocrats and the Case for Laissez-faire
In the middle decades of the eighteenth century two schools of thought emerged, one in France and the other in Great Britain that were…
Economic Ideas: Mercantilism as Monarchy’s Planned Economy
The Feudal System had resulted in the disintegration of the unity that much of Western, Southern, and Eastern Europe had known under the Roman…
Economic Ideas: The Institutions and Economics of the Middle Ages, Part 2
The Catholic Church was the one institution in the Middle Ages that was outside of the Feudal Order of both the rural Manors and…