Free Market News
The Daily Signal provides coverage of free-market principles in action, including policy debates, entrepreneurship, and limited government solutions.
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In Memoriam: Daniel Doron, Israel’s Champion of Free Market Ideas
Daniel Doron, the notable Israeli free market thinker and the recipient last year of The Heritage Foundation’s inaugural Steven M. Sass Economic Freedom Award, died Feb. 28 at the age of 92. The annual Economic Freedom Award was established specifically to recognize individuals and organizations that promote free market principles. Indeed, throughout his career of…Anthony B. Kim -
Economist Sowell’s Long March From Marxism to Free Markets—With a Little Help From His Friends Friedman and Hayek
The following is the second of three excerpts from Jason Riley’s new book “Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell,” about the iconoclastic economist. The book is available here. When Thomas Sowell arrived at the University of Chicago in the fall of 1959 to begin his Ph.D. studies, economist Milton Friedman had been on the faculty for…Jason Riley -
Woke Foundations Use Dollars Acquired Through Capitalism to Undermine Free Market Principles
Recently, the Ford Foundation announced plans to provide $1 billion in funding toward social justice programs, an extension of the $1 billion it handed out in 2015. The resulting press coverage, including a profile of its president on “60 Minutes,” was effusive. Ford is not alone in its philanthropic wokeism. Many other large foundations have followed suit. The…Richard Graber -
US Should Encourage Albania’s Transition to Free Market Economy
March 15 marked the 30th anniversary of the reestablishment of ties between the United States and Albania. Commemorating the occasion, U.S. Ambassador Yuri Kim noted that Albania, once known as the “North Korea of Europe,” has been transformed into “a steadfast ally, a partner, and a dear friend of the United States.” Kim further noted…Anthony B. Kim -
Remembering Free Market Economist George P. Shultz
George P. Shultz, one of America’s leading statesmen and champions of free markets, died Saturday. He was 100. During his distinguished career, Shultz, a former Marine, served as secretary of labor, secretary of the treasury, and secretary of state. On top of that, he was the first director of the Office of Management and Budget….Anthony B. Kim -
GameStop, Robinhood, and Short Selling: Not a Free Market
For many years, researchers at The Heritage Foundation have pointed out that U.S. financial markets have been highly regulated for more than a century, especially after the 1930s. Regulatory intrusion in the capital markets has increased steadily, with major new legislation imposing ever more rules about every decade. That fact is critically important in understanding the recent…Norbert Michel -
Whole Foods Market CEO’s Defense of Free Markets Is Food for Thought
In a recent event hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey highlighted the many ways in which business elevates humanity. Mackey specifically praised the innovation and value creation inherent in free market capitalism that have resulted in astonishing growth and real, measurable human progress from a world of near-universal poverty…Anthony B. Kim -
Podcast: Can Young Adults Learn to Love the Free Market?
“We all know from the research, from the history, that it is free markets that do what we all want and provide what we all want to have as a country,” says Chris Cargill of the Washington Policy Center. “And yet younger generations, many of whom were born after the fall of the Berlin Wall,…Rachel del Guidice -
The Inter-American Development Bank’s Next President Should Advance Rule of Law, Free Markets
The Trump administration recently announced its intention to nominate Mauricio J. Claver-Carone for the presidency of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, a Washington-based regional development bank that has a $97 billion loans portfolio across Latin America. Claver-Carone currently serves as the deputy assistant to the president and senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs at the…Anthony B. Kim -
Free Market Group Calls on California, 4 Other States to Suspend Government Union Dues
If elected officials were to suspend the deduction of union dues from the paychecks of public-sector employees for three months, they could pump tens of millions of dollars back into the wallets of workers who are compelled to stay home, according to a free market think tank’s analysis of government records. The savings would be…Kevin Mooney -
New Data Bucks Conventional Wisdom on Free Markets and the Environment
Politicians on the left are pushing a radical “Green New Deal,” which they say is necessary to save the environment. It wouldn’t save the environment—though it would do serious damage to our economy. The surprising truth is that saving the environment and improving the economy are not at odds. In fact, new research from The…Patrick Tyrrell -
The Difference in How Socialism and Free Markets Work in the Real World
If the future of the nation were a function of logic, then conservatives would have a very easy job. No debate would be needed, really. In the choice between the two competing models Judeo-Christian civilization has given us, with socialist arguments for “big government” on the one side and a market-oriented system that favors the…Sebastian Gorka -
Why Free Market Policies Are Key to Empowering Women
Most people agree that women deserve the chance to advance up the economic latter. The real question is, how can that be achieved? What many don’t realize is that women’s advancement doesn’t require gender quotas or affirmative action. What’s needed, above all, is free market policies that allow women to make their own choices. Ivanka…Amanda Snell -
With Free Markets at Work in Mississippi, Magnolia State’s Economy Blooms
History is full of reasons to love free markets. They reward hard work and catalyze innovation, providing technology and comforts previously unimaginable to the ordinary person. A new report by Anthony Kim and one of us (Patrick Tyrrell) of The Heritage Foundation shows just how Mississippi workers benefit from increased economic freedom when trade barriers…Amanda Snell -
How the Left Misunderstands Free Markets
How did our nation go from having a high-growth economy in the 19th and early 20th centuries, to struggling in recent years to achieve 3 percent annual growth? The American economy today is mixed: It is partly free, vibrant, prosperous, and entrepreneurial and partly unfree, obstructed, and lethargic. The free part is governed by the…Luigi Bradizza -
To Improve the Environment, Look to the Free Market
Over the past three years, China had become the new poster child for economists and environmentalists alike. The country seemed to attain the impossible by maintaining high growth in gross domestic product, while at the same time reducing reported carbon emissions. However, the admiration went up in smoke after news that China returned to its…Nicolas Loris -
The Free Market Beats Government Planning Every Time
One of the most challenging and important jobs for an economics professor is to teach students how little we know and can possibly know. My longtime friend and colleague Thomas Sowell says, “It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” Nobel laureate Friedrich August von Hayek admonished, “The curious task…Walter E. Williams -
How Hip-Hop Is Teaching High Schoolers About the Free Market
Greg Caskey is a 27-year-old Abington, Pennsylvania, native who is a social sciences teacher at Delaware Military Academy. The academy is a thriving charter high school in Wilmington, Delaware, that was founded in 2003 by two retired military officers, Charles Baldwin and Jack Wintermantel. Students from all socio-economic backgrounds attend the school, which is doing…Walter E. Williams -
Why the Free Market Is Diversity’s Best Friend
Millions of people love Apple computers and wouldn’t be caught using a PC. By contrast, there are many millions of PC users who feel the same way about Apple computers. Many men like double-breasted suits, but I wouldn’t be caught dead in one. Some people swear by Cadillac cars, but my favorite is Mercedes-Benz. Despite…Walter E. Williams -
Economist Walter Williams Wins 2017 Bradley Prize for Free Market Advocacy
Walter E. Williams, an economist and professor at George Mason University, is one of four recipients to be awarded the 2017 Bradley Prize, an award given out annually by the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. The $250,000 award, given to up to four distinguished individuals each year, “recognize[s] individuals of extraordinary talent and dedication,” whose…James Rogers