Mark Skousen
Why the Income Tax is Bad for America
“Little else is required to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice.” — Adam Smith
“If everyone enjoyed the unrestricted use of his faculties and the free disposition of the fruits of his labor, social progress would be ceaseless, uninterrupted, and unfailing.” — Frederic Bastiat, “The Law” (1850)
Stop Treating Me like a Criminal
“You must trust and believe in people or life becomes impossible.”
— Anton Chekhov
U.S. Mint Suspends Sales of Silver Dollars
Guns and ammo aren’t the only things Americans are buying in record amounts. Last week, the U.S. Mint announced that it has suspended sales of its 2013 American Eagle silver bullion coins after running out of stock due to soaring investor demand for the newly minted coins in the first two weeks of the year. […]
What Would Benjamin Franklin Say Today: A Warning to America
Today is Ben Franklin’s 307th birthday. What would this founding father extraordinaire, the first scientific American and financial guru say about America in 2013? As a sixth-generation grandson of the famous man, I imagined contacting the grandfather of our nation through modern technology and asking him directly. Here is the conversation:
Have You Seen This Shocking Graph?
I finished a productive trip to San Diego for the American Economic Association (AEA) meetings, where I met with several top economists, including Nobel Prize winners. One of the most popular sessions was a panel on the 100th anniversary of the Federal Reserve.
John Lennon’s “Imagine” for 2013
As we start a new year, I imagine, as John Lennon did in his famous song, a world of peace between nations, no major crimes or suicides, little inflation, low taxes and tolerable regulations.