I love road trips. Over the past 15 years I’ve crossed the country from coast to coast and north to south at least two dozen times. It started in 2007 when my husband wanted to bring his handcrafted “Totem Pole of Economics” to FreedomFest for a talk he was giving on Keynes, Smith and Marx.…

Ask yourself these three questions, “Who are you?” “Do you have a social security number?” “What do you own?” The entity people generally call the “United States Government” doesn’t come close to honoring the Constitution or the Constitutional Republic it formed; thus, in this article, I call that entity: “Corp. U.S.” (to learn why, see:…

“You won’t get any dancing here, it’s illegal.” That’s a line from the 1984 film “Footloose” starring a then very young Kevin Bacon with the very cool character name “Ren McCormack.” Now, I know I am biased here, given my alter ego is “Renaissance Man,” and given that a certain cadre of in-the-know friends actually…

About thirty years ago, my mother gave my then-new bride and me what has become over the years one of our most use-worn cookbooks: The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook. Being someone at the time who enjoyed eating whatever I wanted, a cookbook with the word “diet” in it would not normally have grabbed my attention. But,…

Back in 2018, I made a simple observation: we have to be prepared for an economic Melt-Up, not a Meltdown. A year later, as I shared in a 2019 article, our country was headed towards a “melt-up” or a sharp and unexpected rise in prices, even before the COVID-19 pandemic began. Anyone watching the dial…

Uncertain is a perfect word to describe the way many American citizens are feeling right now as we start to accept that the COVID-19 response will seriously affect generations to come. Schools are cancelled, restaurants are closed, and in some places you are not allowed to walk down the street to let your dog take…

Imagine a future in which you rarely visit a doctor, in which your joy of life and bank account are not drained as you age, in which you live well past a hundred in good health, vibrant in mind and body. Imagine that the words you are reading are not click bait or science fiction.…

“What should we do tonight?” one of my college friends asked on a rainy Saturday night in 1977. After a few rounds of “I dunno, wudda you wanna do,” someone plucked the campus newspaper from his backpack and looked at the movie ads. (For you millennials out there, that’s the mid-twentieth century analog version of…

Are you ready to feel joy again, to embrace your connections and to feel strong and healthy in your body? Let’s honor this past year of challenge by building a renewed commitment to well being, freedom and abundance for all. Let’s celebrate our ability to adapt and persevere! Yoga is an excellent way to honor…

Currently, the greatest threat to human thriving isn’t government, believe it or not. Yes, government remains a problem, but it’s also dead on its feet in several ways. I’ll save that discussion for another time, but I believe that government and war are losing their underpinnings. Likewise disease and famine are shadows of their former…

 Risk and the perception of risk are two different things. Until we believe this fact, we are trapped in a cycle of small thinking. We are right where the mavens of Wall Street want us to be, a mass of sheeple fearful about investing outside the box, content to invest in mutual funds along with…

The government can move in at any moment; however, they can’t censor, devalue or steal math. History repeats itself. Although the world is experiencing major global unrest, it is also true that there is “nothing new under the sun” – regimes change, power structures shift, and the fourth turning is upon us. It is indisputable…

The sex trade is a vast and complex economy where people from all walks engage in erotic acts in exchange for money, goods, resources, and services. Policies governing erotic transactions have historically been crafted through moral outrage. The outcome has been state overreach into the affairs of consenting adults, and the increased endangerment of sex…

In George Orwell’s 1984, citizens are subjected to the “Two Minutes Hate” — a daily stream of new things they’re supposed to be outraged about. We’re experiencing that same outrage today–two minutes (or two paragraphs, or two sentences, or 144 characters and a meme) of outrage over the most recent misstep. And a growing element of…

For most of human existence, gold and silver have been used as both money and currency. Money is something that has intrinsic value and is universally recognized. Currency is a medium of exchange. While land and oil could be considered money, they are not easy mediums of exchange, making them unsuitable as currency. Gold and…

In 2020, I became a proud American citizen. Native critics don’t know how good they have it. I closed out 2020 with one of the best moments in my life. On December 8, I became a citizen of the United States of America. It ranks in significance right behind marrying my wife and the births of my…

By Cristen Wohlgemuth During the Democratic primary race, some saw Joe Biden as a more moderate alternative to other Democratic candidates on the ballot such as Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. But in the weeks since the election, Biden has rapidly filled his cabinet with a collection of names and faces—some new and some who…

by Gloria Z. Greenfield I recently came across the headline of an article that declared “millennials support socialism because they want to make America great — but for everyone.” The author continued on, proudly stating that the word “socialism” is becoming more mainstream. Membership in the Democratic Socialists of America has exploded, and the 2019…

By Ariela Moscowitz, Communication Director, Decriminalize Sex Work   This year’s FreedomFest will take place minutes from the famous Wild West town of Deadwood, South Dakota. Home to legends like Calamity Jane and Alice Ivers, Deadwood was a bustling town with numerous brothels and sex workers from 1876 – 1980, when state and federal authorities…

It was the reading of his book that made an ‘economist’ out of me. — Ludwig von Mises I found it such a fascinating book, so satisfying. — Friedrich Hayek No book since David Ricardo’s Principles has had such a great influence on the development of economics as… — Knut Wicksell The revolutionary book that these three writers praised is…

We greatly appreciated the thoughtful FreedomForum Op-Ed “We Will Not Be Silenced” (January 11, 2021), especially its honest criticism of the violence in the trashing of the Capitol Building. Five dead. This follows a summer of inner cities rioting, looting, and killings committed in the pursuit of social justice. The most recent political violence follows…

We need to start thinking much bigger.  The world has presented us with the best opportunity we have ever had to really advance the causes of freedom, peace and civility.  People are increasingly weary of the status quo and the endless struggle of groups wanting to coerce each other towards often worthy goals.  They want…

After my workout this morning, I stopped at the cliffs above Capitola, overlooking the Monterey Bay. It had just rained lightly, so the air was crystal clear, and the brownish gold of the kelp beds at low tide made a vivid contrast with the blue gray ocean. The little bit of sun that peeked through…

by Amelia Janaskie One hundred years ago on August 26, 1920, women obtained the right to vote by the adoption of the 19th Amendment. The Amendment allowed them to vote and participate in political life and symbolized their expanding independence, individuality, and personal freedom. Since then, women continue to enjoy greater economic freedom.   The…

by Dr. Jay Bhattacharya The media relish negative news. “If it bleeds it leads” still holds, and perhaps it’s never been truer than in the COVID-19 era. Every day the news highlights the spread of the virus and tells the sad stories of some of its victims. And yet, much of the media does not pay…

by James Bovard   In August, I reported here on how Montgomery County, Maryland, was seeking to shut down private schools as part of their Covid-19 strategy of abolishing all risk by abolishing all freedom. As more individuals have recently tested positive for Covid, the county government is responding with a new array of iron-fisted…

Hong Kongers have been protesting since Hong Kong rejoined China in 1997, but since March 2019 these protests have increased until they have at times included 26% of the entire country’s population . On June 30, 2020, China passed the Hong Kong National Security Law , and on July 29, 2020 officials started arresting and…

Suppose we told you that the space available for freedom is more than twice the size of all the land on earth, and we could make it legally available at the stroke of a pen? The path forward for liberty is right in front of us, if we just seize it.  Circling the globe at…

When I was in graduate school in 1993, a colleague confessed gleefully during a class discussion, “When I heard that Ronald Reagan had been shot, I cheered.” Others in class nodded and chuckled in agreement, certain that we all shared the same political views. We were all in academia, right? I felt shocked and offended…

The third week of October marks the anniversary of a great human achievement. On October 21, 1879, Thomas Edison ran an electric current through an experimental light bulb. He had tried thousands of filaments in other bulbs in the past. While none worked, he considered them successes in that they limited the possibilities of what…

Police brutality, reform, and defunding became very hot topics this past summer as politicians began deliberating on the types of new laws and regulations to enact to fix this problem. From a law and order perspective, it’s hard to fathom that some politicians are advocating the dissolution or defunding of one of the most vital…

The year 2020 has been anything but a year of seeing clearly. It has been characterized by uncertainty, divisiveness, and conflicting views. In the January prediction issue of my newsletter, “Forecasts & Strategies,” I stated, “The outlook for stocks, gold and the dollar is positive as we enter 2020, but beware of a ‘black swan’…

Humans are resilient, adaptive and resourceful. When an obstacle is placed in our way, we remove it or circumvent it. When we lose something, we devise a substitute. When a door closes, we begin looking for a new opening. We’ve seen examples of this innovation and resilience throughout the pandemic lockdown. Manufacturers adapted their factories…

by Donald Kirchinger On June 15, 2020, the stock market dropped 700 points and then recovered upon the news that the Fed would be buying corporate bonds in the secondary market. It has been projected that by the end of 2020, the Fed will have purchased $3.5 trillion in government securities. The Fed should not…

Don’t hurt people and don’t take their stuff. It’s really that simple. It’s what your mom taught you. And it’s the philosophy of liberty in a nutshell. Everyone should be free to live their lives as they think best, free from meddling by politicians and government bureaucrats and Nanny State Karens, as long as they…

As we have gone through the painful process of cancelling FreedomFest this year, many of our followers have suggested that we go virtual instead, as some other conferences have done. We truly appreciate how much all of you wanted to experience FreedomFest this year. But that’s the point: FreedomFest is an experience. it isn’t just…

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. “ – Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan once warned, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one…

Many of us fail to see the largest problems in life, especially when they are up close and in our face. While this is hard to believe, history shows us that this is simply the case time and time again. The old saying that, “The shoemaker’s kids go barefoot” could not be truer for most…

The Capital Research Center is excited to attend our third FreedomFest! Through our Dangerous Documentaries film brand, we’ll be screening four of our films at the Anthem Film Festival and participating in 6 panels. We hope you can join us! And please visit us in booth # 406. Tuesday, July 14th, 3pm – Anthem/Milano –…

FreedomWorks The way that 2020 has gone so far (we’re less than halfway through, believe it or not), it’s easy to forget that we have fewer than 150 days remaining until our next national election. The stakes surrounding election security could scarcely be higher. Gallup polling continues to show that a majority of Americans polled…

Long before the days of the Virus Lock Down Quarantines and our current Socialist Revolution, economists spent almost 150 years attempting to understand, explain, and navigate what is commonly known today as the Business Cycle. The concepts of inflation and deflation are widely used among all disciplines of economic thought, including the Austrians, Monetarists, Keynesians,…

Everywhere we look for what seems like forever (has it really been only a couple of months??) we’re bombarded with the new words and phrases endlessly repeated in media and politics and subsequently adopted by the masses. “In this unprecedented time…” “Social distance…” “Stay Home, Stay Safe…” “Alone together…” And in my opinion, the worst—“New…

To all lovers of liberty, This letter is a call to action. These are the times that try men’s souls. Today you must ask yourself: Are we still the land of the free and the home of the brave, or are we a conquered nation controlled by opportunistic politicians and slanted journalists? Do we want…

Sean W. Malone I’ve never called COVID-19 a “hoax” or thought that it was “just the flu.” I criticized the Erickson video, and I didn’t bother to watch Plandemic. But I’ve been publicly skeptical of most dire coronavirus predictions since the beginning. I’m also extremely concerned about panic-based policy overreactions. This has put me at…

My mom and dad just celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary last Sunday, May 3. They are healthy and happy at 92 and 88 (almost 89) and when my husband and I decided to drive halfway across the country to join them for this momentous day, they welcomed us with open arms. They didn’t hesitate one…