The Debt Dialogues [Episode 36]: Diana Furchtgott-Roth on the Fast Food Protests

The Debt Dialogues is a weekly podcast that aims to educate young people about the welfare state and how it will affect their future. In this episode, I interview Diana Furchtgott-Roth, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, on the recent demands by fast food workers for a $15 an hour minimum wage.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1A2mmnd

In the Sony Affair, Who Is the Real Coward?

There’s something entirely fitting in the fact that the most sensible thing said about Sony’s decision not to release The Interview comes from a place not known for saying sensible things — Hollywood itself — while the most risible comments come from a place that is supposed to have serious responses to things like foreign nations threatening American citizens for exercising their constitutional rights. That’s Washington, D.C. (in case you’ve forgotten that it’s supposed to be a serious place). Comparing the two views expressed is illuminating and goes a long way toward explaining why North Korea felt free to threaten Sony — indeed, all of us—in the first place.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1AY0OX0

Ayn Rand and Free Market Revolution in China

In September, ARI’s executive director Yaron Brook traveled to China to promote the newly published Chinese translation of Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand’s Ideas Can End Big Government. We recently had the chance to sit down and talk about his China trip.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1vk7j2z

Proof that Inequality Harms Economic Growth?

If you follow the inequality debate, then you’ve no doubt heard that the OECD has just released a report claiming to show that economic inequality lowers economic growth. I’ll have more to say about the study itself soon. But the most striking thing is the response to the report: namely, that its conclusions have been trumpeted uncritically by the media and by everyone who already believes inequality is a problem.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1wu1Tq3

Freedom of Speech, “Islamophobia,” and the Cartoons Crisis [Podcast]

Is there a climate of self-censorship regarding Islam? Has fear led artists and writers to avoid discussion and criticism of Islam? So it seemed to the journalists at Jyllands-Posten, Denmark’s largest daily paper, in the fall of 2005.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/13DQskF

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 35]: Steve Simpson on Inequality, Democracy, and Money in Politics

The Debt Dialogues is a weekly podcast that aims to educate young people about the welfare state and how it will affect their future. In this episode, I interview Steve Simpson, director of legal studies at the Ayn Rand Institute, on inequality, democracy, and money in politics.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1zsIBRF

Ayn Rand’s Novel Ideal to Be Released This Summer

On December 4, New American Library (NAL) announced it would publish Ideal on July 7, 2015, a novel penned by Ayn Rand more than eighty years ago. This will be the first Rand novel to be released since the 1957 publication of Atlas Shrugged. The announcement captured the attention of Ayn Rand enthusiasts as well as several media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, NPR and Newsweek.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1wzc1xz

In Defense of First Class

Over at the L.A. Times, Michael Hiltzik uses flight travel as an analogy for today’s economic inequality. But he draws exactly the wrong lesson.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/12Xf1rt

Jonathan Gruber Is Not the Only One Guilty of Deception

Since the video surfaced last month of Jonathan Gruber admitting that deceiving the American public was necessary to pass Obamacare, several more videos have been discovered of the Obamacare architect singing the same tune. The value in Gruber’s comments is that they expose the collectivist ideology underlying Obamacare.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1zBmPw7

The Slim Get Slimmer, While the Fat Get Fatter

What would you make of this sort of argument? “We live in a dark world indeed when all of those people in Planet Fitness keep shedding pound after pound, while millions of other people are suffering from obesity.”



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1Bz5cz9

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 34]: Stephen Moore on Taxes

The Debt Dialogues is a weekly podcast that aims to educate young people about the welfare state and how it will affect their future. In this episode, I interview Stephen Moore, chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, on taxes.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1waqOys

New Book: The Cause of Hitler’s Germany

For decades intellectuals have struggled to understand Nazi Germany. How could a country known as the “land of poets and philosophers” turn into a nation of killers? In The Cause of Hitler’s Germany — a republication of a portion of The Ominous Parallels: The End of Freedom in America, first published in 1982 — Objectivist philosopher Leonard Peikoff provides the answer.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1qqPnq8

How to Disarm the Inequality Alarmists

The other day I was on Kerry Lutz’s radio show discussing economic inequality and he asked me how to put the inequality alarmists on the defensive. Here was my quick take on that question.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1uaPouQ

What can you do about the debt crisis?

You’ve probably heard this before: America is facing a serious debt crisis. Economists estimate that the unfunded liabilities for Social Security and Medicare amount to roughly $200 trillion. That’s about $400,000 per American.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/126y2b0

Apply Early to the 2015 Summer Internship

Want to spend part of your summer learning more about Ayn Rand from some of the world’s leading experts on her books and ideas? Whether you’ve studied Rand for years or just finished Atlas Shrugged, if you’ll be a college student or recent graduate this summer, consider taking advantage of the Thanksgiving break to get your application in order for ARI’s summer internship.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1yrqPyP

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 33]: Scott Winship on Inequality and Economic Growth

The Debt Dialogues is a weekly podcast that aims to educate young people about the welfare state and how it will affect their future. In this episode, I interview Scott Winship, Manhattan Institute scholar, on inequality and economic growth.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1zfEeIJ

Inequality and money in politics

Economist John Cochrane has a terrific op-ed on inequality in the Wall Street Journal in which he identifies money in politics as the chief target of the inequality warriors, as he calls the critics of income inequality. When you get past their bogus economic arguments, says Cochran, “most inequality warriors get down to the real problem they see: money in politics. They think money is corrupting politics, and they want to take away the money to purify the politics.”



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1yDwEJq

Join Onkar Ghate’s Crusade for Reason and Freedom

In December, ARI’s senior fellow, Dr. Onkar Ghate, will be on “The Road to a Free Society” tour. In his talk, “Religion vs. Freedom,” Onkar will argue that we need to break the alleged link between capitalism and religion.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1poV8Ei

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 32]: John Cochrane on Inequality

The Debt Dialogues is a weekly podcast that aims to educate young people about the welfare state and how it will affect their future. In this episode, I interview John Cochrane, University of Chicago economist and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, on the campaign to limit economic inequality.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1vcDHGt

Steve Simpson on C-SPAN2 on November 25

Tomorrow night, C-SPAN2 will air a talk by Steve Simpson, ARI’s director of legal studies, titled “Cronyism, Corruption and Government Power.”



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1uxyQvK

How Iran Gamed the Nuclear Talks

Monday, November 24, marks a deadline in the negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. A glance at where things stand tells you just how well Iran has gamed the process. The pattern: Iran has set the terms and pocketed concessions.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1v3F8IF

The Garden of Eden Premise

The other day I was thumbing through an interesting book, Pursuing Liberty: American Through the Eyes of the Newly Free, which contains interviews with eight American immigrants. It really captured what I think is one of the most notable and admirable characteristics of immigrants to this country: how many of them come expecting to work for a better life. They value freedom, not because it makes life easy, but because it makes success possible.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1vtm8oT

Mark Cuban, Ayn Rand, and Neutering the Internet

“If Ayn Rand were an up and coming author today,” Mark Cuban recently tweeted, “she wouldnt (sic) write about steel or railroads, it would be net neutrality.”



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1yTqrac

Should America Aspire to Be Like Greece?

Wall Street executive Steven Rattner recently had a piece in the New York Times bemoaning rising inequality, and the fact that voters don’t seem to care about it. But we should care, argues Rattner: “Inflation-adjusted earnings of the bottom 90 percent of Americans fell between 2010 and 2013,” Rattner writes, “with those near the bottom dropping the most. Meanwhile, incomes in the top decile rose [by 2 percent].”



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1xoEwy8

Keith Lockitch on Alex Epstein’s new book The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels [Video]

ARI is excited to announce that one of our former writers, Alex Epstein, has a powerful and engaging new book, The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1xMP5Kp

Speaking to Millennials about Obamacare and Free Markets in Health Care

I’ll be in Atlanta this week to discuss the latest issues surrounding health care. If you’re in the area, I hope you can stop by one or both of these events.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1EVNMKw

What Jonathan Gruber Teaches Us about Obamacare

By now you’ve probably seen the video of Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber, in which he admits that deceiving the American public, whom he calls “stupid”, was necessary in order to pass the law. Since the video went viral, Gruber has tried to walk back his comments amid a hail of rebukes. But perhaps we should thank him: his comments in the video expose the ideology underlying Obamacare. Gruber put into words the collectivist mindset behind how Obamacare was passed and the law’s substance.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1xQz8Ue

Peter Schwartz on Brittany Maynard’s Assisted Suicide and the Right to Life

Over at The Huffington Post, ARI’s distinguished fellow and author of the upcoming In Defense of Selfishness: Why the Code of Self-Sacrifice Is Unjust and Destructive, Peter Schwartz argues that conservatives who oppose doctor-assisted suicide are, in fact, contradicting the actual right to life.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1EERvvN

ARI in the Debate: A Brief Update

On November 4, 2014, ARI fellow Don Watkins gave his talk, “End the Debt Draft: How the Welfare State Is Exploiting Millennials,” to the Capitalism and Global Supply Chains class of Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1138lHU

Steve Simpson, what are you working on?

In November, ARI’s director of legal studies, Steve Simpson, will be on ARI's “Road to a Free Society” tour. Across the country he will be giving a talk titled “Cronyism, Corruption and Government Power.” Is there any truth to the claims that our government is corrupt and cronyism rampant? In his talk, Mr. Simpson will argue that there is something to the issues of “cronyism,” but not in the way that most people think.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1xIOGro

How Totalitarianism Works: ISIS and U.N. Edition

What’s the goal behind the Islamic State’s carnage? The group seeks what jihadists all seek: totalitarian enslavement.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1uImZ4Q

Message to Future Doctors: You Matter

Tonight I’m speaking at a panel event for medical students at Georgetown University. Titled “The ACA and the Evolution of Our Health Care System,” the event will explore how Obamacare impacts doctors. The event is organized by the American Medical Association’s chapter on campus.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1tLPFaX

Yaron Brook in Europe

During the last few weeks, ARI’s executive director, Yaron Brook, has been touring through Europe giving talks on a wide variety of topics. He has spoken in in the U.K., Norway, Germany, Poland, Serbia and Netherlands on topics such as the morality of capitalism, the immorality of the welfare state, the virtue of selfishness, and economic inequality.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1vJWMgK

Policy Digest: Foreign Policy Edition

Hernando de Soto’s essay, “The Capitalist Cure for Terrorism,” is worth reading chiefly because of the data it surfaces on the scale of systemic political-economic corruption in the Arab world. One illustrative example is the 26-year-old Tunisian street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, who immolated himself, after the umpteenth shakedown by government inspectors.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1wOR4OI

David Sokol on the Need for a Moral Case for Capitalism

The English business newspaper City A.M. just published an op-ed by David Sokol, CEO of Teton Capital, titled “Free Enterprise Will Crumble If We Fail to Make the Moral Case for Capitalism.”



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/108qYts

What fuels Islamic State recruitment? John Kerry vs. Reality

The Islamic State, the jihadist force rampaging in Iraq and Syria, has succeeded in recruiting fighters because — wait for it — there’s no peace between Israel and the Palestinians. So claims the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1DwSFsG

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 31]: Don Watkins on the Debt Draft

The Debt Dialogues is a weekly podcast that aims to educate young people about the welfare state and how it will affect their future. In this episode, you’ll hear my recent talk “End the Debt Draft: How the Welfare State Is Exploiting Millennials.” I also explain why we’ve missed a few episodes and when we’ll return to our regular schedule.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1oWL19V

Yaron Brook in China

ARI’s executive director Yaron Brook recently traveled through China to promote the publication of the Chinese translation of Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand’s Ideas Can End Big Government. Co-authored by Brook and Don Watkins in 2012, Free Market Revolution illustrates why Ayn Rand’s ideas are key to solving the economic and political ills of our time.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1rN1A3D

The Undercurrent Student Conference: A Post-Event Update

On October 11-12, the nation’s only Objectivist campus magazine, The Undercurrent, organized the first students-only conference devoted to Ayn Rand’s philosophy Objectivism.





from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1z5fLsC

Peter Schwartz on ISIS and “Non-Interventionism”

Think about the barbarians of the Islamic State, and ask yourself if your views line up with an “interventionist” or “non-interventionist” policy. Weigh the two alternatives; which tack is right?



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1sPGnsp

The Adam Smith Institute’s Third Annual Ayn Rand Lecture

On November 3, in London, U.K., The Adam Smith Institute will hold its third annual Ayn Rand Lecture. The public is invited to hear David Sokol, CEO of Teton Capital, give a talk titled “Atlas is Shrugging: Why We Must Act Now to Defend Free Enterprise.”



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1vAypHo

Join Yaron Brook on November 13 for the Atlas Shrugged Revolution Dinner

We are pleased to announce the inaugural Atlas Shrugged Revolution dinner for the Rocky Mountain region. Join your fellow admirers of Ayn Rand for an event benefiting the programs of the Ayn Rand Institute. Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute, will be our speaker. We will also announce the winners of the high school essay contest for the region.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1zbbLYB

Policy Digest: Regulatory State Edition

Not too long ago, Steven Greenhut wrote an unusually good piece for U-T San Diego, criticizing employers in California’s construction industry for lobbying for a regulatory crack down on its lower-lost competition. He correctly points out the futility of their approach: “[B]y lobbying for new rules on others rather than for less red tape for everyone, they have lost any right to seriously complain about any additional regulations future Legislatures impose on them.”



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1trlTK2

Obamacare vs. Medical Innovation: You Can’t Have Both

In The Wall Street Journal, Scott W. Atlas of the Hoover Institution discusses various government policies that are threatening medical innovation. He identifies Obamacare, for example, as a culprit.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1vbk9V6

Henry David T. versus Energy Enterprise

On May 15th, 2013, a small lobster boat flying a banner that read “coal is stupid” dropped anchor in waters in front of the Brayton Point Power Station in Massachusetts. The two eco-activists aboard the boat, named the Henry David T., thereby blocked the path of the coal ship Energy Enterprise, which was carrying a load of 40,000 tons of energy-rich coal, from reaching the power plant.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1ycjF2j

Recent Media Highlights

Ayn Rand Institute experts appear frequently in various media outlets, addressing everything from the state of the nation to the state of the culture.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1oSkBAG

The “Islamophobia” Smear: Ben Affleck’s Failed Takedown of Sam Harris

In a way that Ben Affleck surely never intended, his appearance on Bill Maher’s show, Real Time, was luminously revealing. If you haven’t yet seen the segment, go to YouTube now and turn up the volume.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1v41uL8

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 30]: Phil Birnbaum on Making Sense of Inequality Statistics

The Debt Dialogues is a weekly podcast that aims to educate young people about the welfare state and how it will affect their future. In past interviews, we have talked to experts on the research concerning inequality. In this episode, I interview statistician Phil Birnbaum on how to interpret the economic inequality statistics we hear reported in the news each day.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1y1sDzj

Policy Digest: Regulatory State Edition

A new study by Nicole Craig and Mark Craig, professors of economics at Lafayette University, estimates that the cost of federal regulations is $2 trillion. That amounts to billions of hours in compliance.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1xi6VE3

Will anyone at The New York Times speak out for the victims of Social Security?

It’s really a shame that we let Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme collapse. We could have kept it going for a long time had we forced people to pour more money into it.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1pxAso6

Just What Is a “Moral Case” for Capitalism, Anyway?

When Yaron Brook and I started working on our book Free Market Revolution , which offers Ayn Rand’s moral defense of capitalism, the idea that capitalism needed a moral defense was virtually unheard of. Today, it’s so common that I was able to participate in a contest for who could make the best moral case for free markets. (I suspect that most of the credit for popularizing this idea goes, not to us, but to AEI’s Arthur Brooks.)



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1rFMcs1

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 29]: Max Borders on Entrepreneurship and Inequality

The Debt Dialogues is a weekly podcast that aims to educate young people about the welfare state and how it will affect their future. In this episode, I interview Max Borders, editor of The Freeman and author of Superwealth, on entrepreneurship and inequality.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1rAk8pR

Student Conference: Ayn Rand’s Individualism and the Case for Liberty

This week I had the chance to talk with Brittney Fay Rivera of The Undercurrent about a first-of-its kind, student-only conference. The Undercurrent conference focuses on Ayn Rand’s philosophy and its real world application. Listen in to the podcast to find out more about the event, which takes place October 11th and 12th at American University in Washington D.C. (P.S. There's still time to sign-up.)



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1rf9Fm1

The Atlas Venture Fund

A new grant-making fund was announced at the Ayn Rand Institute’s 2014 Objectivist Summer Conference. The Atlas Venture Fund will award grants (or loans) to individuals to assist in their efforts to promote Objectivist ideas. Carl Barney, an ARI board member, announced the creation of the new fund and donated $1 million to start it.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1vcOiB1

Policy Digest: Foreign Policy Edition

On Iraq, the Islamic State and America’s “surge.” Plus: sing a riff on “Happy,” face jail time?



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1B6IKJ1

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 28]: Romina Boccia on Social Security and the Millennial Generation

The Debt Dialogues is a weekly podcast that aims to educate young people about the welfare state and how it will affect their future. In this episode, I interview Romina Boccia, the Grover M. Hermann Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs at the Heritage Foundation, on Social Security and how it affects Millennials.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1wKs2ys

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 28]: Romina Boccia on Social Security and the Millennial Generation

The Debt Dialogues is a weekly podcast that aims to educate young people about the welfare state and how it will affect their future. In this episode, I interview Romina Boccia, the Grover M. Hermann Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs at the Heritage Foundation, on Social Security and how it affects Millennials.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1r4bdPI

Frankenfood and the Angry Villagers

Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, celebrated a birthday in August (if she was still alive, she would be over 200 years old). Since the most popular anti-GMO slur term, “Frankenfood,” is based on her iconic work of fiction, Mary Shelley’s birthday had me (and some other bloggers) thinking about how the story of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster relates to the biotech debate.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/XWAGxS

Policy Digest: Environmental issues

Climate protestors are busy preparing signs, floats and a “papier-mâché tree embedded with axes” for the People’s Climate March in New York City this Sunday. Thousands are expected to gather and march through the streets of Manhattan with the goal of convincing U.N. members to band together and drastically cut the use of fossil fuels across the globe. Marchers may believe they are taking to the streets in an effort to make lives better, but Alex Epstein, president and founder of the Center for Industrial Progress, writes in a recent Forbes.com article, that “[i]n fact they’re supporting policies that would cut billions of lives short. Literally.”



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1tyDnlB

Join Don Watkins On The Road to A Free Society

In October, ARI fellow Don Watkins takes his campaign to end the debt draft on The Road to a Free Society tour.

from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1rkzErv

Introducing: Ayn Rand’s The Unconquered

Almost seventy years after the publication of Ayn Rand’s first novel, We the Living, Dr. Robert Mayhew is now out with never-before published versions of Rand’s theatrical adaption of the novel: The Unconquered: With another, earlier adaptation of We the Living.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1r3FWtC

A Charter of Power Granted by Liberty

“In Europe, charters of liberty have been granted by power. America has set the example . . . of charters of power granted by liberty.” James Madison wrote these words in 1792, five years after the Constitution began its journey toward ratification by the states. Today marks the 227th anniversary of that beginning — the signing of the Constitution by the 39 delegates to the Philadelphia convention. Madison’s statement is one of my favorites because it conveys, more than any other quote I can think of, the proper relationship between individuals and government, which is a key part of the profound moral significance of the Constitution and the government it created.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/XFdyUB

Join us at The Undercurrent Student Conference

Students eager to join the intellectual battle for individual freedom are invited to The Undercurrent Student Conference taking place October 11 – 12 at American University in Washington, D.C. The Undercurrent has reopened applications for its student-only Objectivist conference exclusively for students living close enough to DC to drive to the conference or for those who are able to fund their own travel and lodging. So, if you are a local fan of Ayn Rand’s free-market ideas, her literature, or any other aspect of her philosophy, consider applying before September 30th!



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/Xc2GwQ

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 27]: Gregory Salmieri on Justice

The Debt Dialogues is a weekly podcast that aims to educate young people about the welfare state and how it will affect their future. In this episode, I interview Dr. Gregory Salmieri, professor of philosophy at Rutgers University and Stevens Institute of Technology, on the subject of justice.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/Xvfm2h

Policy Digest: Regulatory State Edition

The Wall Street Journal offers a good take down of the arguments for the Export-Import Bank, which the House just reauthorized for another 6 months. One irony in this debate, which the Journal notes: many on the left, including the Obama administration, Elizabeth Warren, and Nancy Pelosi, support the Ex-Im bank despite their real antipathy for business and their professed antipathy for “the rich” obtaining benefits at the expense of everyone else.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1y6xeRL

Looking Back at the Post–9/11 Decade

Three years ago, ARI hosted a symposium in Washington D.C. to explore American foreign policy in the Middle East in the decade after September 11. What have we learned since then? How should we evaluate America’s policy in that volatile region? What lies ahead for U.S. relations with Israel and with a likely soon-to-be nuclear Iran? The 2011 event featured three panel discussions, with noted commentators and scholars presenting a range of viewpoints.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1AA4WuV

Thanks For Your Support

A few weeks back I asked for you to vote for my entry in the Think Freely Media’s 2014 Great Communicators Tournament, which asked entrants to make a moral argument for freedom.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/WUX8a5

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 26]: George Will on Progressivism

The Debt Dialogues is a weekly podcast that aims to educate young people about the welfare state and how it will affect their future. In this episode, I interview Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist George Will on American Progressivism.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1sayn5Z

Policy Digest: Welfare State Edition

Michael Tanner: “[M]ore than one out of every three Americans live in households that are now on welfare. Looked at another way, America’s welfare state now has nearly three times the population of the largest actual state. . . . And none of these numbers include the middle-class social-welfare programs like Medicare and Social Security. Counting these programs, more than 153 million Americans, nearly half the population (49.5 percent), are living in households now dependent on government for a significant portion of their income.”



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1ru4TvO

Is Ayn Rand Confused About Altruism?

In the PJTV video I talked about yesterday, Bill Whittle and Andrew Klavan also criticize Rand for confusing selflessness and altruism. Selflessness doesn’t exist, Klavan says, because “everyone is acting for personal gain, even if that personal gain is joy” from helping others. Altruism then is simply doing good for others in order to gain joy, which Klavan stresses is a good thing.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1qCFiTQ

Is Ayn Rand Utopian?

In a recent video for PJTV, Bill Whittle and Andrew Klavan answer a question from a viewer: “Why is Ayn Rand nonsense?” To their credit, they largely reject the premise of the question, and while they are very critical of Rand (and annoyingly snarky about it), their criticisms are on the whole thoughtful if tremendously confused.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1rA3ebO

Policy Digest: Regulatory State Edition

I had a strong sense of déjà vu when I read this Wall Street Journal editorial about Argentina’s harassment of a U.S. printing company for closing a plant in Buenos Aires. Why did this sound so familiar?



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/Wi0Avh

Policy Digest: Foreign Policy Edition

By one reckoning, the cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel might seem like an even stalemate. But in fact it’s lopsided in Hamas’s favor. Leaving aside the Israeli concession of easing the import of aid and materials for reconstruction, the fact that Hamas continues to exist as an organization ruling Gaza is an undeserved win.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1lzQfXb

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 25]: Onkar Ghate on Individual Rights

The Debt Dialogues is a weekly podcast that aims to educate young people about the welfare state and how it will affect their future. In this episode, I interview ARI senior fellow and chief content officer Onkar Ghate on how the concept of individual rights can and should guide our thinking about political issues, including the welfare state.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1pm0pFU

Policy Digest: Welfare State Edition

You may have heard about “inversions,” which have become a hot topic of debate in the wake of Burger King’s acquisition of Tim Hortons. Megan McArdle provides some much-needed context for that debate (although my jaw dropped when I got to her line about “what you owe the government that raised you”). Cato Institute scholar and Debt Dialogues guest Dan Mitchell has more.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1C7uYcq

The Road to a Free Society: ARI on Tour

Every day at ARI, we see evidence that America and the profoundly important values it represents are under attack. From America’s self-crippling foreign policy to the entitlement state that threatens to bankrupt us, the policies that our leaders follow threaten to destroy the qualities that made this country exceptional.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1wDEkwg

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 24]: Jagadeesh Gokhale on America’s Debt Disaster

The Debt Dialogues is a weekly podcast that aims to educate young people about the welfare state and how it will affect their future. In this episode, I interview Cato senior fellow Jagadeesh Gokhale on America’s entitlement-fueled debt problem.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1qeNpG6

Ayn Rand For Social Justice?

In Free Market Fairness , Brown University political science professor John Tomasi seeks to defend free markets on a Rawlsian “social justice” foundation. In laying the groundwork for his argument, Tomasi thinks it is notable that even most free-market thinkers appeal to “social justice” concerns, i.e., that they almost all — from Adam Smith to Herbert Spencer to Milton Friedman — stress that free markets are good for “the poor.”



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1qiel8I

Policy Digest: Foreign Policy Edition

What kind of foreign policy should Republican presidential hopefuls advocate? Angelo Codevilla’s shrewd answer: something other than the prevailing establishment view, practiced during the 20th century. While I differ from some points in his analysis, the thrust of his article illustrates some important weaknesses of Republican administrations.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/YIZeex

Walmart’s Workers Don’t Deserve a Share of Walmart’s Profits

From Robert Nozick’s Anarchy, State, and Utopia : “Often people who do not wish to bear risks feel entitlement to rewards from those who do win; yet these same people do not feel obligated to help out by sharing the losses of those who bear risks and lose.” [p. 257] This made me think of the people who argue that Walmart has an obligation to pay its workers more rather than allow the profits to go to the owners.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1tuqpDj

I Need Your Support

I’ve entered Think Freely Media’s 2014 Great Communicators Tournament, which asks entrants to make moral argument for freedom. I hope you’ll take a moment to vote for my entry, and to share it with your friends. You can vote once a day, every day until September 2.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1sWdnS8

“The Very Rich Don’t Think Very Highly of the Rest of Us”

Here’s how welfare state crusader Dean Baker starts his latest column: “The very rich don’t think very highly of the rest of us. This fact is driven home to us through fluke events, like the taping of Mitt Romney’s famous 47 percent comment , in which he trashed the people who rely on Social Security, Medicare, and other forms of government benefits.”



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1uWYL5I

USA Today Gets It Right: FDA Should Not Stand in the Way of Dying Patients

A USA Today editorial this week calls for the FDA to be stripped of its power to decree whether dying patients can take experimental drugs that could save their lives. Patients and doctors, the editors write, should be allowed to make this decision without needing the government’s permission.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1tjAYdl

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 23]: Scott Winship on Inequality, Mobility, and the American Dream

The Debt Dialogues is a weekly podcast that aims to educate young people about the welfare state and how it will affect their future. In this episode, I interview Manhattan Institute fellow Scott Winship on economic inequality, mobility, and the American Dream.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1uSoV9P

Policy Digest: Welfare State Edition

George Will: “This is the progressive premise in action: Because government provides infrastructure (roads, etc.) affecting everyone, and because government-dispensed money flows everywhere, everything is beholden to the government, and more or less belongs to the government, and should be subordinated to its preferences, which always are for more control of the nation’s wealth.” I’ve made this point in regard to the welfare state. The recipients of government handouts are inevitably told they have no right to assert their right to make independent decisions: they are “beholden to the government.”



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1o7rVqk

Let’s Have an Honest Debate About Social Security

This month marks the 79th anniversary of Social Security and the program’s finances are in disarray. The numbers are jarring. Social Security faces $23.1 trillion in unfunded liabilities, according to the program’s trustees, and if nothing changes, by 2033, payments will have to be cut by almost a quarter. The longer we wait to act, the more circumscribed our options will be.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1vSpxh8

Policy Digest: Regulatory State Edition

In Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, Alex Tabarok reviews a new book, Innovation Breakdown: How the FDA and Wall Street Cripple Medical Advances , that provides yet another glimpse into the inner workings of our destructive regulatory state.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1phiIAn

Is It Immoral to Buy Nice Shoes?

The moral foundation of the welfare state is altruism: the doctrine that we have a duty to sacrifice for the needs of others. If you want to get a real sense of the meaning of this doctrine and its implications for human life, the best source is Ayn Rand. But Rand is often accused of caricaturing altruism.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1sYGZLj

Policy Digest: Environmental Issues

Mike “The Health Ranger” Adams, founder and director of the popular health news tabloid website Natural News, recently posted an article calling for the death of scientists, journalists anybody else who has written favorably about the technology of genetic engineering. Adams declared anybody working to improve foods to be the equivalent of Nazis perpetrating a holocaust on the world.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1uOSwxU

Policy Digest: Welfare State Edition

The S&P recently came out with a report on how inequality is allegedly dampening economic growth. Some smart replies here and here.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1szVqIQ

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 22]: Amity Shlaes on the Great Depression

In this episode of The Debt Dialogues I interview Amity Shlaes, author of The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression, about the cause of the Depression and how it made possible the creation of the American welfare state.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1l0k8Qs

Don Watkins on the Future of Obamacare

In his latest op-ed on Politix.topics.com, “Is Obamacare Here to Stay?”, ARI fellow Don Watkins asks: What does the history of Social Security tell us about the future of Obamacare?



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1vz22cO

Policy Digest: Ayn Rand Edition

TIME.com asks: “Who should be the first woman on a modern dollar bill?” Ayn Rand is leading in the poll. Who could be a more worthy candidate? Ayn Rand did, after all, argue that money is the root of all good.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1sonkEn

The Moral Case Against Social Security

On the July 16 edition of Coffee & Markets , Brad Jackson and Allysen Efferson had me on to discuss my new book on Social Security, how FDR’s program has hurt American self-reliance, and my End the Debt Draft campaign.

from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1okU421

Policy Digest: Environmental Issues

Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and Cosmos star, took a stand on genetically modified foods in a video posted online recently. In response to a question by a French reporter, Tyson came out strong in support of food biotechnology, saying he is “amazed how much objection genetically modified foods are receiving from the public.” In the video, viewed over half a million times, Tyson makes the point that practically every food that we eat has been improved by mankind.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1kHBFwx

Your Success Is Your Responsibility: An Interview with Brian Tracy

One of the recurring themes in debates over the entitlement state is that most people are on the dole through no fault of their own, and that the only way they can succeed is if the rest of us are taxed to give them free education, free job training, free child care, subsidized transportation, and anything else the entitlement state’s supporters come up with. Is that true?



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1lxzlTU

Policy Digest: Welfare State Edition

Laurence J. Kotlikoff testifies before the House Committee on Ways and Means Social Security subcommittee on the state of the program. I don’t agree with all his conclusions, but I definitely agree that the program’s finances are in far worse shape than is commonly understood. “To pay its scheduled benefits in full through time, the Social Security system needs a 32 percent immediate and permanent increase in the future path of payroll tax revenues. Based on the current covered earnings ceiling, this represents a 4-cent-on-the-covered-dollar higher payroll tax starting today and continuing forever. . . . Social Security is in dire financial shape.” Kotlikoff was the first guest featured on my podcast The Debt Dialogues, which you can check out here.





from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/USfjMK

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 21]: Lee Ohanian on the State of the Economy

The Debt Dialogues is a weekly podcast that aims to educate young people about the welfare state and how it will affect their future. In this episode, I interview Lee Ohanian, Professor of Economics at UCLA, on the state of the economy.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1s6flPy

When I Think of Genetic Engineering, Crippling Humanity Doesn’t Come to Mind

When I think of the future of genetic engineering, I imagine new and innovative varieties of food. I envision crops that practically grow themselves come rain or come shine. I hope for foods that are specifically tailored to an individual’s nutritional needs, apples that don’t turn brown when sliced or perhaps even a grocery store tomato that actually tastes good.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1qzWnvW

Understanding the Arab-Israeli Conflict

In this course ARI’s director of policy research Elan Journo provides an essentialized historical and political account of the Arab-Israeli conflict.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1qyUmjH

It’s Time to Debate the “Safety Net”

My exchange with James Pethokoukis has stirred up some discussion.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/XkodUS

Let's Not Forget That Pseudoscience Is Deadly

What happens when a tabloid-respect-for-the-truth meets a life-saving breakthrough in medical technology? You’d get something like this. . .



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/XkahKr

Ignoring the Victims of the Welfare State

Over at the American Enterprise Institute blog, James Pethokoukis takes me to task for opposing a government “safety net,” i.e., for advocating the total abolition of the welfare state.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1AzDaSa

Amanda Maxham on GMO Labeling

In her latest op-ed, “What GMO Labels Really Tell Us,” Dr. Maxham argues that the real purpose of labeling Genetically Modified Organisms isn’t to “inform,” but to scare the public into rejecting GMOs.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1o49c2Z

ICYMI: Hamas and Libertarians

Did you hear Yaron Brook’s comments on how some libertarians side against Israel and with Hamas in the current war?



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1o49aYM

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 20]: Sylvester Schieber on America’s So-Called Retirement Crisis

The Debt Dialogues is a weekly podcast that aims to educate young people about the welfare state and how it will affect their future. In this episode, I interview Sylvester Schieber, former chairman of the Social Security Advisory Board and author of The Predictable Surprise: The Unraveling of the U.S. Retirement System, on the question: Does America face a retirement crisis?



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/UJktub

Yaron Brook on the Hamas-Israel War

In his regular podcast, Leonard Peikoff addresses questions on how Objectivism applies to your everyday life, and on alternating weeks Yaron Brook sits in as the guest host addressing questions on how Objectivism applies to politics, economics and current events. This week Yaron took on the Hamas-Israel War.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1oHCPaW

Paul Ryan’s New Anti-Poverty Plan Would Be a Modest Improvement, But We Can Do Better

Paul Ryan just released a plan to reform the welfare state in order to encourage work and upward mobility. Ryan has long been worried that our “safety net” has become a “hammock,” lulling people into long-term dependency and punishing them for working: many poor Americans can actually lose money by getting a job and forgoing whatever handouts they were previously eligible for.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/X6wdIX

Steve Simpson on the Threat of Campaign Finance Laws

Freedom of speech is under siege. Not by the “amplified” voices of billionaires and corporations, but by the sundry spokesmen for “the public” demanding that government should have the power to silence individuals via campaign finance laws.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1xqixmW

The Real Meaning of “Wealth Redistribution”

Let me share something with you that’s a little personal. One of the greatest sources of joy in my life is my one-year-old daughter, and my wife and I are eager — that’s too weak a word, actually — to have another kid. But we simply cannot afford to.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1rFK7gp

Another Slice Out of Apple

If Apple’s pending appeal of last year’s ebook antitrust verdict fails, the company will have to pay $450 million in “consumer relief,” according to class-action lawyers for the plaintiffs.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1x8LfZu

Defeating Hamas vs. “Mowing the Grass”

I’ve argued that Israel’s goal in the Gaza war should be to eliminate the threat from Hamas (and allied Islamist groups). That means defeating the enemy, by uprooting its infrastructure and leadership, in order to make the Islamist cause of Hamas and its allies unrealizable (a point I make at length in my book). Difficult though that may be, it is a necessary goal.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1rxEKjc

Debt Denier Hall of Shame: Paul Krugman Edition

Paul Krugman doesn’t think that you can read. Or, at any rate, he doesn’t think you’ll bother to read the most recent long-term economic outlook from the Congressional Budget Office.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1nB1azU

ARI News: Media Highlights June 2014

Ayn Rand Institute experts appear frequently in various media outlets, addressing everything from the state of the Union to the state of the culture. Here are some recent highlights.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1yY9zjy

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 19]: Tara Smith on Happiness

The Debt Dialogues is a weekly podcast that aims to educate young people about the welfare state and how it will affect their future. In this episode, I interview Tara Smith, a professor of philosophy at the University of Texas, and author of Ayn Rand Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist, on the question: what is happiness and does the welfare state help or hinder our pursuit of happiness?



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1o2jdOx

Introducing Coffee with Reason

Hundreds of you have already responded to our offer of a daily email with links to this blog, Voices for Reason. It’s with pleasure that we now announce Coffee with Reason to fulfill that promise.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1nb8BvO

Dick Morris reacts to Atlas Shrugged

Bill Clinton’s former political advisor Dick Morris is reading Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1yBtgxk

Elan Journo on the Laws of War Shielding Hamas from Israel

After years of terror — and thousands of rocket attacks — Israel is now waging a war of self-defense. But that war is, unfortunately, being undermined by the so-called international laws of war. So argues ARI fellow and director of policy research Elan Journo on Breitbart.com.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1yykkZE

Introducing ARI’s Summer Legal Fellowship

ARI announces its new summer legal fellowship, an internship program that allows law students to work alongside ARI’s policy intellectuals. Legal fellows will research and write on law and policy issues, working with Steve Simpson, director of legal studies, and other ARI intellectuals.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1mXBTOF

Scholars with Thumbscrews: Antitrust’s Predatory Academics

America’s antitrust laws are administered by a flourishing establishment of academics, regulators, lawyers, judges, and think-tank analysts whose mission in life is to torment businessmen. Want to see how they operate? Let’s start with an academic journal article by two antitrust scholars named John Connor and Robert Lande, and see where it leads.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/WbOa8g

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 18]: Yaron Brook On Inequality

In this episode of The Debt Dialogues, I interview Ayn Rand Institute president Yaron Brook on Thomas Piketty and the debate over inequality.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1l0joEY

Social Security: A Bad Deal For the Young and the Old

Probably the most plausible argument for Social Security is that it has made Americans better off financially, lifting millions of seniors out of poverty, and providing all of us with the security of knowing that we will have a decent pension in old age. But none of that is true.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1wmtV2Q

The Laws of War in Gaza: Hamas Targets Civilians, Israel Spares Them

Refuting the propaganda about “massacres” of “defenseless” Palestinians in Gaza, William Saletan at Slate documents how by “the standards of war, Israel’s efforts to spare civilians have been exemplary.”



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/TXCTaa

Why Are So Many Twenty-Somethings Still Living at Home?

Dean Baker, a leading welfare statist and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, recently offered up his theory for why a growing number of Americans are still living with Mom and Dad well into their twenties. His answer? Basically, too little government intervention and too little government spending.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1rSTXwP

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from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1mv2NNp

OCON Recordings Available Until July 21

If you missed attending this year’s Objectivist Summer Conference, you can sign up for streaming access to recordings of the six general-session talks, including question-and-answer sessions.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/VB22sH

Did Ayn Rand Write America’s Second Declaration of Independence?

On Independence Day, I recommend reading (or re-reading) the insightful essay by ARI’s senior fellow and chief content officer Onkar Ghate titled “Atlas Shrugged: America’s Second Declaration of Independence.”



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1qx1uPG

What Do We Celebrate on July 4?

Traditionally, Americans celebrate Independence Day with fireworks and cookouts, and the flag is displayed prominently. But the holiday’s deeper meaning sometimes escapes notice.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1kha8fm

Time To Dump RooseveltCare

Haven’t bought my new book on the welfare state, RooseveltCare: How Social Security Is Sabotaging the Land of Self-Reliance? Here’s a recent interview I did with Kerry Lutz and the Financial Survival Network on the book and the urgent necessity of abolishing Social Security.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/Vb6RZs

Is Wealth Redistribution Theft? And Does It Matter?

If you spend any time reading free-market thinkers, you’ll inevitably encounter the argument that wealth redistribution is wrong because it is theft. See, for instance, this recent article by economist Dominick T. Armentano aptly titled “Redistribution Is Theft.”



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1qK4xU6

Enjoy OCON 2014 Remotely By Livestream

If you can’t attend the 2014 Objectivist Summer Conference in Las Vegas, six events will be available online as they happen.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1iKvYNk

Chicago Atlas Shrugged Revolution Dinner Draws 110 Attendees

The Ayn Rand Institute’s third annual Atlas Shrugged Revolution dinner in Chicago earlier this month raised nearly $300,000 to support ARI programs and initiatives in Chicago and around the country.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1lTuFMq

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from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1ispOl1

50 Years of The Virtue of Selfishness

In honor of the 50th anniversary of The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand, the Ayn Rand Institute will be hosting activities such as talks, panel discussions, and book giveaways to draw attention to the top-selling book among Rand’s nonfiction.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/UBnME8

The Myth about Ayn Rand and Social Security

It’s inevitable. Whenever I attack Social Security as an immoral institution that needs to be abolished, someone announces that my arguments are irrelevant because Ayn Rand was a hypocrite who took Social Security.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1nnRaEN

Life Is Not One Huge Hospital

Advocates of universal coverage seek to create a society in which, if you can’t afford health insurance, the government forces others to provide it for you. What is the moral defense for treating some people as slaves to the needs of others?



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1lTWN0Q

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 15]: Matt Kibbe on Political Change

In this episode of the Debt Dialogues, I interview FreedomWorks president Matt Kibbe about how the welfare state is drafting young Americans into debt, and how they can effectively fight against it.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1n7OLOs

New Book: RooseveltCare: How Social Security Is Sabotaging the Land of Self-Reliance

I’m happy to announce that that book, RooseveltCare: How Social Security Is Sabotaging the Land of Self-Reliance, is finally available for purchase.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1ltGBV0

Three Campaign Finance Lessons from Dave Brat's Victory

Two weeks ago, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on whether to amend the First Amendment in response to Citizens United and other campaign finance decisions that allegedly allow the rich to “buy” elections and prevent “ordinary” Americans from being heard.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1vuULqP

The Ayn Rand Factor: Who is David Brat?

David Brat scored an astonishing win over Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, in this week’s Republican primary in Virginia. There’s a lot to say about Brat’s victory, the reaction to it, what that says about the right and the left today, but it’s the Ayn Rand factor that leapt out.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/TQkJHY

The Antitrust Religion: A Conversation with the Author [Podcast Episode #15]

In this episode of Eye to Eye, I sit down with Edwin Rockefeller, author of The Antitrust Religion, to discuss his hard-hitting, top-to-bottom criticism of antitrust law and the “community” of lawyers, regulators, economists, and academics who interpret its mysteries.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1mM6vPc

New Op-ed from ARI’s Steve Simpson: “The Campaign Finance Monster that Refuses To Die”

In his latest op-ed, published on Breitbart.com, ARI’s director of legal studies Steve Simpson argues that campaign finance laws threaten the individual’s right to free speech, because they rest on a severely mistaken view of the meaning of free speech.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1l9i15O

Ski Equipment Firms Yield to Antitrust Pressure

Two makers of ski equipment have caved in to threats from the Federal Trade Commission, partially surrendering their control over two important business decisions: celebrity endorsement contacts and employee hiring.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1mHYMll

ARI News: Media Highlights May 2014

from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1uT8Caa

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 14]: Michael Cannon on Obamacare

In this episode of The Debt Dialogues, I interview the Cato Institute’s director of health policy studies, Michael Cannon, on Obamacare and its effects on young Americans.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1uRMzk3

What Happened to Egypt’s “Arab Spring”?

Egypt has swung from one kind of tyranny (dictatorship) to another (Islamist rule) — and back again. Why?



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1qhXq48

Get Ready for High-Tech Innovators To Be Demonized

In an Economist article called “The coming tech-lash,” columnist Adrian Wooldridge predicts that “one of the big developments of 2014 will be the growing peasants’ revolt against the sovereigns of cyberspace.” According to the article’s subhead, high-tech elites will “join bankers and oilmen in public demonology.”



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1oA5cp4

Elan Journo Reviews Dancing with the Devil in Middle East Quarterly

Can we gain anything by negotiating with our enemies?



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1oA5ex6

The Minimum Wage vs. Reality

Why is the left obsessed with raising the minimum wage?



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1mfAFdo

Packed House for Mossoff Briefing on Patent Reform

The largest audience ever for an Ayn Rand Institute congressional staff briefing gathered yesterday on Capitol Hill to hear Adam Mossoff, professor of law at George Mason University, discuss “The Failure of Patent Reform: Lessons for Next Year.”



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1hg0YUA

Education News Interview: “Steve Simpson on McCutcheon v. FEC”

Steve Simpson, director of legal studies at ARI, was recently interviewed by Education News about the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in McCutcheon v. FEC and other issues relating to campaign finance law and freedom of speech.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1ky5jmJ

Vigilante GMO Gardening?

Gardening seems like the most crime-free activity in the history of mankind. It’s not only slow and relaxing; it’s hard to imagine little old ladies with giant floppy hats getting themselves into any trouble worth being arrested for. But things are not always as they seem in the garden.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1ky5m21

Exhuming Steve Jobs for Antitrust Persecution

“If Steve Jobs were alive today, should he be in jail?” That’s the astonishing opener of a New York Times article attacking Jobs’s reputation posthumously.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1maljH7

Remembering Tiananmen, 25 Years Later

Twenty-five years ago in Tiananmen Square, China’s Communist regime massacred student protesters who sought some measure of greater freedom. Since then, although China’s economy has opened up, the regime continues to muzzle dissidents and labors studiously to make people forget.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1kLlnvx

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 13]: William Voegeli on the Welfare State

In this episode of The Debt Dialogues, I interview Claremont Review of Books senior editor William Voegeli on the question: “Why do people support the welfare state?”



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1nLgyud

Governing Right Out of Atlas Shrugged

Stephen Moore, chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, published a hard-hitting op-ed in the Orange County Register over the weekend. It’s a timely follow-up to his viral 2009 Wall Street Journal column drawing parallels between the collapsing economy in Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged and the chaotic world of Washington politics at the height of the financial crisis.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1oOTlqF

“Consumer Welfare” = Producer Sacrifice

The more you read about antitrust cases, the more you hear that the laws’ goal is to improve “consumer welfare.” And who could be against “consumer welfare”?



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1onXVZn

Adam Mossoff on patent trolls in Slate

What’s the most amazing innovation in the history of capitalism? The light bulb? The internal combustion engine? The computer chip? Candy Crush?



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1hjt8ye

Government Versus the Rule of Law [Podcast Episode #14]

When the president can get away with repeatedly rewriting Obamacare by fiat because he has a “mandate” from the people, we have to ask: Is America still a nation ruled by laws?



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1lVghhz

Upcoming Talk: Should We Be Proud of Obamacare?

Next Wednesday, June 4, I’ll be giving a brand new talk, titled “Obamacare: A Law We Can Be Proud Of?”, at ARI’s headquarters in Irvine, California.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1o0jLBX

Introduction to RooseveltCare: How Social Security Is Sabotaging the Land of Self-Reliance

This is the introduction to my new book, which we’ll be releasing in early June. Stay tuned to this blog to learn how you can get your hands on it and help us promote it.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1kL3Esp

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 12]: Debate – Don Watkins vs. Harry van der Linden on the Welfare State

In this episode of the Debt Dialogues, I debate Butler University professor of philosophy Harry van der Linden on the morality of the welfare state.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1nRwrel

Medicine: The Death of a Profession

We go to doctors because we want their expert medical judgment on what’s ailing us and how to fix it. In the Wall Street Journal, Zane F. Pollard, a pediatric ophthalmologist, writes about what’s routinely interfering with his ability to exercise his best judgment when it comes to treating his patients: government regulations.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1tjTZtQ

Ayn Rand’s Anthem Nominated for Retrospective Hugo Award

Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem has been nominated for the 1939 Retrospective Hugo Award in the Best Novella category for works published in 1938. The winner will be announced at LonCon 3, a World Science Fiction Convention held in London, England, from August 14 through 18, 2014.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1r1fIuR

The Nosy Neighbor Society

A friend of mine recently passed along this story from the satirical newspaper The Onion, which echoes a bunch of other stories (justly) poking fun at conservatives who are up in arms about the way poor people are spending their money.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/SjUZCZ

ARI’s Executive Director Takes on Thomas Piketty

In an online interview at CityA.M., ARI executive director Yaron Brook commented on French economist Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century, the surprise international bestseller that laments economic inequality.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/RSCqp0

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 11]: Peter Schwartz on Altruism

In this episode of the Debt Dialogues, I interview ARI distinguished fellow Peter Schwartz on the morality of altruism.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1vAtIvg

Special Pricing for All Full-Time Students at OCON 2014

Due to high demand, we've expanded Young Adult pricing at the 2014 Objectivist Summer Conference to include full-time students of all ages.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1lGxEDY

The Forgotten Man of Socialized Medicine

A couple weeks ago I pointed readers of this blog to an excellent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, written by an orthopedic surgeon, Daniel F. Craviotto, who took a stand against growing government control of his livelihood.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1gHBeR7

Three New Speakers at OCON 2014 in Las Vegas

We'd like to welcome Carl Barney, Hal Berenson and Tim Blum to our list of distinguished speakers at this year’s Objectivist Summer Conference, an annual gathering for fans of Ayn Rand.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1mBLHgO

The Rich, the Poor, and Ayn Rand

Steve Horwitz has a very interesting post about Ayn Rand over at Bleeding Heart Libertarians. He notes that Rand is often caricatured as an advocate of the rich and an enemy of the poor.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1ouqhUO

“Predatory Technology” Update: The History

When I blogged recently about a British lawyer’s proposal to make “predatory technology” into a “viable antitrust concept,” I didn’t realize how many prior attempts have been made in American courts and regulatory agencies to do just that.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1mrwzCn

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 10]: John C. Goodman on Medicare

In this episode the Debt Dialogues, I talked to National Center for Policy Analysis president John C. Goodman about Medicare.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/SZi7Hr

John Stossel To Headline Ayn Rand Institute’s Chicago Gala

The Ayn Rand Institute’s third annual Chicago fundraising dinner and auction will feature acclaimed investigative journalist, best-selling author and TV personality John Stossel.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1mirmgf

What Dave Ramsey’s Personal Finance Advice Can Teach Us About the Minimum Wage Debate

A few weeks ago I was listening to the Dave Ramsey radio show and I heard him take a call from a young man who was struggling with a low-paying job and two kids he had to support all on his own. I was impressed with Dave’s advice.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1ldlYqM

ARI News: Media Highlights

ARI writers and speakers regularly appear on a variety of media outlets.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/Qnc8Kt

“Predatory Technology” Update: The Nespresso Case

When I blogged recently about a British lawyer’s proposal to make “predatory technology” into a “viable antitrust concept,” I didn’t realize how many prior attempts have been made in American courts and regulatory agencies to do just that.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1jIFf6l

The Government Does You No Favors by Not Seizing Your Income

Kaiser Health News has an informative article busting some common myths about who pays for health care in this country. The article correctly illustrates that most people today have their medical expenses subsidized by others — by either their employers or the government.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1uGGAzw

Why I Don’t Support Andrew Biggs’ Social Security Proposal

One of the things that makes thinking clearly about Social Security difficult is that the program actually blends together two very different issues: (1) how individuals prepare for old-age and (2) transferring income from those who earn it to those who allegedly need it.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1mD6QFi

The Debt Dialogues [Episode 9]: Yaron Brook on Capitalism

In this episode of the Debt Dialogues, I talk to Ayn Rand Institute executive director Yaron Brook about the moral alternative to the welfare state: laissez-faire capitalism. Topics include how the welfare state harms recipients, why capitalism leads to prosperity and human flourishing, and Ayn Rand’s unique contribution to capitalist thought.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1kIJwDv

We’re All Pawns Under Obamacare

The government today does not see us as individuals with the right to make choices about our own health care. Instead, over the last hundred years, the government has increasingly forced us to make different choices.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1myX37L

Upcoming talk: The “Virtue of Selfishness”?

On Wednesday, May 7, ARI’s Elan Journo will be talking about the meaning and implications of the “virtue of selfishness.”



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1mw5fkO

How To End the Welfare State With One Simple Question

In a recent debate on the welfare state, I was asked whether I thought it was important to help others. That, I said, was not the right question. In a free society, people help others all the time — parents help children, neighbors help neighbors, private charities help orphans.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1iQBywD

How Ayn Rand’s Books Change Lives

If you haven’t yet read Jason Hill’s article at Salon.com, head over there now. It’s an engrossing story about how Hill, now a professor at De Paul University, first encountered Ayn Rand’s ideas growing up in Jamaica.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1oaZzxM

The Retirement Crisis that Probably Isn’t

Elizabeth Warren and many of the other people recklessly seeking to expand Social Security, which is already on an unsustainable course, justify their crusade by claiming that America is facing a retirement crisis. Millions of older Americans, they say, cannot afford to retire: Social Security doesn’t pay enough and they haven't saved sufficiently on their own.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1fExQFP

Imagine: The Power to Choose Your Health Care

On Wednesday, May 7, I’ll be speaking in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, at “Imagine: The Power to Choose YOUR Healthcare,” an event organized by the Steamboat Institute.



from Ayn Rand Institute - Blog http://bit.ly/1mlQzZO

Atlas Shrugged Revolution Dinner in Chicago

Join us on June 3 for the annual Atlas Shrugged Revolution Chicago Dinner, a celebration of Ayn Rand’s groundbreaking ideas and an opportunity to learn the latest about ARI’s work promoting those ideas in Chicago and around the country.



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One Doctor Says “Enough Is Enough”

In the Wall Street Journal, Daniel F. Craviotto Jr., an orthopedic surgeon, writes eloquently about the government’s increasing intervention in the practice of medicine. He illustrates some of the ways (though there are many more) by which the government has come to increasingly control doctors’ time, efforts and income — i.e., their lives.



from Blog RSS Feed http://bit.ly/1hhG0yS

What Passes for Palestinian Politics

Quite unsurprisingly, the Israeli-Palestinian “peace process” that John Kerry wanted to resuscitate appears to be collapsing (again).



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The Debt Dialogues [Episode 8]: Harry Binswanger on Inequality

from Blog RSS Feed http://bit.ly/1fu20eN

The Worm in the Apple Speaks

Michael Bromwich has issued his first report. Bromwich is the antitrust monitor empowered by a federal court to “reform” Apple Inc.’s corporate culture from within. Be afraid . . . be very afraid.



from Blog RSS Feed http://bit.ly/1m7ZDBh

The (Narrow) Debate over the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

At Room for Debate, on the New York Times opinion pages, there's a four-way exchange on this question: “can reconciliation between [the Palestinian factions] Fatah and Hamas end up improving the chances of peace between Israelis and Palestinians, which have dimmed as American-backed talks have foundered?”



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Software Engineers Don’t Deserve Antitrust Windfall

Once again, some of America’s most admired and innovative companies — in this case Apple, Google, Intel, Adobe, Intuit, Pixar, and LucasFilm — have fallen victim to an antitrust shakedown.



from Blog RSS Feed http://bit.ly/1ff6YMb

Lawmakers Should Eliminate "Three Tier" Controls on Beer, Not Extend Them

For years, many craft brewers in Florida have been directly working with the stores that sell their products. But now Florida lawmakers are entertaining a bill that will make such direct dealings illegal, forcing craft brewers to instead use state-licensed distributors as middlemen.



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Does Parenthood Consist of Breeding Slaves?

One strain of argument for the welfare state contends that because you have benefited from the welfare state, you have an obligation to fund the welfare state.



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Engaging with Leading Free Market Thinkers

Last week ARI intellectuals spoke at the annual conference of the Association of Private Enterprise Education, APEE.



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What Squeegee Bandits Can Teach Us About the Welfare State

Somewhere near the bottom of Dante’s nine levels of hell rest the “squeegee bandits.” These were the guys who waited for your car to stop at a traffic light, and then — without permission — quickly squeegeed your windshield “clean.”



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Punishing Food Trucks for Their Popularity

The proliferation of the food truck industry has created numerous opportunities for entrepreneurial-minded Americans to start their own business. It is hard enough to succeed in the mobile cuisine business given how fiercely competitive the restaurant industry is. But government regulations are making it even harder for food truck entrepreneurs to stay afloat.



from Blog RSS Feed http://bit.ly/1l7wMtR

Should Insurers Be Forced To Ignore Genetic Facts?

In a world where genetic testing is continually becoming more reliable and affordable, many people are wary of finding out their genetic makeup because they fear insurance companies will ask for the results. If your test shows that you are at high-risk for developing a disease, like Alzheimer’s, insurance companies may charge you higher premiums or may even decide that you pose too great a risk and turn down your application for coverage.



from Blog RSS Feed http://bit.ly/1l7wMdr

An Earth Day “Pop Quiz” You’ve Got to Take

Over at Breitbart California, my colleague Keith Lockitch has just published an Earth Day pop quiz: “What is the ‘most ethical meat’?”



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Will Antitrust Enforcers Target “Predatory Technology”?

Everybody’s heard of “predatory pricing.” It’s the mythical process by which a big business can supposedly destroy competitors by selling below cost.



from Blog RSS Feed http://bit.ly/1l7wLGq

Fast Food CEO: It Is Easier to Open a Restaurant in Russia than in Los Angeles

Government regulations regularly treat honest businessmen as guilty until proven innocent by requiring that they get government permission to open a business, even one as familiar as a fast food restaurant.



from Blog RSS Feed http://bit.ly/1jV5MuN

High Frequency Trading — A Government Byproduct?

Whenever the press, politicians and academics vilify a financial phenomenon, further examination almost always reveals that its bad elements are caused by regulation, not by markets — and often its consequences are good, despite what the experts claim. Case in point: the hysteria surrounding so-called High-Frequency Trading.



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Ending the Debt Draft Update 2

This has been quite a month. We kicked off April with a debate on the welfare state at the University of Wisconsin-Madison that drew a live audience of 250 students and many more online.



from Blog RSS Feed http://bit.ly/1jV5G6A

Uncommon Sense in the Campaign Finance Debates

Michael Kinsley has a very sensible take on the Supreme Court’s McCutcheon decision that is particularly notable because he refuses to join the chorus of unfocused, hysterical complaints about money in politics emanating from many of his colleagues on the left.



from Blog RSS Feed http://bit.ly/1l7wHXd

Masked Eggplant Thugs Plant a Field of Lies

You may know it as an “eggplant,” but in Bangladesh, where it is considered a staple crop, it goes by the name “brinjal.” Last year, a biotech variety of the purple fruit, meant to resist attacks from insects, was approved for cultivation in Bangladesh.



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