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