March 2013

Volume 63, 2013

The way to beat Leviathan is to go over and around it--that is, to out-innovate it. The education system is beginning to feel the effects of this disruption, says Michael Horn. Mark Frazier describes where education is heading, Jay Bowen explains why it can't stay where it is, and Aleksandr Jogerst reports back from inside the beast. Plus Bruce Yandle on on the balance of tax spenders versus tax payers; Gary Galles discussing how Wikipedia illlustrates something beautiful about markets; and much, much more.

FEATURES

Disrupting the Classroom

FEBRUARY 07, 2013 by MICHAEL HORN

Our education system was designed for a long-gone industrial past. By going under and around the established monopoly, disruptors are changing that.

Ubiquity U: The Rise of Disruptive Learning

JANUARY 31, 2013 by MARK FRAZIER

Entrepreneurial challengers are fast rendering traditional educational systems obsolete.

Student Loans: Another Federal Debacle

JANUARY 29, 2013 by JAY BOWEN

Government lending policies meant to increase access to college have triggered an avalanche of debt, price inflation, and a financial crisis. Sound familiar? It should--it's the housing crisis redux.

Reflections on My Grandfather “Muso” – An Interview with Pedro Ayau

JANUARY 28, 2013 by THE FREEMAN

The Freeman discusses former FEE trustee, founder of Universidad Francisco Marroquín, and lifelong champion of liberty Manuel Ayau with his grandson Pedro.

If You Like Wikipedia, You Should Love Markets

JANUARY 30, 2013 by GARY M. GALLES

Wikipedia's success illustrates all the benefits of free and voluntary association that free markets provide despite government obstacles.

Free-Market Pariah: Reflections of a Young Graduate

JANUARY 30, 2013 by ALEKSANDR JOGERST

College often isn't kind to students who don't toe the anti-liberty party line. Take heart, says a recent graduate; you're not alone.

Fracking, Controversy, and Water Markets

JANUARY 22, 2013 by JOEL WATTS

Fracking exposes an important lesson about water markets, along with all that gas and oil trapped below the rocks.

The Tilting Point: “Robbing Peter to Pay Paul”

JANUARY 16, 2013 by BRUCE YANDLE

The U.S. economy is quickly approaching the point where there are more tax spenders than taxpayers, helping to produce a divided country.

The Futility of Tax Increases

JANUARY 21, 2013 by D.W. MACKENZIE

Targeting tax increases at just "the wealthy" is impossible--and won't solve any of the government's financial woes.

On Paying Our “Fair Share”

JANUARY 24, 2013 by CHARLES W. BAIRD

Progressive taxes are both arbitrary and unfair.

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COLUMNS

Alertness Against Leviathan

FEBRUARY 04, 2013 by MAX BORDERS

We should cultivate an entrepreneurial awareness focused on making social changes--to outcompete the State--the way other entrepreneurs spot opportunities to make a fortune.

The Self-Congratulation of the “Public Servant”

JANUARY 23, 2013 by DOUG BANDOW

Entrepreneurs and other actors in the private sector provide far more public service than politicians and bureaucrats.

"Not the Poorest People of the District"

JANUARY 25, 2013 by SARAH SKWIRE

Maude Pember Reeves's Round About a Pound a Week is a deeply researched, sympathetically drawn portrait of the tough choices constantly confronting London's working poor in the early 20th century.

Headphones: Paradigm of Market Progress

JANUARY 14, 2013 by JEFFREY A. TUCKER

When companies compete to provide people with what they want, previously unimagined products and services spring into being to serve the infinite diversity of the human family. The headphone market richly illustrates this lesson.

CULTURE

Public Choice—A Primer

FEBRUARY 14, 2013 by VICTOR STEPIEN

Victor Stepien reviews Eamonn Butler's Public Choice--A Primer.

Reforming U.S. Financial Markets

FEBRUARY 06, 2013 by MARK CALABRIA

Reforming U.S. Financial Markets, by Randall Kroszner and Robert Shiller, intends to offer views of the housing crisis from differing "ends of the spectrum." Instead it illustrates the narrowness of that spectrum and how little attention mainstream analysis pays to the role of government interventions in distorting markets and setting up crises in the first place.