Free Republic

As Adam Smith wrote in his 18th century book, "The Wealth of Nations," "When the regulation is in support of the workman, it is always just and equitable — but it is sometimes otherwise when in favour of the masters." Smith advocated high wages as beneficial to employer and employee alike, and he advocated the abolition of slavery. The distinguished American economist John Kenneth Galbraith said about "The Wealth of Nations:" “It is much celebrated by the ministry of the righteous right, few of whom have read it. “Were they to do so — disapproval of the corporate form,...

How to bring manufacturing back home -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: September 29, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern In July, our trade deficit hit yet another all-time record, $68 billion, an annual rate of $816 billion. Imports surged to $188 billion for the month, as our dependency on foreigners for the vital necessities of our national life ever deepens. China's trade surplus with us was $19.6 billion for July alone, moving toward an all-time record of $235 billion for 2006 – the largest trade deficit one country has ever run with another. Our deficit with Mexico is running at an annual rate of $60...

FREE TO CHOOSE: Tyranny of Control Friedman: It is harvest time and Japanese farmers gather their crops for the rice market in Kyoto. Of course, they will try to get as much for it as possible and the buyer's will try to buy it as cheaply as possible. That is how markets are supposed to work. That is what Adam Smith, the Scotsman who turned economics into a modern science, observed 200 years ago. He observed something else too. Adam Smith: In every country it is always and must be in the interest of the great body of people to...

The government can decide what artwork is worthwhile without being accused of censorship as long as it is funding that art, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia told an audience Thursday at the Juilliard School. "The First Amendment has not repealed the ancient rule of life, that he who pays the piper calls the tune," Scalia said. The justice, who limited his discussion to art issues, said he wasn't suggesting that government stop funding the arts, but that if it does fund artwork, it is entitled to have a say in the content, just like when it runs a school system....

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan paid tribute on Sunday to the father of modern economics, saying that 18th-century philosopher Adam Smith was "a towering contributor to the development of the modern world." Greenspan, who this month began his final year as Fed chairman, delivered the Adam Smith Memorial Lecture at Fife College in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland, where the early proponent of free-market capitalism was born in 1723. "In his 'Wealth of Nations,' Smith reached far beyond the insights of his predecessors to frame a global view of how market economies, just then emerging, worked," Greenspan said in...

The Design and Manufacturing Show was held in Chicago on March 5, 2003. Bob Dwyer is a manufacturing representative with 19 years of experience and was one of the participants. His observations should make us reflect on the fundamental crisis regarding what has gone wrong with the American economy, its corporate culture, job creation and economic growth, and the heavy hand of government interference in the name of political correctness. His concerns also illustrate the deception and disconnection of the transnational establishment and corporate sector from our core, our foundation, our value as a nation-state and certainly the disconnect from...