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News
Recent posts and articles from IGEG fellows, advisers, experts and scholars.
Financial Tyranny against Political Enemies The Feds hobble their critics by choking off their banking privileges
If you were a political leader who wanted to control the population, but wanted to do it without using brute force, how would you do it? The answer: control how individuals and businesses spend their money by controlling their bank and other financial accounts. The...
Recalling the Reagan-Kemp Vision It’s time to replace Obama malaise
What is the Republican Party’s vision for America? You may have a hard time answering other than “not President Obama and his policies.” Most Republicans plan to run their fall campaigns focusing on the Obama scandals — admittedly a target-rich area — with scandals...
Economic Freedom versus Big Government The numbers, unlike the politicians, don’t lie
Do you think there would be more jobs, less poverty and higher real incomes if government was 60 percent or 18 percent of gross domestic product? Fortunately, a global economic-growth experiment has been underway for more than a half-century. Some countries have opted...
No Western Counter to Russia’s Ukraine Gambit Obama won’t undercut Putin’s expansionism with energy resources
Most wars result from at least one side overestimating its chances of success and one or more of the sides not having a clear "endgame." Russian President Vladimir Putin has a clear goal, which can be discerned from his own statements and actions, and from discussions...
Making Congress Accountable Candidates should pledge in writing to scale back government overreach
Have you noticed that many political candidates, when running for office, claim they are going to make government less corrupt, irrational, incompetent and burdensome? Yet after they are elected, it only gets more so. Politicians like to speak in broad, general terms...
The World did not End The defining moment for climate change has come and gone, again
“The Arctic Ocean is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer, and in some places the seals are finding the water too hot. Reports from fishermen, seal hunters, and explorers all point to a radical change in climate conditions and hitherto unheard-of temperatures in...
Abusive Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws Abusive Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws
Do you think the Internal Revenue Service and other government agencies should have the right to seize your assets, including your bank accounts, when you have not been convicted of wrongdoing? The fact is, the IRS and other government agencies do this all of the...
Why do We Still Use Paper Money? Easily stolen, filthy currency ought to be forsaken
Paper currency is dirty and is a major transmitter of disease as it goes from unwashed hand to unwashed hand. It is easily lost and stolen, and can be easily destroyed by getting wet or burned. It physically wears out in a short time and is costly and troublesome to...
Foxes in the Financial Henhouse Anti-money laundering surveillance has done little but eliminate banking services
To whom would you be willing to trust with all of your financial and tax information: close family members or the U.S. government and foreign governments, including Russia? For the last several decades, global liberty-haters have dreamt that all financial privacy...
How the Greens Help Putin in Crimea Incursion The eco-left’s opposition to oil and gas use leaves Ukraine at the mercy of Russia
A primary duty of a sovereign nation is to put policies in place to protect the country from both military and economic aggressors. This normally includes the creation of a capable military force (and protective military alliances) and competent economic policies to...
The Responsibility to Resist Irresponsible Politicians Fiscal prudence must be carried from the kitchen table to the voting booth
Are you more responsible than your government? If so, what can you do about it? If your personal spending rises faster than your income each year, you eventually will go bankrupt. Responsible people understand this and thus refrain from taking on more debt than their...
Legal and Illegal Political Corruption Beware of government’s power to intrude and do harm
If a politician or government official takes a direct monetary bribe for granting a favor or sweetheart contract, do you think he should be sent to prison? Such an activity is despicable, but it is usually far less costly to society than the legal forms of corruption,...
Officialdom’s ‘Fatal Conceit’ Government forecasters prefer acceptability over accuracy
Few express opinions different from what they are paid to say, and such is equally true for those who work for government. On an almost daily basis, the world is treated to presidential spokespeople denying what most people understand to be true. Last week, Jason...
Being Taxed for Bad Advice It’s foolish to fund organizations that demand even more money
If you became aware that the advice you were receiving from your economic advisers was causing you to get poorer rather than richer, how long would you keep them? Among the general public, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and their lesser known...
Russian Meddling in Ukraine Could Trigger Financial Turmoil If Moscow restricts natural gas to kiev, europe’s economy could slow
Why worry about Ukraine? To many, it seems far away and a country about which they know little. News clips of the recent violent demonstrations in Kiev have occasionally appeared on the news shows, but most Americans have shown little interest. Yet Ukraine has the...
A World of Economic Trouble Danger grows as nations add to debt burdens
There are many signs that the world may be headed for a new economic slump, or worse. Which countries are best positioned to weather such a downturn and which are not? Countries that have been fiscally responsible in the recent past are for the most part in better...
Going Global with Tax Devastation The foreign account tax compliance act is provoking foreign hostility
The administration and many in Congress seem to have learned nothing from the Obamacare disaster. Now that they have destroyed the world's best health care system, they are in the process of further destroying what was at one time a very functional global financial...
Lawless and Dangerous Why public officials must be held accountable
Without the rule of law, a civil and prosperous society cannot long endure. The annual reports of “The Economic Freedom of the World” and the “Index of Economic Freedom” show very large declines in the international ranking of the United States in the rule of law over...