British economic historian R. H. Tawney argues that economic efficiency cannot be the only criteria of judgment for the well being of society. Undoubtedly, every “sane and vigorous society” needs efficiency and those who deny this are but “incorrigible sentimentalists.” Read the popular article: We Must Resist the Temptation to Secession However, the noted scholar … Read more
Everyone knows that doing business requires production facilities and consumers who will buy wares. However, the cost of production cannot only be computed in terms of labor and materials. There is a social component to production which sociologist call social capital. Free Book: Return to Order: From a Frenzied Economy to an Organic Christian Society—Where … Read more
Written by Norman Fulkerson * Since reading Return to Order by John Horvat, I was inspired to apply the principles he so clearly lays out for the reader. He gives organic society as the solution for our economic problems and an essential part of such a plan is a healthy regionalism. Although it might be … Read more
Quite by accident, I came to frequent a jewelry store that would help me take care of those small problems with watches that can be so vexing. I was tired of department store attendants who could not replace batteries or change watch bands. It seemed that every time I took a watch in to be … Read more
The theory of just price is often misrepresented by those who oppose the idea. They like to say that including justice as a factor in the determining of prices is contrary to free markets. They imagine just price to mean the setting up of an economic tyranny where prices were set in stone and merchants … Read more
The late Sen. Eugene McCarthy once said that only two kinds of religion are permitted in America: strong beliefs vaguely expressed or vague beliefs strongly expressed. In a similar way, it could be said that the same formula applies to political beliefs. Keeping everything vague is the basis of a general consensus which supposedly allows … Read more
The need for private property is hardly a mystery. From time immemorial, property has existed and can be justified by simple common sense. Aristotle gives four such reasons that can be applied to both his times and our own. We quote from economic historian Odd Langholm who summarizes these four reasons: (1) If property … Read more
A good friend of mine reported on a meeting of local conservatives that she attended in St. Louis, Mo. She reports: “At the end, I held up a copy of Return to Order, and told about the book. Several folks were interested, and asked questions at the forum. I gave the president of the group … Read more
During recent travels, a colleague and I pulled into a gas station to get fuel and stretch our legs. It was a gas station like so many thousands across the country without anything extraordinary about it. However, as we returned to the car, we noticed a middle-aged woman speaking on what appeared to be an … Read more
There are those who believe that the only way to stop the excesses of markets is to build a massive framework of rules and regulations to bar every possibility of abuse. Such structures make economies resemble prisons rather than free markets. Their promoters fail to recognize that this is a moral problem not a regulatory … Read more
