On September 15, 1922, Harry Oldbaum was walking near 116th St and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. He was suddenly surrounded by a crowd of teens who grabbed at him and stole his hat. Oldbaum was in good enough shape to give chase and apprehend one of his attackers, and haul the perpetrator to a nearby …| Articles from FEE
Before Donald Trump’s state visit to the United Kingdom, there was no shortage of speculation that something might go wrong. Perhaps demonstrators would cause disruption. Or there would be some diplomatic row. The dismissal of the British Ambassador to Washington, Lord Mandelson, just a few days earlier was hardly an encouraging portent. As it turned …| Articles from FEE
Spain’s Socialist-led government has recently forgiven €83.3 billion in debt owed by fifteen of the country’s seventeen autonomous communities. Though part of a deal struck between Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the Catalan separatists on whom his minority coalition depends, it doesn’t just benefit the wealthy region of Catalonia. Andalusia, historically one of Spain’s poorest …| Articles from FEE
After nearly two decades, the European Union (EU) and India are edging closer to finalizing a free trade agreement. Talks, first launched in 2007 and repeatedly stalled—due partly to the EU bloc’s ratification and bureaucratic lethargy, and partly to India’s reluctance towards EU-wide policies—are suddenly moving with purpose. Both sides want to conclude a deal …| Articles from FEE
For many years, high drug prices have raised the ire of politicians of all stripes, from Donald Trump to Bernie Sanders, with many others in between. The proposed solutions almost always focus on the final step in the drug development and marketing process: the sale of the drugs to various government payers. Would-be reformers argue …| Articles from FEE
According to experts, the best way to maintain a new habit is to track it. I’ve recently taken up running. And as runners typically do, I’m now hooked on tracking my distance, measuring my pace, and setting goals to get better. Naturally, this sent me down the rabbit hole of finding the best tracking device. …| Articles from FEE
In an era when regional multilateral deals are stalling, China and Saudi Arabia are seemingly forging an alternative path, choosing a more streamlined route defined by the convergence of ambition, infrastructure, and mutual need. At the heart of this agreement is the alignment between Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI), …| Articles from FEE
I was eight years old when I first asked my mom about why some kids had to ride the bus to school every day and I didn’t. “Not everyone goes to school from home like you,” she smiled. “A lot of kids go to traditional school, learning with teachers for hours out of the day, …| Articles from FEE
Every time we ask an AI tool a question, it silently consumes electricity and water. But until now, we never knew how much. Google has set the record straight by publishing calculations from its Gemini model. Gemini is an artificial intelligence system that can process text, images, video, and audio. According to the company, one …| Articles from FEE
All is fare in love and war. That’s not a typo—anything can be sold, even and especially during a trade war. In the unfolding drama of the US–China economic rivalry, a fragile ceasefire has emerged, not through diplomacy, but through mutual dependency. In the midst of heavy US transshipping tariffs—aimed at China, and hitting the …| Articles from FEE
The lumber market in recent years has been a rollercoaster. For those operating logging businesses, or lumber yards and mills, or contractors and homeowners looking to replace a few planks on the deck, not knowing which way the market will shift has been stressful. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal: Wood markets …| Articles from FEE
Charlie Kirk is dead. That is not a sentence I ever imagined writing, certainly not in 2025. He leaves behind a devoted wife as well as two young children, who will grow up in a world without their father. Charlie Kirk was the founder of Turning Point USA, a conservative student activist group, and host …| Articles from FEE
Sinologists speak of the “Four Great Inventions” of China. The infamous “one-child policy” is not one of them; that is a political contrivance of more recent times and is producing a demographic catastrophe (see The Ultimate Central Planning Nightmare). The Four Great Inventions are the compass, paper, printing, and gunpowder. They date to ancient times, …| Articles from FEE
France’s government imploded on Monday, September 8, 2025, when Prime Minister François Bayrou lost a climactic confidence vote in the National Assembly (364 votes against to 194 in support) bringing down his minority government and plunging the country deeper into a constitutional and fiscal crisis. As rapid as this collapse appears, the origin traces back …| Articles from FEE
Once upon a time, the labor market was mostly local. Businesses placed small ads in newspapers, received a handful of applications, and made their selections from there. Each stage of the process, from the cost of advertising to writing and mailing applications, to having personnel review them, involved significant marginal costs. There was friction—job seekers …| Articles from FEE
Covid-19 might have passed, but the latest outbreak of titulitis is tearing through Spain. A term used to refer to politicians’ obsession with higher| Foundation for Economic Education
Like many countries with an aging population, Mexico is facing a pension crisis. In just the last five years, the universal pension for older adults quadrupled its budget. Coupled with low growth, the ever-rising cash transfers and subsidies have become a major drag on the country’s economy. Welfare payments to individuals—such as the universal pension …| Articles from FEE
On September 1st, as he landed at Heathrow Airport, Graham Linehan was arrested by not one, not two, but five armed police officers, under suspicion of “inciting violence.” What was the crime that the famed comedy writer, creator of Father Ted and The IT Crowd, had committed? It must have been especially egregious for five …| Articles from FEE
In the last few years, everything has changed for college students. Applications capable of writing assignments suddenly became a part of everyday life. What is the real impact of artificial intelligence (AI)? Is it a convenient tool for personalized learning or a path to academic dishonesty? Out of nowhere, AI became students’ best friend. A …| Articles from FEE
Soon, the European Union is set to vote on the so-called “Chat Control” legislation. Under the pretext of protecting children from online predators, the privacy of millions of users could be undermined. If passed, this means that Brussels will impose its vision on the world, one increasingly detached from liberty. Concerns about Chat Control have …| Articles from FEE
Britain was once a giant of car manufacturing. In the 1950s, we were the second-largest producer in the world and the biggest exporter. Coventry, Birmingham, and Oxford built not just cars, but the reputation of an industrial nation; to this day, it is a source of great pride that Jaguar–Land Rover, a global automotive icon, …| Articles from FEE
The Federal Reserve System has unique powers among Congressionally-chartered government bodies, and yet its powers do not include the authority to borrow money at taxpayer expense to pay for huge accumulating losses without Congressional approval. The Fed has invented its own unique financial accounting standard to disguise the fact that, under normal accounting rules, the …| Articles from FEE
Vietnam, a nation that still languishes under the thumb of a government with an avowed communist ideology, intends to become Asia’s next “tiger economy.” Ravaged by the civil war that split the country in two, and drew the United States into the sort of regional conflict that it had long sought to avoid, in 1975, …| Articles from FEE
It happened in Argentina, and now it is happening in Bolivia. Across Latin America, expelling the left from power brings optimism back to the markets. On August 17, Bolivians went to the polls and delivered a historic blow to Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), the left-wing party that has governed Bolivia during 18 out of the …| Articles from FEE
While visiting Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, I was intrigued and surprised by the amount of art and public displays commemorating communism and the Soviet era. These weren’t honorary tributes to “golden times,” but rather pieces honoring those who suffered under the regime; reminders never to forget, and never to return to, those …| Articles from FEE
Prices matter. Now, I’m a free market, capitalistic type, so of course I’m going to insist that everyone be tied down to mere gilt and pelf in how they live their lives. Yet it is still true that prices really, really matter. Let’s walk through why that’s true, regardless of your political tribe. Any one …| Articles from FEE
Many have welcomed Japan’s recent economic recovery after several years of contraction, but the current circumstances are fragile at best. As of August 2025, Japan’s economy, the fifth-largest globally by nominal GDP and purchasing power parity, embodies a weak recovery undermined by overreliance on government intervention: GDP growth is limp—flat in Q1 and only marginal …| Articles from FEE
Some laws extinguish fires; others ignite them. In Spain, a country that has mastered the art of legislating against reality, we have more of the second kind.| Foundation for Economic Education
Catalan secessionists are extracting so many concessions from the Spanish government that soon there will be no need to strive for independence. Their latest victory came last month—a tentative agreement from Spain’s Socialist-led government to allow the wealthy northeastern region, also controlled by a Socialist administration, to collect its own personal income tax. Fiscal autonomy …| Articles from FEE
After years of Nazi occupation in World War II, followed by life under Stalin and subsequent Soviet leaders, the Polish people had suffered enough. By the 1980s, the resistance movement had swelled to a climax. History celebrates the Solidarity Movement, strikes, and international negotiations—and rightly so. But the Orange Alternative also deserves attention—unless it appears …| Articles from FEE
President Donald Trump’s executive order of July 31st, effective August 7th, has upended global trade dynamics in a single stroke. Slapping a 40% tariff on all “transshipped goods”—products rerouted through third countries to dodge US duties—this is merely the natural development of his evolving protectionist agenda. Just a week after the order, the move is …| Articles from FEE
The following is an adapted excerpt from FEE Senior Fellow Kerry McDonald’s new book, Joyful Learning: How to Find Freedom, Happiness, and Success Beyond Conventional Schooling, which is available now wherever books are sold. It is reprinted here with permission from the publisher. When we hear the word entrepreneur, many of us think of Silicon …| Articles from FEE
Tim Friede let venomous snakes bite him roughly 200 times, suffering anaphylactic shocks, and spending four days hospitalized in a coma. But this wasn’t a suicide attempt. He was seeking immunity to all snake venom, so that his blood could be used to create a universal antitoxin. The Centivax startup reports promising results from an …| Articles from FEE
FEE has published several articles over the years on the dangers of occupational licensing regulations. In short, occupational licensure imposes additional legal requirements on someone entering a particular profession. These exist in industries ranging from medicine to hair-braiding (yes, really). Often, defenders of such regulations point to their role in ensuring safety in fields such …| Articles from FEE
Rachel Reeves, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, stands at the precipice of a fiscal catastrophe, with a £50 billion shortfall in public finances threatening to upend her economic strategy. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), a think tank co-founded by John Maynard Keynes, has issued a damning indictment of the Government’s economic …| Articles from FEE
Bolivia’s economy is on the brink of collapse. The country is experiencing its highest inflation in 38 years: in June alone, prices rose by 5.2%, which is not| Foundation for Economic Education
What is needed to stop the trend towards socialism and despotism is common sense and moral courage.| Foundation for Economic Education
In the 2020 election, an interesting candidate made his way onto the scene for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination: Andrew Yang. Yang made a splash| Foundation for Economic Education
In the world of economics, everybody from academic theorists to Wall Street strategists holds strong, often differing views on a wide variety of topics ranging from tariffs to taxes to the debt ceiling. Simply tune into both CNN Money and Fox Business on the same day, and you will get a glimpse of the field’s …| Articles from FEE
As a business professor, I strive to teach sound principles and practices, focusing on the benefits of productivity and value creation. I want my students pursuing business careers to be proud of their chosen profession. While business ethics is a topic worthy of classroom coverage and discussion, I do not view my role as one …| Articles from FEE
It’s a poorly-kept secret that Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) has faced crisis after crisis. But the latest scandal over 3 million “unseen patients” may be its worst yet. In fact, this omnicrisis is worsened by the fact that barely anyone is speaking about it. Throughout the 2000s, headlines warned of an overwhelmed and underfunded …| Articles from FEE
The federal government has been funding select media organizations for decades. It’s time to give this responsibility back to the free market.| Foundation for Economic Education
Few structures have proven to be as resistant to change as bureaucracy. Built on printed forms, single windows, and linear processes, bureaucracy has long been synonymous with rigidity and inefficiency. But that is beginning to change. Artificial intelligence has emerged as a viable solution to administrative bottlenecks, both in the public and private sectors. Automating …| Articles from FEE
Last October, I reported on a study that gave participants $1,000 a month and measured the impacts of the transfer. The results were disappointing to advocates of universal basic income (UBI). To summarize, the study found that people worked less, and, according to the researchers: [Participants] used the time they gained from working less to …| Articles from FEE
Walk into a government clinic in Lagos on a Monday morning, and you’ll see the real price of “free” healthcare. Even early in the day, the benches are already full. Mothers clutch sick children, elderly men sit on the floor, and everyone waits, sometimes for hours, just to be seen. When a nurse finally calls …| Articles from FEE
Imagine if Steve Jobs or Jeff Bezos had been required to obtain fifteen permits, pay multiple unrelated fees, and navigate unreliable public services before launching their businesses. The world might have missed out on Apple and Amazon. For too many aspiring entrepreneurs in Mexico, this is what they face. A few years ago, I visited …| Articles from FEE
In the past days, the world has been shaken—literally—by several natural disasters: the devastating floods in Texas in June 2025, which displaced thousands;| Foundation for Economic Education
The best-known female aviator (“aviatrix” in the parlance of bygone years) is undoubtedly Amelia Earhart. A record-setting pilot and the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, she is assumed to have died in 1937 in the Pacific while attempting to circumnavigate the globe. But before Amelia Earhart, there was Neta Snook, who taught …| Articles from FEE
In a world where global power is measured by military strength, technological innovation, or cultural influence, it is striking that the European Union,| Foundation for Economic Education
As of Sunday, July 27, the United States and the European Union have signed a new trade agreement, imposing a 15% tariff on most EU goods entering the US,| Foundation for Economic Education
After 47 years of Superman movies, James Gunn’s 2025 film offers a poignant take on the values Superman has always embodied: truth, justice, and the American Way. Through his origin story as an alien adopted and raised in Kansas, Superman symbolizes the hope and idealism that define the American Dream: that through hard work and …| Articles from FEE
The impacts of a two-year-old law are finally being felt in Britain—and, as the United States looks to pass its own Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), it should| Foundation for Economic Education
I spend my summers in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Due to limited water availability, the municipality limits lawn watering to once per week| Foundation for Economic Education
The last holdouts of Covid-era student loan programs will have their interest reinstated in August 2025.| Foundation for Economic Education
A welcome and significant change has come to European politics: an admission that the European Union (EU) has relied too heavily on the US for its military| Foundation for Economic Education
The news just arrived this week that the website of Adidas had been hacked. Consumer information may have been stolen from the sportswear giant.| Foundation for Economic Education
Founded in 1946, FEE is the original home of free-market economic thinking in America.| Foundation for Economic Education
When the disciplines of economics and sociology were being invented in Britain 250 years ago, their progenitors such as Adam Smith, David Hume, Adam Ferguson,| Foundation for Economic Education
Andrew Yang and Bill de Blasio are very concerned about robots taking people's jobs. Machines will replace humans. Artificial intelligence will outpace people. But is there any validity to it? Not really.| Foundation for Economic Education
I am a lead pencil—the ordinary wooden pencil familiar to all boys and girls and adults who can read and write. Writing is both my vocation and my avocation; that’s all I do. You may wonder why I should write a genealogy. Well, to begin with, my story is interesting. And, next, I am a mystery —more so than a tree or a sunset or even a flash of lightning. But, sadly, I am taken for granted by those who use me, as if I were a mere incident and without background. This supercilious attitud...| Foundation for Economic Education