Hans-Hermann Hoppe Archive
A Four-Step Healthcare Solution
It's true that the US health-care system is a mess, but this demonstrates not market but government failure. To cure the problem requires not different or more government regulations and bureaucracies, as self-serving politicians want us to believe, but the elimination of all existing government controls. It's time to get serious about health-care reform. Tax credits, vouchers, and privatization will go a long way toward decentralizing the system and removing unnecessary burdens from business. But four additional steps must also be taken: FULL ARTICLE
"The Yield from Money Held" Reconsidered
Like Hutt, I want to attack the following notion: that money held in cash balances and deposit accounts is somehow "unproductive," "barren," or "sterile," offering a "yield of nil;" that only consumer goods and producer (investment) goods are productive of human welfare; that the only productive use of money lies in its "circulation," i.e., in its spending on consumer or producer goods; and that the holding, i.e., the not spending, of money diminishes future consumption and production. FULL ARTICLE
The Paradox of Imperialism
Here I present the outlines of a theory of empire, particularly democratic empire. While all states must be expected to have aggressive inclinations, the incentive structure faced by traditional kings on the one hand and modern presidents on the other is different enough to account for different kinds of war. Whereas kings viewed themselves as the private owner of the territory under their control, presidents consider themselves as temporary caretakers. The owner of a resource is concerned about the current income to be derived from the resource and the capital value embodied in it (as a reflection of expected future income). His interests are long-run, with a concern for the preservation and enhancement of the capital values embodied in "his" country. In contrast, the caretaker of a resource (viewed as public rather than private property) is concerned primarily about his current income and pays little or no attention to capital values. FULL ARTICLE
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