The Bob Zadek Show

John Miltimore of FEE.org on the new round of lockdowns

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The Cato Institute’s Michael Tanner offers the contours of a libertarian
anti-racist policy agenda and reflects on the legacy of Walter Williams.

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“But let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then tell me how much of what I earn belongs to you - and why?” ― Walter E. Williams

I am eager to welcome the Cato Institute’s Michael Tanner back to the show of ideas to discuss his recent blog post sketching the contours of a libertarian “anti-racist” policy agenda.

Last time he joined the show, we discussed his book The Inclusive Economy, which I called “the definitive book on libertarian anti-poverty policy.”

This Sunday, we will focus specifically on those laws which disproportionately harm minorities in the United States, and why a subtractive approach that leaves people “free to choose” is superior to new policies rife with unintended consequences. Tanner will explain why libertarians should embrace the banner of anti-racism, albeit by proposing alternative means to achieve it than the usual Social Justice Warrior’s approach.

I will also use the opportunity to celebrate the life of Walter E. Williams (1936-2020), the George Mason University economics professor, whose teaching brought clarity, wit and wisdom to bear on the subjects of social justice and anti-racism. Williams, perhaps more than any other figure, understood the market’s power to conquer artificial barriers like racial discrimination. Walter’s passing is huge loss for classical liberals, but his legacy lives on in the work of scholars like Michael Tanner.

Join our conversation live this Sunday (12/6), at 8am PACIFIC time. As always, your calls are welcome.

Benjamin Franklin once said:
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

International Tax & Immigration Expert David Lesperance on the Increase in
Wealthy Americans Renouncing their Citizenship

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The Doctor for Liberty on his new Cato White Paper, calling for a
Reformation in prescription drug policy.

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“Government‐imposed prescription requirements violate the rights of individuals to access the medicines they want.” - Dr. Jeffrey Singer and Michael F. Cannon, Drug Reformation: End Government’s Power to Require Prescriptions | Cato Institute

The libertarian argument for the right of bodily autonomy is simple. We own our bodies. Therefore, we should have the right to put whatever we choose into them.

Until the 20th century, this was taken for granted. But as Singer and Cannon lay out in their expansive new white paper on ending government’s power to require prescriptions, this right has been gradually eroded.

The result is a more dangerous world, where consumers rely on untrustworthy institutions that restrict their choice and bypass more secure market mechanisms for determining safety and efficacy. Prescription drug companies rake in profits from their privileged legal status, and consumers suffer.

How did we get here? Tune in Sunday, as Jeff “@Dr4Liberty” Singer returns to the show to break down his recommendations for reforming a broken system.

Corey DeAngelis argues for funding students – not systems.

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In his Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith described a so-called “Man of System” who is “so enamoured with the supposed beauty of his own ideal plan of government, that he cannot suffer the smallest deviation from any part of it.” This man imagines that he can “arrange the different members of a great society” as easily as a hand moves pieces on a chessboard – not seeing that “every single piece has a principle of motion of its own, altogether different from that which the legislature might choose to impress upon it.”

Today’s educational central planners bear an uncanny resemblance to Smith’s 250-year-old caricature. Led by national teacher’s unions, public schools cram children and parents into a one-size-fits all school system. But students are not widgets, says Corey A. DeAngelis – Cato Institute adjunct scholar and Executive Director at the Educational Freedom Institute. DeAngelis is co-author with Cato’s Neal McCluskey of a new book, School Choice Myths – debunking the 12 most common misconceptions about education freedom.

Against the claim that a free market in education would turn schools into factories, churning out carbon-copy graduates, DeAngelis notes that it is the current monopoly system which results in uniform, standardized testing. He finds the roots of our broken educational institutions in the compulsory Prussian school system, which “started in 1819 with the clear mission of creating citizens that would be obedient miners, factory workers, and soldiers.”

Corey joins me this Sunday to unravel this and other pernicious falsehoods around school choice, and to discuss recent developments related to charter schools, voucher programs, and other challenges to the goverment school monopoly.

We will also touch on the troubling news that Biden’s transition team for the Department of Education includes four members of the nation’s top two teachers unions. Finally, we will look at how unions have sought to protect teachers from the minuscule risk of COVID at the expense of student outcomes, and why we must not allow special interests to determine educational policies.

Ryan Young’s Case Against Antitrust is more important than ever.

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California politician Ray Haynes on reforming the “Winner-takes-all”
Electoral College system.

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