An injudicious tax offers a great temptation to smuggling. But the penalties of smuggling must rise in proportion to the temptation. The law, contrary to all the ordinary principles of justice, first creates the temptation, and then punishes those who yield to it…
— Adam Smith
Book V of Adam Smith’s classic is entitled “Of the Revenue of the Sovereign or Commonwealth,” includes the above as well as many thoughtful passages about what we nowadays call public finance. Our Political Economy Book Club will discuss this final part of Wealth of Nations on Wednesday, November 12. You can download or read the book on line from severalsources, borrow it from many public libraries, or purchase a copy inexpensively.
For further information or to let us know you’re coming, email PEBC coordinator Bob Matter or call 312 450 2906.
[Please note: There is no need to stay the full 3½ hours of this event. Come when you’d like and leave when you wish. ]
How much stuff do you think you “own,” but really only have a limited license to use in specific ways? You may be surprised to learn who is restricting your freedom to innovate and share information. As software-driven products become more common, how can you be sure that your possessions aren’t working against you? Is that the price we have to pay to live in an advanced economy? It need not be.
Find out how software freedom fits into the “liberty means justice” political economy that we teach, why and how we use open source software wherever possible (and it almost always is). Discussion and videos presented in cooperation with the Free Software Foundation.
Meanwhile, to learn more about DRM and why it might be a bad thing, visit Defective by Design.
International trade has been a continuing issue throughout our history. The issues Henry George confronted in the late 19th century were similar to those raised in the recent election. His careful analysis showed that both sides were wrong, and proposed a trade policy to raise real wages of working Americans.
Despite huge social, technological, and demographic changes since George’s time, his analysis requires only very minor updates, and concludes that today, again, both sides are wrong. Take this opportunity to understand and evaluate for yourself a proposal to achieve widespread prosperity, here and now, thru True Free Trade.
This free presentation by Henry George School instructor Chuck Metalitz is adapted from our “Protection or Free Trade” course.
