Bad economic ideas, myths, and misinformation are continually resuscitated over the years, so it’s not unusual to see them featured prominently in candidate rhetoric during every new election season. Still, it was surprising to see so much support for ideas from self-avowed “democratic socialist” presidential candidate Bernie Sa...
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South Africa remains mired in poverty more than two decades after the end of apartheid, and the government’s efforts at poverty relief do nothing to create new economic opportunities for people struggling to build better lives. The Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE), an Atlas Network partner based in Johannesburg, has p...
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Cryptography enables a wide array of digital freedom, from decentralized online currency like Bitcoin to enhanced privacy in communication and collaborative technology. Paralelní Polis, an Atlas Network partner based in the Czech Republic, is dedicated to using digital tools to build parallel social, economic, and political stru...
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In Nepal, electric rickshaws provide a means of earning a living for struggling families who aren’t in a position to make a large capital investment. Quotas and restrictive regulations had pushed most e-rickshaw drivers into the gray market, however, where they are subject to harsh fines and corrupt solicitations from law enforc...
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The top four jurisdictions with the most economic freedom — Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, and Switzerland — have placed the same in the Canada-based Fraser Institute’s 2016 “Economic Freedom of the World Report” as they did in 2015. Venezuela is also once again in last place in the world. For the first time, though, Canada...
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Ohio won a recent legal victory that protects its voting laws from undue federal intervention, and Atlas Network partner The Buckeye Institute was instrumental in making the case to preserve the integrity of Ohio’s elections with its amicus brief filed earlier this year. “Ohio voters can go to the polls this fall knowing the int...
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People raised in different circumstances often show different attitudes toward potential dangers. If you’ve never been near the water or learned how to swim, lakes, rivers, and oceans probably seem quite terrifying. Those who can swim generally see rivers, lakes, and oceans differently. Such different experiences may lead to dif...
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A new Atlas Network partner is championing the ideas of liberty through its Great Communicators Tournament, which features competitors making emotionally compelling arguments that highlight and advance the causes of human achievement, freedom, and empowerment. Think Freely Media, based in Washington, D.C., is partnering with Atl...
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Taxi bailouts, threats to free speech at universities, ballooning budget problems ... what’s up in the land down under? Tim Andrews, executive director of the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance, will speak about those and other topics at Atlas Network’s Trendsetters NYC event on Sept. 21 in New York City. In advance of the event, An...
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We are the stories we tell.
And we are the stories we believe.
In 1978, when Superman hit the big screen, we believed a man could fly.
In 2016, when Batman met Superman, we believed a man wouldn’t want to.
What happened in 38 short years?
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When I think of examples of successful self control and dignity under the most difficult circumstances, one living person comes to mind before all others: 刘晓波, Liu Xiabo, the Chinese writer and human rights activist who was sentenced on Dec. 25, 2009, to 11 years of imprisonment in China on the charge of “inciting subversion of...
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It’s almost eerie how Milton Friedman had the perfect responses years ago to the outrageous economic claims that Bernie Sanders would make during his U.S. presidential campaign this year. It’s also peculiar that the Australian government is bailing out nearly obsolete industries — why not also bring back the chimney sweep, the t...
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The people of North Korea are held captive in a society that lacks information about the outside world, but the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) and Forum 280 aim to change that with their “Flash Drives for Freedom” program, “with the goal of changing the totalitarian system of North Korea to a more free and open society by deliver...
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Airbnb is a popular and growing part of the new sharing economy, allowing people to earn extra money by renting out their homes for temporary use by others. This business model provides new competition to hotels, though, so governments face industry pressure to fine and regulate the home-sharing industry out of existence. Despit...
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Isn’t it interesting how often government leaders use passive voice to refer to their bad decisions? “Mistakes were made,” “The intelligence was flawed,” “Things got out of control,” etc., etc. And even when they say “I take responsibility,” they almost never actually take responsibility by, say, resigning or reimbursing or even...
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Argentina has suffered over the last 12 years as a result of a government that has implemented inefficient populist policies, leading to stagnation and an overall decrease in prosperity. The state became increasingly involved in both the public and private lives of Argentines during the successive presidencies of Néstor Kirchner...
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For more than 800 years, Magna Carta has served as the foundational document codifying the rule of law as a check on the arbitrary discretion of rulers. This year, Atlas Network partner the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF), initiated a new student membership organization, the Runnymede Society, its name commemorating the m...
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The university experience is meant to be a proving ground for ideas and intellectual growth, but campuses across the United States are restricting free expression through speech and behavior codes that marginalize, silence, and even control students. Harvard University recently introduced a new policy that restricts students fro...
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The Mackinac Center for Public Policy first published a brief calling for Michigan to become a right-to-work state in 1992. Despite the many compelling reasons that nobody should have to pay money to a union in order to hold a job, organized labor was so powerful at the time that few politicians took the idea seriously.
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Bone marrow registries rely on the generosity of donors, but far too often that generosity isn’t enough. Lacking the ability to provide incentives that would attract new donors, far too many leukemia patients die each year as they and their families wait for a solution that won’t arrive. What would you do if your child were dyin...
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It’s not so hard to talk about having one’s freedom taken away. “You’re under arrest” means you’re not free to go. Prisoners have had their freedom taken. When that’s done unjustly, we speak of freedom being “stolen,” because rightfully it should be yours to enjoy. But can your responsibility be stolen from you?
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A frequent challenge raised against classical liberalism is that it is not suitable for Asian people or Asian countries, because of “Asian values” that are allegedly unique to Asian countries. Is Asian liberty different from European or American or African Liberty? Or, if liberty is being used in the same way in those regions, i...
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Some of the most practical and politically possible changes are small, incremental reforms that make many people’s lives a little easier by reducing government interference in their economic activities. Lithuania has a global ranking of 20th place this year in the World Bank Group’s “Doing Business” report, an already impressive...
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Atlas Network’s new stories page provides an enveloping digital experience on both desktop and mobile browsers, with narratives that tell the inspiring stories of how Atlas Network partners on the ground are having a real impact around the world.
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Atlas Network’s most inspirational event of the year is only one month away. There’s still time to make your plans to attend Liberty Forum 2016, Sept. 24-25 at the InterContinental Miami in Miami, Fla.
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In 1980, the Free To Choose documentary series brought the insights of Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman and his clear explanations of sound economic principles to millions of public television viewers. Building on that unprecedented success, its producer, Bob Chitester, founded Free To Choose Network and continued creati...
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Taxpayers hope that the money government expropriates from them will actually be devoted to useful public goods and services, but too often those resources are wasted by corrupt officials and inefficient programs. In Ghana, for instance, failure to follow debt management regulations has led to more than GHS 3.93 billion (USD 1.0...
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Mexico began a new era of criminal justice reforms in 2008, but despite the progress of the past eight years the country is still struggling to provide a consistent rule of law. For the last three years, Atlas Network partner organization the Center of Research for Development (CIDAC) has been spearheading the Proyecto Justicia...
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The international nature of Atlas Network’s work is reflected not only in its array of independent worldwide partner organizations, but also in the diversity of its staff and interns. This summer’s Atlas Network interns came from Argentina, Australia, and the United States — as well as Afghanistan, home of the inspirational Naji...
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The great British political thinker and politician Edmund Burke is frequently called a conservative, although he did not use the term for himself, preferring the term “Whig” — and “Old Whig,” at that. Those who call him a conservative often think of him as favoring a state that will use its coercive powers to control human being...
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