Alex Epstein
Alex Epstein is a junior fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine, CA. The Institute promotes the ideas of Ayn Rand -- best-selling author of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead and originator of the philosophy of Objectivism.
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Articles by Alex Epstein
May 19, 2009
Every Memorial Day, we pay tribute to the American men and women who have died in combat. With speeches and solemn ceremonies, we recognize their courage and valor. But one fact goes unacknowledged in our Memorial Day tributes: all too many of our soldiers have died unnecessarily--because they were ...
January 04, 2009
Given the devastated state of many Americans´ finances, our New Year´s resolutions will take on greater significance this year. To "get out of debt" was often a casually stated goal to be set as midnight approached and forgotten soon after; today it is rightly recognized as a fundamental...
November 07, 2008
Every Veterans Day we pay tribute to our fellow Americans who have served in the military. With speeches and ceremonies, we recognize their courage and valor. But justice demands that we also recognize that we should have far more living veterans than we do. All too many of our soldiers have died un...
June 10, 2008
Throughout the housing crisis, we have heard demands from spokesmen for desperate homeowners, banks, and investors for every variety of government bailout. But there is one group from whom the nation has not heard: the millions of Americans who, like me, had nothing to do with the crisis, who entere...
June 10, 2008
With gasoline prices exceeding $4 a gallon in some states, politicians are responding as usual: Blame Big Oil First. Several prominent senators have once again summoned industry leaders to Capitol Hill, subjecting them to yet another barrage of rhetorical questions, interruptions, accusations, and s...
June 10, 2008
Every Memorial Day, we pay tribute to the American men and women who have died in combat. With speeches and solemn ceremonies, we recognize their courage and valor. But one fact goes unacknowledged in our Memorial Day tributes: all too many of our soldiers have died unnecessarily--because they were ...
May 07, 2008
Yahoo! has just released its first-quarter earnings numbers, and neither the market nor analysts are impressed. What will be the company's next move? Multiple suitors claim that they can leverage Yahoo!'s online products and talented employees better than Yahoo!'s widely criticized management is doi...
December 20, 2007
Every New Year's Eve millions of Americans make New Year's resolutions. Whether the resolution is to get out of debt, to spend more time with loved ones, or to quit smoking, these resolutions have one thing in common: they are goals to make our lives better.
Unfortunately, this ritual commitment ...
December 05, 2007
As we witness large numbers of defaults on subprime loans--loans extended to those with no credit or bad credit--many are calling for the government to do something to stop the suffering. At the same time, many recognize that a bailout of struggling homeowners would be wrong. Thus, we see a growing ...
December 05, 2007
Every Veterans Day we pay tribute to our fellow Americans who have served in the military. With speeches and ceremonies, we recognize their courage and valor. But justice demands that we also recognize that we should have far more living veterans than we do. All too many of our soldiers have died un...
December 05, 2007
As expected, Sirius and XM shareholders have just voted to merge--but the companies still face stiff opposition from the government, which has been holding up the process for nine months. Both firms claim that a merger would enable them to combine content and bandwidth to create a new, more efficien...
October 29, 2007
With the first Baby Boomer collecting Social Security last week, on the heels of a Bush administration announcement that Social Security faces a $13.6 trillion shortfall, the issue of how to "save" Social Security is once again on the table. While we can expect fierce debate on the issue, we can als...
October 25, 2007
In January the FCC will auction off the prized 700 MHz spectrum of wireless bandwidth. But instead of offering the spectrum to the highest bidder to employ it however he judges best (for example, a mobile video-on-demand service), the FCC will force the winner to employ a specific business model--an...
October 12, 2007
If you ask any hundred successful businessmen chosen at random to name the book that has most inspired them, you will undoubtedly hear one title repeated over and over: Atlas Shrugged--Ayn Rand's epic novel, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this month. Why do businessmen love Atlas Shrugged?
...
October 11, 2007
America's leading Internet service providers (ISPs) have spent many years and billions of dollars upgrading their transcontinental networks, which constitute the backbone of the Internet. Now they are eager to profit by offering new, compelling services. One plan is to give certain websites high pri...
October 03, 2007
In the aftermath of General David Petraeus's controversial report to Congress on the progress of the troop surge in Iraq, debate over what to do with our troops in Iraq is as strong as ever. And, as always, both liberals and conservatives claim that they, and only they, truly support our troops. Lib...
October 03, 2007
Recently, presidential candidate Barack Obama received lavish praise for giving a speech on Wall Street that included "tough talk" about the issue of "income inequality"--an issue that he and nearly every other presidential candidate regard as a crisis. The rich are getting richer, their refrain goe...
September 25, 2007
The lead article in a recent issue of Time magazine makes the case for “universal national service”--which the article describes as “the simple but compelling idea that devoting a year or more to national service, whether military or civilian, should become a countrywide rite of passage, the common ...
September 03, 2007
To listen to most of our foreign-policy commentators, the biggest problem facing America today, six years after 9/11, is the fact that many Muslims are mad at us.
"Whatever one's views on the [Iraq] war," writes a New York Times columnist, "thoughtful Americans need to consider . . . the bitter a...
July 25, 2007
Democrat and Republican candidates for President are debating one another on nearly every issue--but nearly all are united on one thing: America faces a crisis of "income inequality." The rich are getting richer, the refrain goes, while the poor and middle class are held back by stagnating wages, lo...
June 01, 2007
Every Memorial Day, we pay tribute to the American men and women who have died in combat. With speeches and solemn ceremonies, we recognize their courage and valor. But one fact goes unacknowledged in our Memorial Day tributes: all too many of our soldiers have died unnecessarily--because they were ...
June 01, 2007
With gasoline prices at their highest point in recent years, the knee-jerk response of many is to call for the government to "do something" to force prices lower. But no matter what the price of gasoline is, such calls are wrong. All market fluctuations in the price of gasoline, up or down, are a go...
April 25, 2007
Applauding the Supreme Court's decision to uphold a ban on so-called partial birth abortions, President Bush called it a victory for "building a culture of life in America."
The idea of a "culture of life" has been a rallying cry for religious conservatives in their opposition to all abortion and...
April 04, 2007
Sarbanes-Oxley Treats Businessmen as Guilty Until Proven Innocent
Imagine opening tomorrow's newspaper and reading this: "Citing all-too-frequent child abuse and neglect, Congress has proposed the Parenting Reform Act. Under the proposed law, all parents must swear that they have not 'caused u...
January 16, 2007
Whatever their views of President Bush's new "surge" of 20,000 soldiers, both liberals and conservatives continue to claim that they support our troops. Liberals say they support our troops by criticizing or opposing "Operation Iraqi Freedom," which they claim has unnecessarily killed 3,000 soldiers...
January 02, 2007
Every New Year's Eve millions of Americans make New Year's resolutions. Whether the resolution is to get out of debt, to spend more time with loved ones, or to quit smoking, these resolutions have one thing in common: they are goals to make our lives better.
Unfortunately, this ritual commitment ...
November 08, 2006
Every Veterans Day we pay tribute to our fellow Americans who have served in the military. With speeches and ceremonies, we recognize their courage and valor. But justice demands that we also recognize that we should have far more living veterans than we do. All too many of our soldiers have died un...
October 09, 2006
Now that gasoline prices are below $3 a gallon, calls for the government to "do something" to force prices lower have temporarily abated. But it is crucial for us to recognize that no matter what the price of gasoline is, such calls are wrong. All market fluctuations in the price of gasoline, up or ...
September 08, 2006
America should redouble and refocus its military action, not increase its foreign aid, if it wants to attack the "root cause" of terrorism.
Five years after September 11, with Islamic terrorism flourishing while America’s military efforts are floundering, many recognize that we still have not id...
September 08, 2006
America's attempts to appease "Muslim opinion" are self-destructive.
To listen to most of our foreign-policy commentators, the biggest problem facing America today--five years after Sept. 11--is the fact that many Muslims are mad at us.
"Whatever one's views on the [Iraq] war," writes a “New...
July 16, 2006
Politicians and commentators from both parties are decrying our "addiction to oil." They exhort us to embrace costly programs to reduce our consumption of oil as quickly as possible. The primary rationale for this is national security. Our oil consumption is dangerous because, in the words of a New ...
July 14, 2006
America's leading Internet service providers (ISPs) have spent many years and billions upgrading their transcontinental networks, which constitute the backbone of the Internet. Now they are eager to profit by offering new, compelling services. One plan is to give certain websites high priority on th...
July 03, 2006
America is a nation that reveres the fact that ours is "a government of laws, not of men." Under this principle, members of government can use their power only to enforce known and clearly defined laws. As a result, we do not worry about losing our property or being thrown in jail just because we ar...
May 01, 2006
America's oil companies have earned every penny of their profits.
With the recent increase in gasoline prices, politicians and pundits are once again condemning oil companies for their high profits. Much of these profits are an undeserved "windfall," they claim, which should be "given back" to s...
April 26, 2006
President Bush and Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez have joined the chorus of politicians clamoring for more investigations of "price gouging." Senate majority leader Bill Frist promises that "if the facts warrant it, I will support a federal anti-price gouging law."
But there are no facts that c...
February 06, 2006
America's oil companies have earned every penny of their profits.
The recent announcement of record profits by ExxonMobil and Chevron is being met by widespread denunciations of oil companies' "windfall profits"--and the demand that these profits be "given back" to society via a proposed $20 billi...
February 03, 2006
America's attempts to appease "Muslim opinion" are depraved and suicidal.
As Muslim groups express outrage and issue death threats over cartoons depicting Mohammad, many Western leaders are responding, not with condemnations of the death threats, but with condemnations of the cartoons--and of the ...
December 30, 2005
With the recent plea bargain of former chief accounting officer Richard Causey, Enron has once again been thrust into the spotlight. Given that Enron's cataclysmic downfall has been the leading business story this decade, one might expect it to be well-understood by now. In fact, Enron's fall is alm...
December 19, 2005
Many consumers are angry about alleged price gouging at the pump, and politicians are listening. States with anti-"price gouging" laws are investigating and prosecuting complaints, while Washington is discussing a federal anti-"price gouging" law. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist promises that "if ...
December 12, 2005
America's oil companies have earned every penny of their profits.
Politicians and pundits claim that oil companies' recent quarter of higher profits is mostly a "windfall"--which should be "given back" to society via a proposed $20 billion tax. As Representative Dennis Kucinich and others say, the...
December 02, 2005
Four years ago this month, Enron Corporation -- number 7 on the Fortune 500 -- filed for bankruptcy, culminating a collapse that shocked America.
It is commonly believed that Enron fell because its leaders, eager to make money, schemed to bilk investors. The ethical lesson, it is said, is that we ...
September 06, 2005
America’s attempts to appease “Muslim opinion” are depraved and suicidal.
To listen to most of our foreign-policy commentators, the biggest problem facing America today--four years after Sept. 11th--is the fact that many Muslims are mad at us.
“Whatever one's views on the [Iraq] war,” writes a...