Our recent celebration of Independence Day set me to thinking about how many of our holidays focus our attention on what has made America great and how it came about. Independence Day, of course, emphasizes the colonists’ declaration of independence from the British king’s tyranny and the freedoms we gained by that independence. Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day emphasize the men and women of subsequent generations who served and often died or were wounded to preserve and mainta

James D. (“Jim”) Gwartney is one of the best economists and finest gentlemen I know. I’m pleased to dust off and present below an essay he wrote for the Foundation for Economic Education 30 years ago. A professor of economics and policy sciences at Florida State University and an adjunct scholar with the Cato Institute, he is an expert on taxation, labor policy, and the economic analysis of government. He is co-author of Common Sense Economics: What Everyone Should Know about