ARI Media Feed

In a column for Financial Advisor, investment guru Nick Murray names Equal Is Unfair a runner-up for “best book of 2016.” Link to original

Those who help support ARI monthly via debit/credit card, or via electronic funds transfer, are among our most highly valued contributors. We call such contributors “Sustainers” because their continuing commitment helps ensure the continuance of our vital programs. Contributing in this way is both convenient for them and helps to provide steady funding for our vital programs. Link to original

In recent years, Yaron Brook, ARI chairman executive, has been invited to give talks at Exeter University in the UK. In 2014, Brook gave his first Exeter talk on the morality of capitalism. The talk, which was organized with the help of a former ARI intern, was delivered to a lecture room filled to capacity. In 2015, Brook came back to talk about the inequality debate. Again, it was a packed room with more than 150 students attending live, and with over 30,000 views it is one of the most watched videos with Brook. Link to original

Would you like to introduce the books and ideas of Ayn Rand to someone in your life? What better way than sponsoring a gift this holiday season to support the vital mission of the Ayn Rand Institute, while sending them a copy of The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged? Our survey data show that the number one way people learn about Ayn Rand is through a friend or family member. Link to original

In this episode of The Yaron Brook Show, Yaron Brook examines the views and premises of the alt-right movement and argues that it amounts to a faith-based, racist rejection of Enlightenment values such as reason and individualism. Link to original

Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Salman v. United States, a case that illustrates the vague, arbitrary, and capricious nature of insider trading “laws.” Insider trading laws restrict people’s ability to buy and sell securities based on “material nonpublic information.” But what the government considers insider trading is often so nebulous that it amounts to ex post facto law: in many cases, it is impossible to know whether you’ve committed a crime until the government says you committed one. Link to original

In this episode of The Yaron Brook Show, Don Watkins interviews George Selgin, senior fellow and director of the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the Cato Institute and professor emeritus of economics at the University of Georgia. Together they discuss the ethics and economics of fractional reserve banking, the cause of inflation and instability, pre-Fed “panics” and the Fed’s role in the financial crisis of 2008. Link to original

In this final installation of the Ayn Rand Institute’s podcast series Inside “A Companion to Ayn Rand,” Don Watkins interviews Harry Binswanger, a member of ARI’s board of directors and author of How We Know: Epistemology on an Objectivist Foundation, on the chapter he contributed, “The Objectivist Esthetics: Art and the Needs of a Conceptual Consciousness.” Link to original

What made the Republicans wake up? How did we end up with Trump and Clinton? What’s missing from the presidential race? In this episode, Yaron Brook takes on the political landscape and considers what the ideal candidate would look like. Link to original

Why is it that many hard-working factory workers, plumbers and waitresses never earn as much as some CEOs, best-selling novelists or A-list actors? Isn’t that unfair? Link to original

What is the state of freedom of speech in America today? In this special-edition episode of The Yaron Brook Show, Steve Simpson, director of Legal Studies at ARI, takes on threats to free speech such as campaign finance laws, the culture of sensitivity on campus and government abuses of our right to speak. Link to original

“Islamophobia” in America is a “social cancer” — one that has “metastasized.” So claims the eminent scholar John L. Esposito of Georgetown University. Is it really? Andrew Harrod has a good write-up on Esposito's view, along with a forceful rebuttal to it. But let’s ask a prior question: What exactly does the term “Islamophobia” mean? Link to original

In this episode of The Yaron Brook Show, originally airing live from London on October 23, Yaron Brook describes some of his impressions of Europe. He discusses our age’s fundamental conflict between reason and mysticism and explains how mysticism conditions people to authoritarianism. Brook also examines the relation between mysticism and socialism and how Progressive education mass-produces ignorant emotionalists. And more! Link to original

You have probably seen a “meme” or two suggesting that Sweden is a socialist paradise. What exactly are we to make of these “memes”? In this episode of The Yaron Brook Show, guest host Amanda Maxham interviews Carl Svanberg to discuss the myth of socialist Sweden, the price of “free” health care and whether the welfare state is compatible with freedom and justice. Maxham wraps up the show with a discussion of genetically engineered flowers. Link to original

What do you call a payment of money for the release of a prisoner? Yes, it’s a ransom. But not if the recipient is Iran. That, the Obama administration calls a triumph of diplomacy. Link to original

What exactly is “globalism”? Are trade deals like NAFTA desirable? Should one go into politics? Is tuition-free college education a good idea? Link to original

In this episode of The Yaron Brook Show, Yaron Brook comments on the unusually intellectual response to his talks in Europe and illustrates how philosophy shapes history, particularly the positive impact of Aristotle’s ideas. Also, Brook discusses why he won’t debate Stefan Molyneux, the political and economical state of Greece, “race realism” and free will. Link to original

In this episode, Yaron Brook discusses what Trump’s victory suggests about a significant proportion of the American public and what it, in turn, tells us about America’s future. Link to original

Following its publication last year, reviews have begun to appear with quite favorable assessments of Tara Smith’s Judicial Review in an Objective Legal System. Smith is professor of philosophy and BB&T Chair for the Study of Objectivism at the University of Texas at Austin. Link to original

Anthem Foundation fellow and Rutgers University lecturer Gregory Salmieri has published an article, “Is Kant the Ideal Statement of Classical Liberalism?” in the October 2016 issue of Cato Unbound: A Journal of Debate. Link to original

As Ayn Rand’s ideas continue to gain interest across Europe, ARI responded by launching ARI Europe in January 2015. Over the past year and a half, and with funding from European businessmen, ARI has established a strong presence throughout the continent by engaging with young people at universities, partnering with local think tanks and working closely with other European free-market organizations. Link to original

In November 2015, Yaron Brook, ARI’s executive chairman, embarked on his first visit to the Ukraine. The goal was to introduce new audiences to Ayn Rand’s ideas. Link to original

The centrality of Islam in Middle East politics can be seen in laws and opinion polls, but that data fails to capture just how entwined Islam and state really are and the destructive effects that ensue. The persecution of a Jordanian writer who shared a cartoon on Facebook dramatizes the problem. Link to original

At the end of October and beginning of November, Steve Simpson, director of Legal Studies at ARI, set out on a nationwide speaking tour to defend free speech. “Free speech is increasingly under attack today,” noted Simpson. “After the election, the right is more important than ever. But if we don’t defend, we will lose it.” In eight days, Simpson participated in ten well-attended and well-received events — seven talks, two panels and one debate — addressing hundreds of people, mostly students. Several of the talks were organized by student chapters of the Federalist Society, and Simpson distributed copies of his recently released book Defending Free Speech to attendees. Link to original

Is that statement hyperbole or prophecy? To find out, read ARI senior fellow Onkar Ghate’s careful analysis of Trump’s election to the presidency, what the election means for America and why Ayn Rand’s philosophy is more important than ever. Link to original