2005

Berichte aus Montreal

Wer als Teilnehmer der Klimakonferenz nach Montreal kommt, wird zunächst einmal von der Wahl des Veranstaltungsortes überrascht sein: Während die letzte UN-Konferenz zum Thema im argentinischen Sommer von Buenos Aires stattfand (die Veteranen unter den Konferenzteilnehmern schwärmen noch immer von den heißen Open Air-Parties), hat man sich diesmal für den kanadischen Herbst entschieden. Das heißt konkret Tagestemperaturen um und Nachttemperaturen deutlich unter dem Gefrierpunkt. Dazu weht ein frischer Wind, und unter einem strahlend blauen Himmel glitzert Schnee auf gefrorenen Böden. [...]

Die Irrtümer des Hans-Hermann Hoppe – Strategien der Befreiung?

Aufgrund der aufgezeigten argumentativen Schwächen und Irrtümer des Hans-Hermann Hoppe ist dabei anzunehmen, dass seine Ideen eine Fußnote der sozialphilosophischen Ideengeschichte bleiben werden. Eine effektive Strategie der Befreiung sähe anders aus. [...]

Planning for better and cheaper homes

Clearly, there is something rotten in the state of UK housing. The rest of the developed world enjoys living in modern, spacious and affordable accommodation. Meanwhile the British are living in houses in which single-glazing windows moving against each other can hardly be cleaned and hot and cold water runs from two separate taps – a caricature of British housing published recently in Germany’s leading quality daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. [...]

The errors of Hans-Hermann Hoppe

For all his errors and mistakes and for his wrong-headed methodology we may expect Hoppe’s ideas to remain a footnote in the history of political thought. And it may well be better this way. [...]

Bigger Better Faster More – Why some countries plan better than others

Following the success of Unaffordable Housing – Fables and Myths, which exposed the failings of Britain’s centrally planned system of development, Alan W. Evans and Oliver Marc Hartwich went on a journey in search of alternatives. Interviewing planners, politicians, real estate agents and academics in four countries – Germany, Switzerland, Ireland and Australia – they uncovered how other countries succeed, and sometimes fail, to give people the housing they want. [...]

Local solutions for Britain’s bleak housing market

Britain is a rich, modern and dynamic country but its housing is among the oldest, pokiest and most expensive in the developed world. I am German and have lived in London for just over a year. When my friends and family visit, they are surprised at how sub-standard British houses look. That surprise turns into astonishment and shock when I tell them how much one has to pay for them. I am becoming increasingly irritated at being pitied all the time – and yes. I know I could afford something better in Germany. [...]

Unaffordable Housing – Fables and Myths

Britain’s Soviet-style planning system means that we live in some of the smallest, oldest and costliest homes in the developed world. But is this the housing we want? Unaffordable Housing is the first of a three-part series of pamphlets investigating the causes of, and solutions to, Britain’s housing shortage. Alan W. Evans and Oliver Marc Hartwich ask how Britain's housing has become the laughing stock of Western Europe. [...]

A plea for sound money

Strangely enough, although most other kinds of socialism have frequently been attacked by advocates of the free market, the ‘meta-intervention’ of government-created paper money is hardly being called into question. In the long run, however, the destructive effects of false money could be even more disastrous than Soviet-style communism. [...]

Why Economists favour Liberty

It is no wonder that economists favour liberty. They know that individuals have to be free to make the best choices for themselves and ultimately for the rest of society. Yes, society. The economist does not deny it exists. But he knows that without individual liberty it cannot work. [...]

Australien – Wettbewerb in Vielfalt

Federalism fosters the traditionally Australian, but currently atrophying, qualities of responsibility and self-reliance. It is desirable in a small country and indispensable in a large one. [...]