Liberty Misplaced: American Large Authorities and the Erosion of the U.S. Structure: A Temporary Historical past

Discover out the true historical past of how the US authorities dismantled the Structure, thwarted our freedoms, and wrecked the economic system.

Nineteenth-century America was the closest factor to pure free-market capitalism that has ever existed. There was no welfare state, no central financial institution, no deficit spending to talk of, no fiat cash, and no earnings tax for many of the century, and no antitrust legal guidelines or federal regulatory companies till the tip of the century. The US Structure protected particular person liberty (except slavery) and restricted the ability of presidency, giving rise to an economic system through which folks had been free to pursue their pursuits, free to start out new companies, free to create as a lot wealth as their potential and ambition allowed. This close to laissez-faire system led to the wealthiest, most revolutionary nation ever.

Through the twentieth century, in contrast, American liberty declined as the scale, scope, and energy of presidency exploded. Federal spending, taxes, deficits, and debt have spiraled uncontrolled. The greenback has misplaced most of its worth because of the inflationary insurance policies of the Federal Reserve. Entitlement applications now represent the vast majority of the federal funds. And American companies are hog-tied by mountains of crimson tape within the Code of Federal Rules.

The place in our historical past did we go incorrect? How did the American system shift from capitalism to statism, from restricted authorities to massive authorities, from a close to free-market economic system to a closely regulated blended economic system? What acts, applications, interventions, and Supreme Courtroom rulings introduced America to its current state?

Liberty Misplaced solutions these questions. It surveys the politico-economic historical past of the US from the founding to the current, displaying how the erosion of the Structure unleashed massive authorities, undermining our liberties and hindering financial progress.