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"Pundits and lackeys [have framed the Australian Liberal Party election] rout in the tired left versus right narrative – a progressive swing, a rejection of conservatism, too right-wing, not right-wing enough. In my view, this framing misses the real story: the forgotten Y axis of the political compass, the one that plots authoritarian versus libertarian. In 2025, liberty and small government was almost completely absent from the lower house ballot paper. ...
"At this election voters had a choice between Big Government in red, or Big Government in blue.
"Unfortunately, most of our media treats ideology as a one-dimensional line – or horizontal axis – from left to right, typically referring to either economic or social policy positions. They’ve over-simplified it. A more accurate analysis would consider the vertical axis, which typically refers to government control at one end, and political freedom on the other. The simple left-right frame ensures people don’t see, hear or consider the alternative. We’ve got our blinkers on, and now both major Australian political parties sit in the upper quadrants – favouring authority over liberty.
"By ignoring the authoritarian-libertarian spectrum, we’re holding open the gates to barbarians who seek to seize control of an all-powerful state and use it to impose their top-down vision of how we should live our lives. Big Government proponents can hide behind labels like “moderate” or “centrist” if we fail to measure them against the Y axis to determine where they truly sit. ...
"Increasingly, both major parties subscribe to the view that more government is the solution to every problem. It’s become the default, it’s reflexive; if there’s a problem, the solution is a new law, a new tax or a new, bureaucratic department. Australia’s political class is united in expanding Canberra’s reach, regardless of the colour of the flag they fly. The result? Uniparty.
"No Liberal Party frontbencher stood up in 2025 to argue that maybe, just maybe, government should do less, spend less, control less.
"We must demand that the authoritarian-libertarian axis be part of the conversation."~ Steve Holland from his post 'Liberty Can’t Win If It’s Not on the Ballot'
May 11, 2025
Mr. Howard Lutnick
Secretary, United States Department of Commerce
Washington, DC
Mr. Lutnick:
When CNN’s Dana Bash pointed out to you this morning that – in her clear words – “the cost of tariffs are paid by American consumers,” you responded: “Well, I disagree with that, you know” – implying that you believe that foreign producers, in response to the tariffs, will lower the prices they charge American buyers by the full amount of the tariffs.
But you’re also on record predicting that President Trump’s tariffs will spark an American “manufacturing renaissance.”
Can you explain how tariffs will incite Americans to buy fewer manufactured imports – and, hence, more American-made goods to launch that “manufacturing renaissance” – if the prices that foreign producers charge Americans for manufactured imports don’t rise? How would that work???
Do you really not see that it is logically impossible for U.S. tariffs both not to raise the prices that Americans pay for imports and to discourage Americans from buying imports, which discouraging is necessary to increase American manufacturing?
Each semester I teach an auditorium full of college freshmen. In more than 40 years in the classroom, I do not recall a single student committing such an egregious error as you commit in peddling to the American public your and Pres. Trump’s poisonous protectionism.
I’m quite certain that you’re not a stupid man; you can’t possibly believe all that you say about the administration’s trade ‘policy.’ I can conclude only that you have no respect for the intelligence of ordinary Americans.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
and
Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
The post Open Letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appeared first on Cafe Hayek.
HEH:
Anti-gay hate crimes recorded by police in 2023:
Saudi Arabia: 0
Pakistan: 0
Yemen: 0
Brunei: 0
Somalia: 0
Afghanistan: 0
USA: 2402And you’re telling me it’s the Islamic states that are homophobic? 🤦🏽♀️
— Titania McGrath (@TitaniaMcGrath) May 9, 2025
Related? One-Third of American Cities No Longer Report Crime Statistics to the FBI.
No report, no problem.
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