Live Free and Prosper

The central theme of this manuscript is that the sanctity of the individual stands above all other aspects of life. From this simple idea flows the benefits of free exchange. Because free exchange generates benefits to both sides of the exchange a surplus is created. It is this surplus that is the great benefit to those in the exchange but a temptation to those outside the exchange. The existence of the free exchange surplus is part of the reason that individual freedom, while written about extensively, has historically been rare. Governments be they democracies or dictatorships covet the surpluses generated by free exchange. This great country is perhaps the longest lasting bastion of freedom that the world has known. But as we dilute of constitutional protection of the individual in favor of the village we are going down a path leading to the eventual elimination of individual freedom. In part one of this book I lay out the benefits of freedom of exchange and the forces that make its achievement so difficult. Then in part two I analyze the aspects of current economic issues whose solutions have been driven by political considerations. For each of these societal problems I suggest solutions that are freedom enhancing in contrast to the current government solution that solves problems by limiting individual freedom. Ultimately the future of freedom depends on finding a way to allow individual freedom within the necessity of a communal reaction to world events. Essentially representative democracy necessitates that we have agents acting on our behalf. The problem is finding ways to ensure that these agents act on our behalf.
About the Author: Thomas R. Saving is Director, Private Enterprise Research Center and University Distinguished Professor of Economics at Texas A&M University. He has been elected to the post of President of the Western Economics Association, the Southern Economics Association and the Association of Private Enterprise Education. In 2000, President Clinton appointed him as a Public Trustee of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds. On May 2, 2001, President Bush named him to the bipartisan President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security. On April 19, 2006, President Bush appointed him to an unprecedented second term as a Public Trustee of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds which expired in December 2007. His early research was on Monetary Theory and Policy. During that time he co-authored two books with fellow colleague Boris P. Pesek, Money, Wealth and Economic Theory, Macmillan, 1967 and Foundations of Money and Banking, Macmillan, 1968. He has published in all major US economics journals. His current research emphasis is on the benefit of markets in solving the pressing issues in health care and Social Security. He is a co-editor of Medicare Reform: Issues and Answers, University of Chicago Press, 1999, the co-author of The Economics of Medicare Reform, W.E. Upjohn Institute, 2000 and The Diagnosis and Treatment of Medicare, AEI Press, 2007. He has published editorials in the New York Times, the LA Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.