Throughout the world, America has been known as the “land of the free.” Today however, real life in the United States is quite different from the famous promise. Over the past century, the U.S. government has grown astronomically as the average citizen’s life is increasingly taxed, regulated, and spied upon. In the last few years alone, federal spending has skyrocketed by almost 30%, creating the largest deficit in U.S. history and extensive corporate welfare, pork, and abuses of civil and economic liberties. In his work, noted legal scholar Richard Epstein goes to the root of the problem, addressing the moral and conceptual foundations of liberty and how they have been systematically undermined. Should individuals be free to make their own peaceful choices or should decisions by special interests in the name of the “public good” be imposed by force? What about property rights, taxes, regulation, civil rights, and the welfare state? At this Independent Policy Forum, Richard Epstein and historian and economist Jeffrey Rogers Hummel will discuss why the time has come for a bold new defense of the free society

Sr. Fellow Ivan Eland, author of the new book Eleven Presidents, appears on the Patriot Tonight show on SiriusXM radio. Eland joins host Nicholas Sarwark, Chair of the Libertarian National Committee. The two discuss President Trump's tax, trade, and economic policies, and the policies of past administrations.

Sr. Fellow Ivan Eland, author of the new book Eleven Presidents, appears on the nationally syndicated Lars Larson radio show. Eland begins talking about President Trump’s “draining the swamp” in the year since Trump’s election. Republican tax cuts and tax reform and the history of tax reform is also discussed.

Independent Institute presented the Alexis de Tocqueville Award to Timothy C. Draper, entrepreneur and visionary, at the Gala for the Future of Liberty held on September 22, 2017 in San Francisco, CA.

Independent Institute presented the Alexis de Tocqueville Award to Yeonmi Park, human rights activist and North Korean refugee, at the Gala for the Future of Liberty held on September 22, 2017 in San Francisco, CA.

Independent Institute presented the Alexis de Tocqueville Award to Vernon L. Smith, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, at the Gala for the Future of Liberty held on September 22, 2017 in San Francisco, CA.

The parliament of Catalonia, the financial powerhouse of Spain, voted to declare independence from Spain. Sr. Fellow Ivan Eland joins a discussion of the prospects for permanent independence for Catalonia and the implications for Spain and the European Union.

Sr. Fellow John C. Goodman appears on the Fox Business Network to discuss Republican plans for tax reform. Goodman shares his insight on the breakdown of possibilities in congress for tax reform, and what that might mean for the middle class and their retirement funds and take-home pay.