Immigration is one of those issues about which libertarians are increasingly divided: Some say to open the borders and let economic forces sort things out; others say the very idea of citizenship is meaningless and the federal budget is unsustainable if a nation's rules and welfare state goodies are available to all comers. Here at FEE, you can listen to Ben Powell debunking myths about immigration. And we have weighed in heavily on the issue since the time of Leonard Read. On the other hand, the great Milton Friedman was skeptical about open immigration coexisting with the welfare state--and his skepticism is not unwarranted. What is becoming increasingly clear, however, is that the current system is broken. Illegal immigrants are risking life and limb to find opportunity on these shores. Once here, they must live in the shadows. Living in the shadows means free exchange between consenting adults is rendered illegitimate. Businesses find it hard to hire seasonal labor, and illegal workers find it more difficult to assimilate when they're hiding. One group is offering a fix. Helen Krieble of Red Card Solution is here to discuss a plan to cut the Gordian Knot on immigration. It's not a Utopian solution, it's a pragmatic one: "Immigrants who want to become citizens and live in the U.S. permanently would have to comply with existing laws and procedures. The Red Card Solution creates a different system for the vast majority merely seeking work in the U.S."

"People are focused today on some trees, but are missing the forest." FEE President, Lawrence W. Reed, addresses the connection between Liberty and Character. To learn more about the connection between character, liberty, and a free society, read this essay: http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/ideas-and-consequences-character-liberty-and-economics/

Technology doesn’t just change things, it utterly destroys things. And that’s just fine. It happens so often that people barely even notice when it does. Think about all the new services that have come to market just over the past few years: Uber, Airbnb, Redbox … the list goes on and on. But that’s only half the story. In turn, the list of services replaced by these new ones is similarly long: taxis, hotels, Blockbuster, etc. And workers in these industries often lose their jobs in the line of creative destruction. We generally accept this as the price of innovation, but many people try to use the government to stop this by blocking the new services. Today we’re seeing this with more politically well-connected industries like taxis and hotels. Pressure is put on Uber and Airbnb, respectively, to “protect” the established industries they are upending. This week, Ant and James talk about why this is always a mistake. Learn More: https://fee.org/articles/government-cant-stop-creative-destruction/ --Edited by-- Pavel Rusakov

PLEASE RATE & SUBSCRIBE! On June 9, 2011 Professor Steven Horwitz lectured at the Freedom University: Austrian Economics Summer Seminar. In this video Dr. Horwitz discusses the Austrian Economics & Inflation. Find out more at: http://fee.tv/?p=558