In this article, I would like to dwell on the topic of the minimum wage and address specifically the audience that believes in the minimum wage mandate. I know well that the vast majority of Independent Institute readers do not fall for that widespread fallacy. However, as someone who once earned less than the mandated...
With all that has been happening in the past decade or so regarding women, their rights, and progress, one regularly points out laws and political reform. Not that they don’t matter, but people often forget another far less glamorous yet potent force that has “quietly” reshaped women’s lives for the better—capitalism and a free society....
As we kick off the new year, we’re excited to share the Top 10 most-read articles on True North in 2025 — a year that saw powerful essays and student voices spark important conversations on economics, policy, and the future of freedom. These compelling pieces range from incisive commentary on public policy and cultural ideas...
Fox News highlighted Northwood University President Kent MacDonald and The Northwood Idea in this recent coverage. The interview was conducted by Fox News as Dr. MacDonald headlined a breakout session at America Fest entitled, “Restoring Higher Education With Ideals That Built a Free Nation.” Click here to view the Fox News piece.
Reflecting on Nathan Hale (1755–1776) Have you ever received a letter that changed your life? On July 4, 1775, a full year before the Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, a 20-year-old Connecticut man named Nathan Hale received such a letter. It was from his Yale classmate Benjamin Tallmadge, who was...
I first heard the names Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes when I was a high-school sophomore. My teacher announced, as if it were a fact as firm as any law of thermodynamics, that the Great Depression was caused by laissez-faire policies advocated by Smith, and that salvation came from the more scientifically sound ideas...
Northwood University alumna Kristin Tokarev is featured on camera in a newly released Stossel TV report examining the growing global movement toward mandated digital identification systems and the implications for individual liberty and personal privacy. Tokarev, an award-winning emerging voice in free-enterprise thought leadership, is a producer for Stossel TV with John Stossel, a high-profile...
Dr. Timothy G. Nash, Northwood University senior vice president emeritus and director of the Northwood University Center for the Advancement of Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, discussed recent Federal Reserve decisions in an interview with Mike Austin on WILS on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. Listen to the interview here:
Note: This piece co-authored by a Northwood University economics professor and alumna now working at Stossel TV, originally was posted by Learn Liberty, which is powered by Students for Liberty. Say what you want about Donald Trump: The man is creative. Really creative. Two of his recent proposals sound like the late-night infomercial between the...
I first met the free-market journalist Henry Hazlitt (1894–1993) in June of 1974 at an Austrian economics conference in South Royalton, Vermont. I had been reading his articles and books for years, since I was around 14 or 15 years old, not long after I became interested in classical-liberal and libertarian ideas. His famous volume...
When it comes to explaining free enterprise, few do it with as much clarity — and wit — as Ken Schoolland. Schoolland was featured in both the 2024 and 2025 Northwood University Freedom Seminars, where he explored the power of humor to undermine tyranny. The longtime Associate Professor of Economics at Hawaii Pacific University is...
Regardless which party controls the White House, one thing remains constant: U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East rests on the fiction that Saudi Arabia is a reliable partner, perhaps even some sort of indispensable friend of the West. The narrative is repeated by both diplomats, top military officials, and business executives. It’s no wonder...
“It is because every individual knows little … that we trust the independent and competitive efforts of many to induce the emergence of what we shall want when we see it.” The Nobel Prize-winning Austrian-born economist and political philosopher Friedrich von Hayek (1899-1992) left a rich legacy of books and articles brimming with insights and...
Dr. Timothy G. Nash discussed the pros and cons of 50-year mortgages in an interview with Mike Austin on WILS on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. Listen to the interview here: