Rational Standard

Rational Standard

Home
Podcast
Politics
Economics
Philosophy
History
Culture
Science
Submissions
About

Economics

Housing Should Not Be A Speculative Asset
It isn’t a free market in real estate that has caused the rise in housing prices and the drastic shortage of houses. It’s government policy that…
 • 
Nicholas Woode-Smith
1
Planning Fails, Freedom Feeds
Voluntary agreements lead to the harmonious implementation of thousands of business plans and transactions. There is no economic exploitation.
 • 
Johan Biermann
The Road to Ruin Is Paved with Subsidies
Government promises jobs and growth, but ends up misallocating resources and repeating the cycle of economic disruption.
 • 
Johan Biermann
Dear AfDB: The Future Is Not Collateral
The legacy of the $475 million AfDB loan
 • 
Econ Bro
Foreign Credit, Local Collapse
What the AfDB Loan Could Mean for South Africa
 • 
Econ Bro
4
Electricity Prices Must Be Market Driven
South Africa’s electricity crisis is not just about corruption or incompetence. It is about the fundamental failure of central planning.
 • 
Nicholas Woode-Smith
3
What Is a Businessman? A Creator or a Looter?
South Africa must reclaim the moral meaning of business before it is lost to corruption
 • 
RS Guest Author
The AfDB’s $475 million loan – a gift to corruption, not infrastructure
Austrian thinkers have long warned that without clear ownership, competition, and accountability, corruption becomes not an exception but a rational…
 • 
Econ Bro
Interventionist realities - when less means more
For the millions of unemployed South Africans, owning a house and a car is but a dream. To turn their dreams into reality, they need jobs.
 • 
Johan Biermann
The virtue of economic liberalism
A liberal society, by granting freedom to the people, is a society where prosperity is possible. It liberates individuals to realise as much of their…
 • 
RS Guest Author
Institutionalised Poverty: Taxation, regulation, and inflation in South Africa
South Africa has natural resources. It has intelligence. It has entrepreneurial spirit. What it lacks is a government that understands the value of…
 • 
RS Guest Author
1
Unemployment is high because doing business is hard
When small businesses are burdened by excessive administration and regulation, the cost of compliance can become overwhelming.
 • 
Zakhele Mthembu
1
© 2025 Free Market Foundation
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture