• • • A Thatcher-Rand connection? 
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In 1976, at the age of 71, Ayn Rand closed down her periodical “The Ayn Rand Letter” with a short essay called “A Last Survey.” Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Margaret Thatcher was leader of the Conservative Party and three years away from becoming prime minister of the United Kingdom. The two women never met, but Rand’s article indicates a possible intellectual connection.      View blog reactions

• • A conservative argument for antitrust 
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Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal  |Capitalism  |Objectivist author  | I’ve been reading a book published by the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative bastion. The Antitrust Laws: A Primer, now in its fourth edition, was written by John Shenefield, a former head of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and Irwin Stelzer, an economist and contributing editor to The Weekly Standard. On the very first page, the authors announce their goal: “This book is intended to replace the businessman’s fear and loathing of the antitrust laws with a basic understanding of what they are about and to acquaint students with these important legal and economic precepts.” [....] Instead of learning to love antitrust under the guidance of Shenefield and Stelzer, businessmen should learn to love freedom under the guidance of Ayn Rand.      View blog reactions

• • • Obama on Ayn Rand: The annotated version 
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Ayn Rand Institute  |Atlas Shrugged  |Capitalism  |Egoism  |Individual Rights  |Individualism  |Paul Ryan  |Objectivist author  | In his recent Rolling Stone interview, President Obama was asked: “Have you ever read Ayn Rand?” His matter-of-fact answer: “Sure.”It’s fascinating to read closely the key passages in Obama’s interview. I’ve reproduced his comments verbatim below, in the block indented sections (with italics for emphasis). Then I’ve interspersed links to Ayn Rand Institute articles that provide useful context for understanding what Obama said—and for identifying the falsehoods underlying his attacks on Ayn Rand.      View blog reactions

• • • What Ayn Rand was for 
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Ayn Rand Institute  |Atlas Shrugged  |Capitalism  |Individualism  |Onkar Ghate  |Objectivist author  | For anyone who watched CNN’s report on Ayn Rand (during “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” on October 11), there was a puzzling moment that I’d like to clear up.      View blog reactions

• • The Tea Party will fail—unless it fully embraces individualism as a moral ideal 
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Atlas Shrugged  |Egoism  |Individualism  |Ron Johnson  |Objectivist author  | For the first time, a resistance movement is looking for answers in Ayn Rand’s writings. From the original public rant that inspired the tea party idea (when CNBC reporter Rick Santelli said “at the end of the day, I’m an Ayn Rander”) to last fall’s US Senate victory by Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson (who calls “Atlas Shrugged” his “foundational book”), Rand’s uncompromising defense of individualism has become a part of the tea-party mix. Can the tea party deliver on its promise to cut back big government? Yes it can, but not unless its supporters awaken to the need for moral intransigency in pursuing individual liberty.      View blog reactions