March

THEFREE IDEAS ON LIBERTY 81 Perspective 85 The Open-Endedness of Knowledge: Its Role in the FEE Formula by Israel M. Kirzner As we celebrate our 40th anniversary, it is fitting to remind ourselves that understanding freedom rests in an appreciation of the limits of our knowledge and of how free individuals can transcend those limitations. 91 Bocce and the Economics of Collusion by James Doti With a game of Bocce as a backdrop, the author shows the inherent instability of monopolistic agreements unless the government gets involved. 96 The Legacy of Karl Marx by Henry Hazlitt The Communist Manifesto provides a myriad of false theories and a dogma of hatred. By contrast, the capitalist theory of enlightened self-interest has led civilization to social cooperation and high wages. 102 The New Information Age by John Jefferson Davis The current data communications revolution is transforming the marketplace.

Government regulation threatens to stifle these exciting developments. 108 Who Will Control Medical Care? by Dr. Jane M. Orient There is a dangerous trend. Presumed "cost controls" in insurance, starting with Medicare, are shifting control to a bureaucratic structure and constraining consumer and physician choice and cooperation. 114 A Reviewer's Notebook by John Chamberlain Jean Francois Revel's How Democracies Perish details some of the strengths and potentially fatal weaknesses facing us. 116 Other Books "Free Trade: The Necessary Foundation for World Peace" edited by Joan Kennedy Taylor and "Essays: Moral, Political, and Literary" by David Hume 119 To The Editor CONTENTS MARCH 1986 VOL. 36 NO.3 84 THEFREEMAN IDEAS ON LIBERTY 40 YearsAt FEE The job of economic educationmust be undertaken now whilethose who appreciate the valueof libertyare still in a positionto supportit. I n March 1946, Leonard Read and a small group of colleagues began The Foundation for Economic Education to present the ideas of liberty to a new generation who had no real understand ing of the principles and practices of freedom. And yet they would soon reach responsible positions in the business, intellectual, and political life of the country. The task FEE set for itself was to be a first source, to provide the moral and economic case for limited government and a free market economy.