Modern Era
Walter E. Williams
1936–2020 · Free-market persuasion
The state has no money of its own, only what it took from you.
An economist who taught for decades and reached millions through columns and radio, Williams took unlicensed street vendors, rent control and minimum wages as his standing examples: whoever the law is said to help, its first effect is to make their work illegal. He framed the argument in plain language, insisting that liberty's case be stated so plainly that it could not be evaded.
Why it matters for freedom
He explained complex economics to ordinary people on the radio, insisting that liberty is a practical matter of what you are allowed to do.
Who they stood against
the regulators and the minimum wage law that priced young people out of work