Supporters of state interventionism and government meddling frequently cite the twin canards of 'market failure' and 'the free rider problem' as reasons not to let freedom reign.

Two articles from the Mises blog should disabuse any reasonable reader of these notions, or at least point the interested reader to literature that does:

• Solving the problem of free-riding - Ben O'Neil
• What Are You Calling Failure? - Gil Guillory

A third could be recommended to the reader concerned with the latest manifestation of both government failure and big-government economics, the so called 'credit crunch' and attempts to reverse it:

• Is Something Out of Nothing Possible? - Frank Shostak

And a fourth from the same source might be thought sufficient to send the intelligent reader on his way much better for the experience:

• Society Is a Blessing, but Government Is Evil - Thomas Paine