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OCPA Releases

Oklahoma Policy Blueprint , edited by Brandon Dutcher
This volume provides specific, practical policy recommendations for advancing economic and educational freedom in Oklahoma. Topics include state taxation and spending, school choice, labor law reform, Medicaid and other health care issues, early childhood education, and more. Milton Friedman calls the book "thorough, well informed and highly sophisticated." Bill Bennett calls it "a blueprint not just for Oklahoma, but for all states."


Suggested Further Reading:

Economics

The Road to Serfdom , by Friedrich Hayek
This classic by one of the 20th century's leading libertarian thinkers has established itself beside the works of Orwell and others as a timeless meditation on the relationship between human freedom and government authority. Hayek argues that empowering government with increasing economic control leads not to utopia but to horrors such those seen in Nazi Germany.
Human Action , Ludwig von Mises
"It should become the leading text of everyone who believes in freedom, in individualism, and in the ability of a free-market economy not only to outdistance any government-planned system in the production of goods and services for the masses, but to promote and safeguard . . . those intellectual, cultural, and moral values upon which all civilization ultimately rests." Henry Hazlitt
Those Dirty Rotten Taxes , by Charles Adams
Adams, an independent scholar affiliated with the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., has produced a breezy account of tax revolt in American history, from the Stamp Act to the present day.
The Noblest Triumph , by Tom Bethell
The phenomenal success of Western civilization and the remarkable economic expansion fueled by modern capitalism, says Tom Bethell, depend chiefly on the institution of private property and the development of secure property rights, yet this simple, striking idea is misunderstood by elite opinion leaders in the United States and around the world. Bethell, a reporter for the American Spectator, offers a history of property as an idea and a reality around the world.
Prosperity Versus Planning , by David Osterfeld
Arguing on both theoretical and empirical grounds that the most effective way to promote economic growth is to establish a wall of separation between government and the economy, David Osterfeld presents an alternative development model diametrically opposed to the prevalent interventionist paradigm.
Economics in One Lesson , by Henry Hazlitt
This book has been the springboard from which millions have come to understand the basic truths about economics--and the economic fallacies responsible for inflation, unemployment, high taxes, and recession. H.L. Mencken called Hazlitt "one of the few economists in human history who could really write."
The Wealth of Nations , Adam Smith
Written over a ten year period, this work was first published in 1776 and is a classic statement of economic liberalism.
Capitalism & Freedom , Milton Friedman
Friedman argues that the appropriate role of competitive capitalism occurs when the majority of our economic activity flows through private enterprise within a free market environment.

The Mystery of Capital, Hernando de Soto
Hernando de Soto, the renowned Peruvian economist and adviser to presidents and prime ministers, says it's not that poor, postcommunist countries don't have the assets to make capitalism flourish. The real problem is that such countries have yet to establish and normalize the invisible network of laws that turns assets from "dead" into "liquid" capital. This is a fascinating and solidly supported look at the one component that's holding much of the world back from developing healthy free markets.


Education

Market Education : The Unknown History by Andrew J. Coulson
Coulson's historical study explores the educational problems facing parents and shows how these problems can best be addressed. He discusses what people want from their school systems, tracing their views of the kinds of knowledge, skills, and values education should impart, and their concerns about discipline, drugs, and violence in schools. Coulson then compares ancient and modern school systems, seeking to determine which systems did and did not achieve the aims of parents and the public.
Dumbing Down Our Kids, by Charles Sykes
As featured on the Today show, C-Span, and NPR's Talk of the Nation, among others, this searing indictment of America's secondary schools offers a full-scale investigation of the new educational fad, sometimes called "Outcome Based Education"--the latest in a long series of "reforms" which has eroded our schools--which supplants grades and genuine achievements with "self-esteem."
An Education for Our Time , by Josiah Bunting
A Rhodes scholar, best-selling novelist, and president of three distinguished liberal arts colleges--draws a portrait of the ideal college.
The Teacher Unions , by Myron Lieberman
An experienced contracts negotiator for teachers' unions reveals how the nation's largest teachers' unions have blocked efforts to reform public education, diverted taxpayer money to partisan political causes, and suppressed dissent within their ranks.
Public Education: An Autopsy , by Myron Lieberman
In this blistering critique of our failing public schools, Lieberman explains why public education is in irreversible and terminal decline and tells what we must do to get American schooling back on track. A refreshingly clear analysis of our educational crisis and a rallying cry for market-system approaches to school reform.
Why Johnny Can't Read , by Rudolf Flesch
Rudolf Flesch, a "prophet of reading reform," prescribes a simple medicine for America's reading problem: "go back to the ABC's. Teach children the 44 sounds of English and how they are spelled. Then they can sound out each word from left to right and read it off the page."
Bad Teachers , by Guy Strickland
Through sample situations and a wealth of information on today's educational system, Guy Strickland--a teacher and school administrator for over 30 years--offers a practical approach to determine if a child's learning roadblocks stem from a bad teacher, and if so, how to solve that problem right away.
Real Choice Real Freedom in American Education , by Kerry Morgan
The book focuses on Federal involvement in education from a legal and Constitutional perspective. The Republic's founders, framers and early Presidents were all in one accord in wisely denying the Federal government any power over education in the states. Real Choice, Real Freedom is a book about the freedom of parents to choose a better way for the education of their own children--a way which uses law to secure their rights, not undermine them.
None Dare Call It Education , by John Stormer
"A once great public school system now graduates students who can't read, write, or calculate. None Dare Call It Education explains why the teaching of knowledge and basic skills has been replaced by Values Clarification, Outcome-Based Education, Whole Language, … and other fads and follies."


Political Philosophy

The Federalist Papers , by Hamilton, Madison & Jay
This classic of American political theory, first published in 1788, defends the Constitution and explains the complexities of a constitutional government based on the inherent rights of man.
Free to Choose , by Milton Friedman
In this powerful and persuasive book two distinguished economists, Milton Friedman and his wife, Rose, unravel the mysteries of economics for the man or woman in the street (Main Street or Wall Street). They show us how our freedom has been eroded and our prosperity undermined through the explosion of laws, regulations, agencies, and spending in Washington…
The Republic , by Plato
The most important of the Socratic dialogues, The Republic is concerned with the construction of an ideal commonwealth and thus is the earliest of utopias.
Atlas Shrugged , by Ayn Rand
"Who is John Gault?" He said he would stop the motor of the world... and he did. But who is John Galt? A destroyer or a liberator? Why does he fight his battle, not against his enemies, but against those who need him most? Why does he fight his hardest battle against the woman he loves? One of the most acclaimed and influential works of the 20th century, Atlas Shrugged portrays the murderand rebirthof the human spirit. Tremendous in scope, breathtaking in suspense, profound in meaning, it also illuminates Ayn Rand's unique philosophy, Objectivism, which has gained a worldwide audience.
The Paleoconservatives , by Joseph Scotchie
Kingdoms in Conflict , by Chuck Colson
A provocative, practical and challenging look at the role of the church in society, the role of government in the world, and the role of Christian's in each. Winner of the Gold Medallion award.


Culture

The Book of Virtues , by William Bennett
In The Book of Virtues, the author has collected hundreds of stories in an instructive and inspiring anthology that will help children understand and develop character and help adults teach them.
The Death of Outrage , by William Bennett
William J. Bennett, former press secretary turned bestselling author, analyzes why the Clinton scandals failed to enrage the American people. Bennett rejects the argument that private conduct is not relevant to public office, claiming instead that such attitudes will begin to erode the nation's high standards. By evaluating the defenses put forth by Clinton and his supporters, Bennett attempts to explain exactly where Clinton went wrong, and what the lasting effect will be on our perceptions of justice and morality.
Another Turn of the Crank , by Wendell Berry
Six new essays on sustainability and stewardship appear in this collection by one of America's most important cultural critics. Berry proposes, and earnestly hopes, that people will learn once more to care for their local communities, and so begin the restoration that might spread over the entire nation and beyond.
Slouching Towards Gomorrah , by Robert Bork
In this prophetic view of a society in moral decline and on the brink of losing its very foundation, one of the nation's most distinguished conservative scholars traces the roots of liberalism & its pervasiveness in America.
Come Home America , by Daniel E. Johnson
"Ours is a covenant nation..". the late Chaplain Peter Marshall said. "The only surviving nation on earth that had its origins in the determination of the Founding Fathers to establish a nation 'to the glory of God & the advancement of the Christian faith'.
The Moral Compass , by William Bennett
This inspiring and instructive companion volume to The Book of Virtues, offers many more examples of good and bad, right and wrong, in great works from literature and in exemplary stories from history.


Other Favorites

War on the West , by William Perry Pendley
Money for Nothing , by Frank McChesney
Tommy and Me , by Ben Stein
The Vision of the Anointed , by Thomas Sowell
  With No Apologies: The Outspoken Political Memoirs of America's Conservative Conscience by Barry Goldwater
The True Believer , by Eric Hoffer
Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader , by Dinesh D'Souza
In this enlightening new look at one of our most successful, most popular, and least understood presidents, bestselling author and former Reagan aide Dinesh D'Souza shows how this "ordinary" man was able to transform the political landscape in a way that made a permanent impact on America and the world. Ronald Reagan is a thoughtful and honest assessment of how this underestimated president became a truly extraordinary leader.
The Power of Ideas, The Heritage Foundation at 25 Years , by Lee Edwards

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