• "Well written, well researched, and the thesis put forth is well argued.... Woods has opened up an area of historical analysis that should invite further study."
    -Journal of American History

  • "During these times that challenge our freedoms there is no one more qualified to make U.S. history relevant to the fight against big government than Thomas Woods."
    -Barry Goldwater Jr.
    Former Member of Congress

  • "I strongly recommend Woods's work."
    -The Honorable Ron Paul,
    U.S. House of Representatives

  • "Written with great clarity and fluency, making the complex philosophical and theological concepts approachable."
    -Journal of American Studies

  • "A must-read."
    -Barron's

  • "An excellent reading source for anyone interested in financial markets, and much more so for anyone interested in learning about capitalism without all the misinterpretations being thrown about in the financial media."
    -Asia Times

  • "Provocative, well-written, and deserves to be read."
    -Catholic Historical Review

  • "An engaging and important contribution to scholarship on the history of American Catholicism."
    -Journal of the Historical Society

  • "Woods and [co-author Kevin] Gutzman appeal to both left and right in this constitutionalist jeremiad…. The authors' exegeses of the Constitution and court decisions, heavy on original intent arguments, are lucid and telling."
    -Publishers Weekly

  • "A marvelous read. Every chapter taught me something new and unexpected."
    -Tom Bethell, senior editor,
    The American Spectator

  • "The hottest book today is Meltdown, by my friend Tom Woods."
    -Judge Andrew Napolitano, senior judicial analyst,
    FOX News Channel

  • "Should be required reading."
    -Economic Affairs (London)

  • "Woods, one of the best classical liberal [libertarian] scholars of his generation, has once more placed us in his debt with this lucid and tightly argued book."
    -David Gordon, The Mises Review

  • "Tom Woods is one of my dearest allies in the struggle against wrong-headed and dangerous economic policy."
    -Peter Schiff

Markets Work: Free Credit Report Edition

Robert writes:

I never really paid much attention to my credit score until buying my first house. I noticed it was very difficult to get access to your report and always required payment of a fee. The government has passed a law requiring credit scores to provide you with a copy of your report – but not your score – free of charge, but you only get to request one every 12 months.

Anyway, I recently found out about this private firm that offers a service called Credit Karma at www.creditkarma.com

They provide you with access to all of your reports, all of your credit scores, and it is updated in real-time. It is the most comprehensive and complete service I have ever come across for your credit score information. Additionally, it is all completely free of charge!

How could this be? Well they use ad-based revenue to cover all their costs. I thought this was a pretty amazing example between private and public solutions to the same problem. The government solution is one report – score not included – per year. The market solution is unlimited, free, and real time access to every aspect of your credit imaginable!

Unlearn the Propaganda!

  • Anonymous

    Free market always wins. Thanks for the share.
    ——————————————–
    Family Survival Course Book

  • chris

    Credit Karma is good for your report….but I wouldn’t put much stock in the “score” that they give you. It is not a “FICO” score that 90%+ lenders use to determine credit worthiness…it is a score that is computed completely differently and is on a different scale. Meaning a 740 Fico score is good…a 740 non Fico score is not that great. Max fico score is 850 whereas the scores on credit karma are out of 1,000.

    Though I do agree with him that it is VERY difficult to buy your Fico score. MyFico.com sells Equifax and Transunion fico’s and I think if to sign up for a free trial they give you one of them for free and you can cancel with no obligation.

    Btw I used to be a credit counselor for a non profit so I have experience in this.

  • Anon

    It would be interesting to see how different the definition of ‘free market’ is between libertarians and so-called far right neo-cons. Certainly, they don’t mean free market in the same way.

    And, how has free market been violated with SEC, etc…

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1457760294 Robert Fellner

    Hey Chris,

    I think they may had made changes since you last used it. I am logged in right now and the score they are providing me says “Sources provided by Transunion” and is on a scale of 350-850, just like FICO. More importantly for me is that they are using the TransUnion score, which is one of the 3 major credit bureaus used for credit score.

    A full explanation of this can be found here: http://www.creditkarma.com/article/differentscores