From Pencils to Smartphones

Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Lawrence W Reed

“When Liberty International in collaboration with Libertarianism.org engaged me a year ago to apply the insights of Leonard E. Read’s famous 1958 essay, ‘I, Pencil,’ to the smartphone, I eagerly accepted the challenge. All of us involved in the project believed that it was time to ‘update’ the essay by adapting its message to a product everybody uses today. Why? Because, we thought, pencils are fading into memory, overtaken by a growing number of competing writing implements. Then I ran across some information that surprised me. Global pencil production is actually setting records year after year.” (04/14/26)

https://fee.org/articles/from-pencils-to-smartphones/