Central planning
Socialist Hugo Chávez Destroyed Venezuela's Power Grid. Now the Regime Hopes Private Capital Will Rebuild It.
The regime is paying lip service to undoing a policy that caused incalculable human suffering but is hesitant to relinquish control.
Biden Killed the Spirit Airlines Merger. Now Trump Wants Taxpayers To Save the Company.
A merger with JetBlue could have saved the company. Instead, taxpayers will now be forced to pick up the bill.
Politicians Want To Fix the Economy. So Why Do They Keep Making It Worse?
"Central planning doesn't work because everybody has different ideas for themselves," says Ryan McMaken of the Mises Institute.
Anthropic Labeled a Supply Chain Risk, Banned from Federal Government Contracts
OpenAI has entered a contract with the Defense Department allowing all lawful use of ChatGPT after Anthropic refused to remove its restrictions on domestic mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons systems.
Trump's 25 Percent Tariff on Chip Imports Is Really an Export Tax
The order imposes duties on China-bound AI chips if chipmakers don't invest in American semiconductor fabrication.
Thanksgiving Should Worry Today's Socialists
The only reason we celebrate the holiday with lots of food is because the Pilgrims learned—the hard way—that socialism doesn't work.
This Virginia Company Says Donald Trump's Tariffs Make 'Rational Business Planning Impossible'
Crutchfield Corporation, a Charlottesville-based and family-owned electronics retailer, has submitted an amicus brief in support of challenges to the president’s reciprocal tariffs.
Trump Wants Higher Beef Prices and Also Lower Beef Prices
The president somehow believes that tariffs can deliver wins for both producers and consumers. It is maddening and nonsensical.
Here's How the AI Action Plan Will Accelerate—and Throttle—AI Innovation
The American AI industry doesn't need industrial policy, just freedom.
America Has Plenty of Experience With Government-Run Stores, and It Isn't Pretty
New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani wants to open city-owned grocery stores. The U.S. already has a few, and they're a cautionary tale.
Zohran Mamdani's Government-Run Grocery Stores Won't Lower Prices
The democratic socialist's proposed "public option" reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of the market.
Trump's 'Reciprocal' Tariffs Could Be Largest Tax Increase Since World War II
The specifics are still vague, but the White House is reportedly claiming that new tariffs will generate $1 trillion annually.
The European Commission's (Anti)Competitiveness Compass
The European Union doesn’t need a five-year plan—it needs free markets.
Central Planning Won Big on Election Night
The bipartisan embrace of industrial policy represents one of the most dangerous economic illusions of our time.
Kamala Harris' 'Price Gouging' Ban: A New Idea That Has Failed for Thousands of Years
A half-baked idea that is just as dubious as Donald Trump's tariffs.
The Dark Side of Alexander Hamilton
The first treasury secretary's plans would have created cartels that mainly benefited the wealthy at the expense of small competitors.
The Best of Reason: Not Even Artificial Intelligence Can Make Central Planning Work
Revolutionary AI technologies can't solve the "wicked problems" facing policy makers.
No, Politicians Can't 'Fix' Prices—and That's OK
Price controls lead to the misallocation of resources, shortages, diminished product quality, and black markets.
Not Even Artificial Intelligence Can Make Central Planning Work
Revolutionary AI technologies can't solve the "wicked problems" facing policy makers.
How Third-World Countries Build Walkable Cities Without Central Planning
Jakarta, Indonesia, shows why you don't need central planners to get pedestrian-friendly urban design.
Josh Hawley Thinks the White House Can Force an Aluminum Plant To Stay Open
Should there be any limits to a president's power to centrally plan the economy? Apparently not.
Joe Biden's Plan for 31 Subsidized 'Tech Hubs' Is an Old, Tired Idea That's Doomed To Fail
Presidential administrations from both parties keep trying to make "place-based" economic development work.
Africa's Planned Cities Need Unplanning
Nigeria's shantytowns are more functional than its centrally planned gated communities.
Anarchy in Central Park
New York politicians got out of the way for once, and something beautiful happened.
Progressives and Populist Republicans Are Coming for Your Credit Card Rewards
New legislation would intervene in the credit card market to help businesses like Target and Walmart, who don't like the fees they have to pay to accept credit card payments.
The International Idiocy of the 15-Minute City
Planners and politicians from Saudi Arabia to Scotland want to transform interconnected cities into isolated "urban villages" no one ever needs to leave.
Is There a Future for the City of Tomorrow?
The consequences of our obsession with urban dystopias and utopias
Governments Scramble To Manage, Regulate, and Throttle Crypto
Most dangerously of all, they're starting to make their own central bank digital currencies.
Freedom Was Giving Us Prosperity and Full Bellies. Political Leaders Squandered What We Had.
Government officials broke the world, and we’re all paying the price.
The Defense Production Act Has Become a License for Central Planning
If home insulation is a "critical technology item essential to the national defense," then what isn't?
Red Markets
Sometimes communist countries had to tolerate a little economic liberty just to survive.
Economic Lessons From COVID-19
What the pandemic has re-taught us about the perils of planning, the power of incentives, and the complexities of externalities.
Black Markets in COVID-19 Vaccines Were Inevitable Once Government Got Involved
A politicized vaccine distribution process intended to take price out of the picture has given the edge to the rich, connected, and powerful.
To Avoid More Political Violence, Allow Americans To Escape Each Other's Control
Let people join with the like-minded to reject officials and laws that don’t suit them and to construct systems that do.
Cuomo's New York Is Just Throwing Away Vaccines Rather Than Distributing Them Competently
More than 4,100 people died of COVID-19 yesterday across the country, but some New York medical providers are dumping vaccines instead of putting them in people's arms.
In a Complex World, Politicians Have a Simple Demand: More Power
Circumstances change and the world may grow more complicated, but authoritarians never vary from their demand for more power over our lives.
COVID-19 Could Force City Planners To Rethink Their Priorities
The coronavirus shutdown might alter buying patterns, as more people flee tightly packed cities for suburban, exurban, and rural areas.
People, Not Politicians, Will Decide When the Coronavirus Shutdown Ends
It's not the politicians who have the power to reopen America, or at least the parts that are now closed. It's individuals, families, businesses, and religious congregations.
Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley Will Do Everything Necessary To Combat Coronavirus (Unless It Involves Deregulation)
In two separate op-eds yesterday, the senators pitch central planning as the best response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Did the $50 Billion Coronavirus Bailouts Effectively Nationalize America's Commercial Airlines?
The CARES Act gives the federal government the power to take large ownership stakes in the airlines and dictate much of their operations.
Standing-Only Metro Escalators Are Central Planners' Dream, but Riders' Nightmare
The argument for getting rid of walking on metro station escalators demonstrates the flaws of central planning logic.
San Francisco Falafel Shop Owner Says Neighborhood Has Enough Falafel, Asks City to Block Rival Falafel Shop Next Door
San Francisco gives its Planning Commission nearly unlimited discretion to deny or condition permits, making life hell for business owners.
'One Child Nation' Exposes the Tragic Consequences of Chinese Population Control
Documentary filmmaker Nanfu Wang on the horrors of China’s one-child policy
