Rejecting Rand Paul's Budget, Republicans Commit to Fiscal Irresponsibility
Even the suggestion that defense spending could be cut is enough to scare most Republicans away from a facing fiscal reality.
Economics
Trade Hearing Highlights Staggering Number of Losers From Trump's Tariff Plan
Trump wants tariffs on 1,300 Chinese-made goods. Dozens of American businessmen and women are in Washington this week to explain why that's an awful idea.
Rand Paul's Plan to Balance the Budget by 2023 Will Get a Senate Vote This Week
Do Republicans have the guts to impose strict spending caps?
Australia Attempts to Fight Tobacco Black Markets by Banning Large Cash Transactions
This will hurt innocent people. It may harm legal businesses. And it won't actually work.
Universal Basic Income Proposal Still Fails to Pass Libertarian Scrutiny
We don't need UBI to enable people to tell bosses to take the job and shove it.
President Trump: Competition Is the Solution to High Drug Prices
Change drug prices by changing the market.
Environmental Protection Agency
Activists Decry Effort to Bring Economic Rationality to Clean Air Regulation
"A standard demanding the return of the Stone Age would not prove 'requisite to protect the public health.'"
Unions Could Lose 726,000 Members if Mark Janus Wins His Supreme Court Case
Union-backed report finds unions could be screwed.
Seattle's Proposed Employment Tax is Just the City's Latest Self-Inflicted Wound
City officials seem dedicated to driving away the businesses that create prosperity.
20-Year-Old Whiskey in 6 Days: Will This Self-Taught Chemist Upend the Liquor Industry?
Bryan Davis created a chemical reactor that compresses time, bringing an artistic sensibility back to aged spirits.
Trump's Former Top Economic Advisor Blasts White House's Tariff Plans
"We should buy from them what they're good at; we should sell to them what we're good at," says Gary Cohn, who left the White House in March.
Even Where Weed Is Legal, Government Regulation Makes Advertising It a Nightmare
"You can't post pictures of buds. You can't post pictures of selfies of a bong hit."
Seattle May Hit Peak Progressivism With a Literal Tax on Jobs
Business and labor join forces to oppose an employee head tax.
Trump, Reagan, and Why Republicans Flip-Flopped on Free Trade
The Donald is more like The Gipper on trade policy than you think. And not in a good way.
K Street Lobbyists Are Loving Trump's Tariff Threats
The president's aggressive but rudderless trade policy is watering the swamp.
Undocumented Immigrants Are Less Crime Prone Than Native-Borns
More undocumented immigration meant less violent crime.
The Good and the Bad of Trump's Decision to Delay Some Tariffs
Trump talks about wanting to reduce our trade deficit with China, but using tariffs to do it might jeopardize America's trade surplus in agriculture.
Is Alex Tabarrok the Most Honest Economist in Academia?: Podcast
The libertarian went looking for the reason for entrepreneurial decline. The answer he found went against everything he believed. He published the results anyway.
Tariffs Are Self-Imposed Sanctions
We restrict trade to punish our enemies. Why would we do the same to ourselves?
New York Officials Weaponize Regulatory Power Against the NRA
In a politicized environment, getting on the wrong side of regulators can be dangerous. Don't be surprised if banks and insurers cave.
Nashville Police Attempt to Seize Control of Private Event Security and Get Sued
Taxpayers are increasingly on the hook for millions in overtime, pension costs.
Politics Is Not Pretty: Podcast
Reason editors rate the White House Correspondents Dinner, Trump's nuclear politics, the optics of political summits, and the resuscitation of Zora Neale Hurston.
Trump's Economic Illiteracy Has Deep Roots
In Trump's mind, America loses when it buys too much. And it loses when we sell too.
The Economic Case for Free Trade Is Stronger Than Ever
But working-class identity politics threaten to ruin everything.
Getting Crony Capitalism Half Right
The solution to government interference isn't more of it.
Does Fractional Reserve Banking Endanger the Economy? A Debate
Texas Tech University's Robert Murphy vs. Cato's George Selgin at the Soho Forum
Democrats' Universal Job Plan Would Be a Socialist Disaster
The economic illiteracy of Bernie Sanders
Should You Be Optimistic About America's Future? Q&A with Russ Roberts: Podcast
The economist and podcast star talks about intellectual humility, the growing incentives for anti-social behavior, and why Adam Smith is more relevant than ever.
Bernie Sanders Has a Jobs Plan. It's Called 'Socialism.'
Can't get work? Trim hedges for the government!
The Coming Century of Environmental Renewal
A new article in BioScience vindicates The End of Doom.
Republicans Could Face Political Consequences Over Trump's Tariffs
"He's going to be a one-term president, plain and simple."
Forcing Restaurants to Pay Servers More Will Cost Everyone
Eliminating the tip credit will raise prices for consumers and leave fewer jobs for servers.
Does Fractional Reserve Banking Pose a Threat to the Economy? Watch the Livestream.
Economists Robert Murphy and George Selgin face off at the Soho Forum.
Backpage Plea to Texas Sex Trafficking Charge Turns On CEO's Admission to Brokering Adult Prostitution
Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer turned over the company and seven other executives in exchange for leniency.
Americans Have a Dangerous Deficit in Trade Understanding
It doesn't matter if those to whom you sell goods or labor are not the same as those from whom you buy these things. The same goes for America.
Special Interest Groups Want to Slaughter the Lab-Grown Beef Business
The cattle industry would rather rent-seek than compete.
California's War on 'Economic Crimes' Sounds Like Something From Soviet Russia
A state senator wants to crack down on "economic crimes" in the state's underground economy.
Live Debate in NYC 4/16: Does Fractional-Reserve Banking Undermine Free Markets?
Texas Tech's Robert Murphy squares off against Cato's George Selgin in New York on Monday, April 16.
Today's 'Balanced Budget Amendment' Is a Month Late and $1 Trillion Short
Thursday's vote is an empty gesture. Worse, it's a hypocritical one.
Are Trillion-Dollar Deficits the New Norm?
It's time to wise up and start curtailing America's mounting debt.
Republicans Have Finally Been Revealed as the Party of Fiscal Ruin
As Paul Ryan exits, a new CBO report confirms the extent of the GOP's damage to the nation's budget.
How Congress Could Stop Trump's Trade War, and Why It Might Not
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he's "nervous" about getting into a global trade war. Here's what he could do to prevent one.
D.C. Government Thinks It Found the Real Problem With EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's Sweetheart Condo Deal
The Scott Pruitt condo scandal is all about rent-seeking, but not in the way the D.C. city government seems to think.
Car-Sharing Bill Typifies California's 'Crony Capitalist' Approach to Innovation
Rental-car companies are facing the same challenges as other established businesses in the internet age. One state lawmaker wants to protect them from change.
