Is Our Money Broken?
Join Reason on YouTube and Facebook at 1 p.m. Eastern for a discussion with Lyn Alden about her new book, Broken Money.
Economics
Johan Norberg: Why We Need a Capitalist Manifesto
Q&A with the author of the book Elon Musk calls "an excellent explanation of why capitalism is not just successful, but morally right."
87% of Americans Want Politicians To Do Something Before Social Security Runs Out of Money
Entitlement reform has long been considered a third rail in American politics, but that perspective might be changing.
Capitalism Made Us All Richer. So Why Are We Unhappy?
A Q&A with Johan Norberg, author of the book Elon Musk calls "an excellent explanation of why capitalism is not just successful, but morally right."
Why Is Halloween Candy So Expensive? Sugar Protectionism.
A new report from the GAO highlights how America's system of sugar subsidies and tariffs costs consumers about $3.5 billion every year.
Don't Believe Janet Yellen's Shoddy Wartime 'Girl Math'
Plus: President Joe Biden’s weird economy and Rep. Mike Johnson as the unlikely new speaker of the House of Representatives.
Biden Wants Another $56 Billion in 'Emergency' Spending
Congress is being asked to borrow more money to fund broadband access and other pet projects. Only about $9 billion would be spent on natural disaster recovery efforts.
New Speaker Mike Johnson's First Good Idea: A Debt Commission
A debt commission won't solve any of the federal government's fiscal problems, but it's the first step towards taking them seriously.
Democrats Say They're Fighting Inequality. But Many of Their Policies Favor the Rich.
Over the last several years, they have worked nonstop to ease the tax burden of their high-income constituents.
'America Funded It': Rand Paul Blasts Fauci and the Media for Suppressing the Lab Leak Theory
The notion that COVID-19 came from a lab was once touted as misinformation. But now the FBI, the Energy Department, and others agree with Paul.
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.
Government-Run Grocery Store Is Predictably Losing Money
The folly of government-run grocery stores is sadly not a historical relic like the USSR.
Lawmakers and Unions Defend Burdensome Airline Regulations With Bogus Statistics
The world's largest union of pilots says this requirement is necessary for safety and not unduly burdensome, but its data are misleadingly cherry-picked.
SAG-AFTRA's Halloween Costume Rules Are Super Annoying
The union wants you to throw your Barbie costume in the trash, scab.
Jim Jordan Is Trying To Buy the Speakership With Tax Breaks for Wealthy Residents of Blue States
It's a maneuver that makes little fiscal, philosophical, or political sense, but thankfully it also seems unlikely to work.
California Is Taxing Itself to Death
Since departees tend to be high earners, their absence threatens to wreck the state's swollen budget.
Americans Learned a Lesson About Interest Rates. Washington Has Not.
Higher rates lead to more debt, and more debt begets higher rates, and on and on. Get the picture?
SpaceX: FAA Is Slowing Progress to the Moon
“If you’re able to build a rocket faster than the government can regulate it, that’s upside down.”
What Failed Products Teach Us About Capitalism
Being able to take risks and having the freedom to try out wild ideas is the only process that leads to successful innovation.
California Environmental Regulations Are Driving Truckers Out of Pennsylvania
The Golden State's new rules—which Pennsylvania's Environmental Quality Board opted to copy—will increase the cost of a new truck by about one-third.
Is It Time To Trust-Bust Taylor Swift?
The pop singer's new concert film inadvertently makes the case for big businesses with sweeping market power.
In Guatemala, Protests Have Brought Economic Life to a Halt
Few doubt the right of Guatemalans to protest. The challenge arises when protests exact a heavy toll on the well-being of its citizens.
Hamas Attack Should Teach Us the Folly of Hostage Deals with Terrorists
The attack was in part the product of Israel's terrible 2011 decision to trade 1000 Hamas and other terrorist prisoners for a captured soldier. I and other critics predicted the terrible consequences at the time.
Wisconsin Politicians Want To Spend $550 Million on Ballpark Subsidies the Public Opposes
Just 24 percent of self-identified Trump voters and 34 percent of self-identified Biden voters say they support a public handout for the Milwaukee Brewers' 22-year-old stadium.
Mike Rowe Wants More Philosopher-Welders
The Dirty Jobs host on “essential” work, college, and the skills gap
The COVID Bailout of State and Local Governments Was Unnecessary
Well over half of those funds remain unspent, according to a new Government Accountability Office report.
No, Low Interest Rates Did Not Justify Adding Trillions of Dollars to the National Debt
Especially because the once-dismissed possibility of rising rates is now a reality.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom Nixes Psychedelic Decriminalization and Cannabis Cafés
Newsom vetoed both reforms, which he deemed excessively permissive.
Inflation Won't Go Away Until Congress Gets the Deficit Under Control
The Federal Reserve's higher interest rates were supposed to trigger changes to fiscal policy. So far, that hasn't happened.
California's $20 Minimum Wage Will Hurt the Fast Food Workers It's Meant To Help
Boosting minimum wages often increases unemployment and raises prices.
The Best of Reason: Competition, Not Antitrust, Is Humbling the Tech Giants
The worst of the antitrust alarmism keeps proving untrue, as tech companies believed by some to be monopolies instead lose market share.
Airlines Ask FAA To Regulate Competitor Out of Business
American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and the largest union of pilots want the government to change regulations that allow a smaller competitor to operate.
The Sindex: Price of Booze Away From Home Up 6.6 Percent Since 2022
The Reason Sindex tracks the price of vice: smoking, drinking, snacking, traveling, and more.
The Federal Government Spent $3.3 Billion on Office Furniture as Employees Worked From Home
The Department of Defense spent $1.2 billion on furniture between 2020 and 2022, although it only uses 23 percent of its office space.
The Real Scandal in Washington Is the Government's Reckless Spending
Those sounding the loudest alarms about possible shutdowns are largely silent when Congress ignores its own budgetary rules. All that seems to matter is that government is metaphorically funded.
The Debt Crisis Is Getting Real
Rising bond yields mean the national debt is going to be a lot more expensive in the next few years, and we just keep adding to it.
A Raise for Auto Workers May Imperil Biden's Electric Vehicle Ambitions
The president voiced support for the union's goals on the picket line but companies are already struggling to build fuel-efficient cars that Biden wants to prioritize.
Love, Trade, and Force: The Machinery of Freedom at 50
David Friedman's anarchism doesn't have the answer for everything. That's the point.
At California GOP Convention, Donald Trump Promises To 'Liberate' Communist California
With a second term, the former president promised to end California's water shortage, clear homeless encampments, and conduct the biggest deportation operation in American history.
Gasoline Engines and Sex Changes for Kids
Plus: Minimum wage laws, space exploration, that time when North Africa was less dysfunctional than California, and more...
Banning Criminal Background Checks Will Lead To More Housing Discrimination, Not Less
The best reforms would correct the real problems of overcriminalization and overincarceration, as well as removing all artificial barriers to building more homes.
Ban Teenagers From Social Media, Vivek Ramaswamy Says, Because Fentanyl
The Republican presidential candidate ignores the lethal impact of the drug policies he avidly supports.
Shut Up Already About John Fetterman's Slob Chic
The Senate is an incompetent laughingstock regardless of what its members wear.
Companies Seeking CHIPS Act Subsidies Are Encouraged To Double-Dip
At least a dozen states have beefed up targeted incentives to coincide with handouts from the Commerce Department.
