Taylor Swift, Junk Fees, and the 'Happy Meal Fallacy'
Thank Swifties, not Joe Biden, for Ticketmaster's consumer-friendly pricing policy.
Economics
Ron DeSantis and Chris Christie Call Out Trump for Adding to Federal Debt
"He owes it to you to defend his record where they added $7.8 trillion to the debt that set the stage for the inflation that we have."
Bjorn Lomborg: How Our Climate Fixation Hurts the World's Poor
The 'skeptical environmentalist' offers 12 low-cost, proven policies that he says could save 4.2 million lives and generate $1.1 trillion in new wealth every year.
Welfare Cuts Are Inevitable Because Congress Won't Touch Social Security
Until Congress is willing to acknowledge that it makes no sense to send monthly checks to wealthy seniors, everything else will be on the chopping block.
Trump's Absurd Property Valuations Confirm His Disregard for Reality
The former president's lawyers argued that even the square footage of his apartment was a "subjective" judgment for which he cannot be held accountable.
Bjorn Lomborg: Why Do We Fixate on Climate Rather Helping the World's Poor?
The 'Skeptical Environmentalist' offers 12 low-cost, proven policies that he says would save 4.2 million lives and generate $1.1 trillion in new wealth every year.
This Law Will Kill Opportunities for Pregnant Workers
"These policies are motivated by good intentions. But that doesn't mean that the consequences of these policies will turn out well."
Maybe Google Is Popular Because It's Good?
The Department of Justice undervalues consumer preference in its latest antitrust efforts.
Oregon's Drug Problems Were Not Caused by Decriminalization
Prohibition is at the root of the hazards that have led to record numbers of opioid-related deaths.
The Best of Reason: Power and Progress Is a Wrongheaded Critique of Tech Progress
An undercurrent of the book is that common people want whatever progressive intellectuals want them to want.
FTC Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Amazon
Among the allegations, the agency charges that Amazon Prime subscribers are incentivized to make the most of their subscription by buying more products.
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.
Biden Is Pandering to the 1 Percent: Union Manufacturing Workers
Less than 1 percent of American workers are union members in manufacturing jobs. But you'd never know that by watching our politics.
America's Immigrant Brain Drain
International students want to stay in the U.S. after graduation. Most of them can't.
Are Government Shutdowns Good for Limited Government?
Plus: A listener asks whether younger generations are capable of passing reforms to entitlement spending.
Could Another Baby Formula Shortage Be on the Horizon?
Removing high tariffs from foreign imports of baby formula would ease the supply shock of possible factory closures.
Win for Writers Guild, Loss for AI
Plus: IRS insanity, robocop photo ops, and more...
It's Government Shutdown Theater, Again
Fiscal irresponsibility might eventually shut down the government, but at the moment it’s all for show.
Volokh Conspiracy Gets Results on Immigration and Zoning Policy
Federal and New York City officials recently adopted policy changes on migrant work permits and zoning reform similar to those advocated here (though probably not because I advocated them!)..
Power and Progress Is a Wrongheaded Critique of Tech Progress
An undercurrent of the book is that common people want whatever progressive intellectuals want them to want.
Taxpayers Will Pay at Least $600 Million for Tampa Bay's New Baseball Stadium
But will it solve the team's attendance woes? Probably not.
Dumb Money Misses the Point About Its Meme-Stock Underdogs
The film dramatizes the pandemic-era mania around GameStop and WallStreetBets, but misunderstands the realities of financial markets.
IRS Targeting More Supposedly 'High-Income' Americans Than Advertised
Don’t count on that promise to not hike taxes on “people making less than $400,000.”
Biden Administration Announces New Measures To Get Migrants to Work
They come at a critical time, as labor shortages persist and cities struggle to provide for newcomers.
CEO: 'I'm the One Who Paid the Tariffs. China Did Not.'
Deena Ghazarian, CEO of consumer electronic company Austere, says the federal government's tariff exclusion process was "arcane, nontransparent, and highly uncertain."
Inflation Here To Stay?
Plus: DeSantis campaign on life support, Biden climate corps seeks to waste your money, implanting chips into brains, and more…
'Bidenomics' Is Failing Everyday Americans
The big spending has fueled higher inflation, resulted in larger-than-projected deficits, and contributed to a record level of debt.
Biden Expands Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans in the United States
This measure will enable some 472,000 Venezuelans who arrived between 2021 and July 2023 to legally live and work in the US for up to 18 months.
Chicago: From Stacker of Wheat to Stacker of Wheat Thins!
Mayor Brandon Johnson should remember the sorry history of state-run supermarkets.
How the Federal Budget Deficit Doubled in a Single Year
It's not the first time that has happened, but there are key differences about what happened this year.
Tim Scott Invokes Ronald Reagan and Says UAW Strikers Should Be Fired
"He said, you strike, you're fired. Simple concept to me. To the extent that we can use that once again, absolutely."
How Florida Beat California to High-Speed Rail
One company is betting that it can run a commercially viable passenger rail service without massive federal subsidies.
Congress Is Still Using 'Emergency Spending' on Non-Emergencies
Since Congress won't cut spending, an independent commission may be the only way to rein in the debt.
Biden, the 'Most Pro-Union President,' Reaps What He Sows
Labor actions largely respond to policies that cause widespread pain.
Spending Other People's Money
Plus: Separating child poverty facts from fiction, EU will ban payments for sperm and blood, and more...
Chicago Teachers Union Boss Sends Son to Private School
Stacy Davis Gates, the president of the Chicago Teachers Union, previously said school choice is for "racists."
Strikers Demand 4-Day Workweek
Plus: Trump criticizes abortion bans, new TikTok trend asks how often men think about the Roman Empire, and more…
Free Market Book Misstates the History of Free Market Thought
Author Jacob Soll's commitment to an untenable historical thesis distorts the facts.
In South Korea, Robots Are Taking Robots' Jobs
Our robo-worker future won't put an end to this annoying labor-policy debate.
The War on Fast-Food Joints
Cities around the country are contemplating bans on drive-thrus and other new regulations.
Rent-Seeking Behavior: Puzzle #7
"Supreme Court justice who had a famous friendship with RBG"
Inflation Jump Highlights Biden's Vulnerability on Energy
When theories fail and economic rules reassert themselves, it’s human beings who feel pain.
Don't Let the Government-Shutdown Charade Distract You From the Debt Crisis
America’s biggest fiscal challenge lies in the unchecked growth of federal health care and old-age entitlement programs.
Despite the Doomsday Narrative, Global Inequality Has Significantly Declined
This progress has been widely shared, to the great benefit of the people at the bottom of the distribution.
Gas and Rent Drive Inflation Higher for the Second Straight Month
Overall inflation rose 0.6 percent in August leading to an annualized rate of 3.7 percent.
What's in Your Bug-Out Bag?
Your ideal bug-out bag depends on your needs. Here's what J.D. Tuccille puts in his.
