How the Fed Redistributed Wealth and Encouraged Reckless Corporate Behavior
The Lords of Easy Money argues that the Fed created an economy with nearly irresistible incentives for foolish choices.
Economics
Cutting Government Back to Last Year's Size Shouldn't Be 'Impossible' or 'Severe'
Taking stock of the utterly unserious fiscal policy discourse in Washington.
Great Moments in Unintended Consequences: Barbara Streisand, Sesame Seeds, Golden Goal (Vol. 10)
Good intentions, bad results
To Win the Speakership, Kevin McCarthy Had To Promise To Cut Spending. Good.
While some Republicans may have had misguided motivations, a few disrupted McCarthy's campaign in order to enact fiscal restraint. Their colleagues were fine with business as usual.
The FTC Wants To Outlaw Noncompete Clauses, but Does It Have the Authority?
The Commission's lone dissenter says Congress has not charged it with regulating noncompete clauses.
The Best Inflation News This Week Actually Came Out of Congress
Inflation fell to 6.5 percent in December, but new House rules ensure that Congress will have to consider the inflationary impact of future spending bills.
Aviation Groups Have Complained for Years About the Outdated FAA Alert System That Crashed Today
Critics say the NOTAM system creates safety hazards by overloading pilots with hard to read and superfluous information while failing to alert them to real hazards.
Lockdowns Had Little Impact on COVID-19
Data show Florida and New York had similar death numbers despite vastly different approaches.
China Is Scaling Back Its Failed Semiconductor Industrial Policies. America Should Do the Same.
The warning signs are flashing "don't be like China."
Help the Working Class by Deregulating Housing Construction
Economist Bryan Caplan explains how cutting back on zoning and other restrictions could create millions of new jobs for workers - on top of other beneficial effects.
Is There a Future for the City of Tomorrow?
The consequences of our obsession with urban dystopias and utopias
A Michigan Supreme Court Justice Hired an Ex-Con. Another Justice Shamed Him Into Resigning.
Justice Richard Bernstein said Pete Martel's hiring as clerk was unacceptable because "I'm intensely pro-law enforcement."
Fixing Congress' Broken Appropriations Process Is Worth This Mess
This week's Republican revolt against Kevin McCarthy is actually a rank-and-file revolt against the top-down process that both parties have used to control the House in recent years.
New York Times Blames 'Deregulation' for Regulated Electric Costs
Deregulated states may spend more on transmission, but that part of the market is still heavily regulated.
Ignoring the Anti-McCarthy Faction's Avowed Goals, The New York Times Sees Only 'Chaos and Confusion'
The paper attributes the fight over the election of the next House speaker to "anti-establishment fervor" and a lust for "personal power."
Trump's Tax Returns Show What Sort of Tax Reform We Need
But partisans are having the wrong debate.
2022 Proved That Governments Can't Improve on Good Economic Principles
We’d all be better off if politicians spared us their experiments in subsidies, wages, and trade.
Why Are Some Republicans Revolting Against Kevin McCarthy's Bid To Be Speaker of the House?
The insurgent Republicans want to balance the budget, impose new barriers to immigration, and increase transparency for future earmark spending.
Good Luck Qualifying for New Tax Credits on Electric Cars
The Inflation Reduction Act extended tax credits for buying electric vehicles, but the requirements will put them out of reach for most customers.
New Oregon Wastewater Rules Threaten Portland's Food Cart Culture
Compliance could prove impossibly expensive for independent food sellers.
How Venture Capital Made the Future
Sebastian Mallaby's The Power Law explores how venture capital and public policy helped shape modern technology.
The Pandemic Was a Disaster for Housing Affordability. 2023 Might Be a Little Better.
Rents and home prices skyrocketed almost everywhere over the past two years. There's some hope new supply will bring costs down in the new year.
What the Southwest Meltdown Means for Airline Policy
Re-regulating the airline industry won’t help prevent massive service disruptions in the future.
Libertarian Radio Host Ian Freeman Convicted for Helping People Buy Bitcoin
Freeman, an early adopter of the virtual currency, gets slammed by a state that can't tolerate any use of money without its permission and knowledge.
Rand Paul Complains That Democrats Squandered Their Opportunity To Enact Marijuana Reforms
The prospects in the next session, when Republicans will control the House, are iffy.
Congress and the Federal Reserve Could Be Setting Us Up for Economic Disaster
If lawmakers keep spending like they are, and if the Fed backs down from taming inflation, then the government may create a perfect storm.
Politicians Who Supported $54 Billion in Airline Bailouts Now Pose as Industry Critics
Political criticism of Southwest's mass flight cancelations mask a cronyist relationship between government and the passenger airline industry.
Charity and Capitalism Are Better Than Government
When I was young, I assumed government would lift people out of poverty. But those policies often do more harm than good.
Is ESG a Threat to Capitalism? Live with Samuel Gregg, Russ Greene, and Zach Weissmueller
Join Reason on YouTube and Facebook on Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern for a live discussion of "stakeholder capitalism" or Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing.
Free Market Think Tank Names Georgia Electric Vehicle Plant the 'Worst Economic Development Deal of 2022'
Rivian, an electric truck manufacturer that hopes to compete with Tesla, received a lucrative deal to build a new factory in Georgia despite concerns about its finances.
Why Take Responsibility When You Can Blame Somebody Else?
The year’s highlights in buck passing feature petulant politicians, brazen bureaucrats, careless cops, loony lawyers, and junky journalists.
'The Principles Should Endure': Sen. Pat Toomey on Fusionism, Tariffs, and What's To Blame for FTX's Collapse
After two terms in the Senate as a champion for free markets and limited government, Pennsylvania's Republican senator is heading into retirement.
How To Empower Millions of Independent Workers
Deregulation can help the millions of people who prefer flexible, independent jobs.
The Failure To Enact Marijuana Banking and Crack Sentencing Reforms Is a Window on Congressional Dysfunction
Although both bills have broad bipartisan support, they never got a vote in the Senate and were excluded from the omnibus spending bill.
Congress Can Reduce the Deficit by $7.7 Trillion in 10 Years
The Congressional Budget Office projects that future deficits will explode. But there's a way out.
$70 Million for Salmon, $3 Million for Bee-Friendly Highways, and More Absurdities in the Omnibus Spending Bill
Plus: An attempt to criminalize porn, D.C. hopes making tourism more expensive will boost tourism, and more…
Why Does Funding Government Take $1.7 Trillion and 4,000 Pages?
Plus: Title 42 order termination is on hold, the FTC vs. Meta, and more...
The Annual, Depressing 'Do Your Job Week' in Congress
Plus: The editors extend the discussion on the lack of immigration reform in this week’s bill.
Big Dairy Wants Congress To Restore Huge Tariffs on Imported Baby Formula
Unless Congress takes action, those tariffs will return on January 1. And the baby formula shortage hasn't yet passed.
Biden's Loan Forgiveness Plan Ultimately Means Higher Costs for Higher Ed
If political pressure to forgive debt can work once, why wouldn't it work again every five or 10 years?
Chuck Schumer Scrambles To Save the Marijuana Banking Bill He Blocked Last Year
The Senate majority leader is suddenly keen to pass legislation that he portrayed as a threat to broader reform.
November's $249 Billion Federal Budget Deficit Set a Record. Now, Congress Is Preparing To Spend Even More.
The government spent $501 billion in November but collected just $252 billion in revenue, meaning that about 50 cents of every dollar spent were borrowed.
Elizabeth Warren's Crypto Bill Targets Financial Freedom, Not Fraud
Senator Warren wants to extend the financial surveillance state cooked up by drug warriors and anti-terrorism fearmongers to cryptocurrencies.
California's Ban on Gas-Powered Cars Could Wreak Havoc on Its Energy Grid
If all Californians bought E.V.s tomorrow, it would be a nightmare.
Subsidies To Help Workers Would Hurt Poor People
Some people would benefit. Others would lose money or be rendered unemployable.
New Zealand Bans Cigarette Sales to Anyone Born After 2008. Forever.
The country's strategy ignores the failures of prohibition.
Why In the World Is the FTC Trying to Block Microsoft From Buying Call of Duty?
Antitrust regulators don't seem to understand how the video game industry works.
