Should the U.S. Government Adopt an Industrial Policy? A Soho Forum Debate
American Compass Executive Director Oren Cass vs. the Cato Institute's Scott Lincicome on whether the U.S. should increase its intervention in the manufacturing industry.
Economics
Should the Federal Government Assume a Larger Role in Managing the Economy? A Soho Forum Debate
American Compass Executive Director Oren Cass vs. the Cato Institute's Scott Lincicome on whether the U.S. should increase its intervention in the manufacturing industry.
Instacart Fires 10 Workers Who Voted To Unionize and Around 1,990 Others
Plus: How the U.S. covered up the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington school district is suing to force its teachers back to the classroom, and more...
It's Not Just Trump. California Labor Unions Are Trying To Reverse the Outcome of an Election Too.
California Democrats and their labor union allies are embracing anti-democratic principles to thwart the will of the people.
Biden Set To Entrench Trumpist Protectionism With 'Buy American' Order
Biden is seeking unity, but bipartisan agreement on bad policy is nothing to cheer for.
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.
Trump Promised a 'Good and Easy To Win' Trade War, Then Lost It
Five reasons why Trump's trade war didn't go the way he thought it would.
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.
RIP William R. Allen (1924-2021)
Bill Allen was my multiple-times UCLA econ professor, author of The Midnight Economist and co-author of Alchian & Allen's University Economics.
Big Government Is a Bipartisan Problem
Neither major party is a friend to limited government.
Embattled Administration Pushes Midnight Controls on Financial Tech
Bureaucracy keeps on regulating through the chaos
California Voters Liberate Ride-Share Drivers From A.B. 5
The lawmakers who passed A.B. 5 ignored the many benefits of contractor status.
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.
Professor Elinor 'Lin' Ostrom
Ostrom was best known for her studies of how local groups manage natural resources.
Pandemic-Slammed Small Businesses Require Regulatory Relief
Entrepreneurs discouraged by red tape even before COVID-19 need officials to leave them alone.
Edward Glaeser's "Four Freedoms" Strategy for Revitalizing American Capitalism
The Harvard economist explains how to expand opportunity for the young by deregulating housing, labor, and education.
Trump's Tariffs Made D.C. Swampier as Senators, Lobbyists Sought Special Favors for Connected Companies
Sen. Josh Hawley, a supporter of Trump's trade policies, lobbied to give a special exemption to a Missouri-based power tools manufacturer. Many other elected officials did too.
The Year Teachers Unions Killed the Goose That Laid the Golden Egg
The United States was virtually alone in keeping schools closed this fall. As a result, public education—and cities—may never look the same.
Democrats Push $2,000 'Survival Checks' to Make Up for the 'Woefully Inadequate' $5 Trillion Federal Relief Effort
Progressives want to spend an additional $435 billion to help people who've lost neither jobs nor income weather the pandemic.
2020: An Awful Year With a Legacy We Won't Soon Escape
Fortunately, 2020 is nearly at an end. Unfortunately, its events will leave one hell of a mark on the years to come.
The Massive SolarWinds Hack Won't Stop the Feds from Wanting All Your Data
Government surveillance doesn't just violate privacy rights; it’s a major security risk.
Deal Reached To Tack $900 Billion COVID-19 Relief Package on to Spending Bill
Plus: 1 in 5 prisoners has had COVID-19, Supreme Court won't stop undocumented immigrant exclusion from Census, and more...
Dozens of States Just Sued To Break Up Google. The Biggest Losers Would Be Consumers.
If the lawsuit were to succeed, it would hurt the people it seeks to help.
Determined To Kill Businesses That Survived Lockdowns, New York Plans Minimum Wage Hike Later This Month
New York's unemployment rate is nearly 10 percent and roughly one-third of small businesses in New York City may have closed forever. Seems like a great time to make it more expensive to employ people, right?
Alex Nowrasteh and Benjamin Powell: Immigrants Revitalize Faith in American Institutions
A new book, Wretched Refuse?, documents that newcomers not only increase economic activity but often revitalize faith in free market, limited-government institutions.
Josh Hawley's Latest Plan To Hike Tariffs Would Be a Win for China
Shutting down the GSP program would reduce economic growth in developing countries and raise taxes on American importers.
Congress Could Pass a $900 Billion COVID Stimulus Bill This Week. Or There Might Be a Government Shutdown.
Unsettled political circumstances and the ongoing pandemic crossed with Congress' broken bill-passing process is a recipe for chaos.
Bernie Sanders, Josh Hawley Join Forces in Push For Another Round of $1,200 Stimulus Checks
The strange alliance proves once again that the one thing politicians can agree on is spending taxpayers' money.
Stop Saying Lockdown Is 'Not That Hard'
Staying isolated from family and friends is wrenchingly difficult, even when it’s the right thing to do.
Assessing Trump's Experiment With Protectionist Trade Policies
The Trump years were more than infuriating on trade matters—they were destructive.
Libertarian History/Philosophy
Walter E. Williams, Free Market Scholar and Iconoclast, RIP
"I just do my own thing," said the George Mason University economist and author of The State Against Blacks.
Universal Student Debt Forgiveness Is Regressive, Say Economists
Plus: Uber abandons self-driving autos, on being "both loud and silenced," and more...
Proposed Banking Rule Change Would Upend Oppressive 'Operation Chokepoint' Tactics
Protected financial access for politically targeted industries
$75 Billion in Band-Aids Won't Cure Ailing Airlines
Airlines keep claiming they need a second bailout to bring back 35,000 furloughed employees. Don't buy their argument.
Remote Work Is Here to Stay and That's a Good Thing
Able to do our jobs from where we please, life for many of us will reflect a bit more of what we want rather than what we have to do to get by.
FCC Head Ajit Pai on Section 230 and Free Speech
"I am pessimistic about where this goes in the future," says the outgoing chairman, who is stepping down in January.
The Unseen Costs of the COVID-19 Pandemic
We must not ignore the suffering that this pandemic and our collective response to it have inflicted on millions of fellow citizens.
'I Just Do My Own Thing': Walter Williams, RIP
The self-described "crazy-ass man" and libertarian economist focused on government's role in perpetuating racial inequality.
Forgiving Student Debt Wouldn't Be a Major Economic Stimulus
Despite Elizabeth Warren's contention that it is the "single most effective economic stimulus that is available through executive action," forgiving student debt is a bad idea.
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.
Private Charity Beats One-Size-Fits-All Government
Charities are free to help people who truly need help.
The Head of D.C.'s Long-Troubled Metro System Says Another Federal Bailout Is Needed To Stave Off Apocalyptic Service Cuts
D.C.'s public transit agency has already received close to $1 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds.
Neera Tanden, Biden's Pick for Budget Office: Now Is Not the Time To 'Worry About Raising Deficits and Debt'
She once suggested that if Americans care about the deficit so much, maybe we should make Libya pay for it.
Americans Are Starting a Staggering Number of Businesses During the COVID-19 Pandemic
In a year that will be remembered for a deadly pandemic that shut down parts of the economy and cost millions of people their jobs, here's one silver lining.
The Shaky Case for State Bailouts
Governments should prepare for emergencies by cutting spending during flush times.
