Senate Reaches Bipartisan Deal to Keep the Government Open By Spending More Money On Everything
Both parties agree on more spending and bigger deficits.
Economics
Wait: The Government Is Incompetent, So We Want it To Do *More*?
The feds can't pass a budget or do much very well, yet a record level of Americans want it more involved in our lives. That's not as crazy as it seems.
The Dow Is Down. The Dow Is Up. Either Way, It's Not Because of the President.
Markets respond to politics, but presidents shouldn't claim control.
The Financial Markets Are Spooked by Debt, So Why Aren't We?: Podcast
Reason editors debate The Memo, situational libertarianism, Super Bowl highlights, and the political road back to fiscal sanity.
Woman Still Getting Civil-War Survivor Benefits Shows How Federal Policies Mortgage the Future
Abraham Lincoln couldn't have dreamed that 21st-century Americans would still be paying for pensions created under him.
What About the Debt? Trump's SOTU Ignores a $20 Trillion Time Bomb
If a Republican president can't address a Republican-controlled Congress without paying lip service to the idea of cutting spending, what good are Republicans?
Sadly, America's Not the Freest Country in the World
The U.S. used to come in second or third in rankings, but according to the latest Human Freedom Index it's at 17.
Nope, Trump Doesn't Get Credit for Low Black Unemployment
Some of Trump's economic policies could be good for everyone, including African Americans. But those numbers aren't his doing.
Trump's 'America First' Plan Is Naked Special-Interest Policymaking
When anyone says, "I'm for free trade, but it must be fair trade," they are really saying: "I am not for free trade."
Trump Launches Solar Panel Trade War with China
Will the economic and social benefits of the solar panel tariffs outweigh their costs? Not likely.
The Case Against Education: Economist Bryan Caplan Says Government Spending of $1 Trillion a Year on Schooling Is a Waste
"If all we're trying to do is prepare people for a job, why not prepare them with a job?"
Sexual Politics Needs More Economics: Podcast
Probing uncomfortable gender and generational splits on the latest Reason podcast.
Is Tax Reform Already Working?
Companies are paying bonuses, raising wages, and committing to major new investments. Is this a sign of the tax law's success-or just clever corporate PR?
Who Knew Letting People Keep More of Their Money Leads to Good Things?
Anyone who studies economics instead of partisan talking points, for one.
Minimum Wage Hikes Inflict Maximum Pain
Hiking the minimum wage is feel-good humanitarian idea that's guaranteed to hurt actual humans.
Start Saving Now, Because Social Security Is Screwed
If Congress doesn't address its insolvency issues, payouts will need to be slashed by a quarter starting in fewer than 20 years.
Arizona Legislator Wants to Yank State Support From Groups That Don't Like 'Free Markets'
Arizona Rep. Bob Thorpe's bill is nakedly unconstituional
Regulations at 'Lowest Count Since Records Began Being Kept in the Mid-1970s'
Economy advances while administrative state recedes; lefty commentators hardest hit.
'Economists Say' a Lot of Things. Many of Them Are Wrong
Appeals to what 'economists say' is used to coat liberal policy positions with a veneer of scientific certitude.
Don't Worry, Oregonians: Most of You Are Still Banned from Pumping Your Own Gas
A backwards, protectionist law mandating an obsolete job has been only slightly relaxed.
Report: California's $15 Minimum Wage Will Destroy 400,000 Jobs
A loss of opportunities equal to about four percent of the workforce.
Treasury's Tax Reform Analysis Confirms Republicans Don't Give a Damn About the Deficit
Republicans will regret this the next time a budget-busting Democratic proposal comes along.
Bitcoin Confuses Alan Greenspan
Mainstream economists were trained to believe that currencies need to be managed by central banks. So this new form of money is...hard to grasp.
Who's Ready for Some Trillion-Dollar Republican Deficits?
Fiscal hawks, from their perch in the wilderness, predict we may again see 13-digit deficits as soon as next year
Bitcoin Sends Elite Economists Into Glorious Fits of Confusion
Joseph Stiglitz is the George Costanza of economists: Every instinct he has, do the opposite.
Markets Deliver Social Justice Better Than Government Does
Elizabeth Nolan Brown argues in The New York Times that we can thank "feminism, but also free markets" for the ongoing purge of predatory men.
Trump's Deregulation Drive Stops at the Border
The International Trade Commission recommends the president impose hefty tariffs on washing machines.
Thankful for Property Rights on Thanksgiving Day
Private property became the foundation for building the most prosperous nation in the history of the world.
Thomas Massie on Tax Reform: "It's highly likely that we pass whatever the Senate comes up with"
Libertarian Republican congressman admits that an already-worrisome debt will increase, and that the Senate may well disregard the House's framework, but "just because my colleagues don't believe that we have to cut spending doesn't mean I can't vote to cut taxes"
Should the Government Get to Define 'Native-American' Art? One Woman's Free Speech Fight.
Is the state violating Peggy Fontenot's First-Amendment rights?
Reason Debates Jacobin on Capitalism, Socialism: Podcast
Nick Gillespie and Katherine Mangu-Ward make the case for "free minds and free markets" as the best way to improve the world.
Tonite: Watch Debate About Free Trade with Don Boudreaux and Rick Manning
New Soho Forum debate will be streamed on Facebook Live. Viewers can ask questions, vote on winner!
Tax Reform and the Deficit: 1.7 Quadrillion Pennies, and Growing by the Minute
Senate version shies away from mortgage-interest cap, which will likely make fiscal hawks even more anxious.
The Whiskey Making Was Hard, But the Government Was Easy
Our first president might be shocked at the regulatory machinery imposed on distillers.
Proposed Tariff on Washing Machines Is Pure Protectionism
Protectionist measures hurt American workers and consumers.
Trump Is a "Lunatic" on Free Trade, Immigration: Podcast
Reason's Nick Gillespie talks to libertarian economist Gene Epstein about Trump, free trade, and his monthly debates at the Soho Forum.
The Never Ending Battle of Ideas Between Capitalism and Socialism
The U.S. may have won the cold war, but the ideological struggle never ended.
Senate Fiscal Hawks Could Strangle Tax Reform in its Crib
James Lankford's "I am a no" makes at least three GOP senators who worry that the debt/deficit math doesn't add up
