Legal or Not, Trump Shouldn't Declare a 'National Emergency' To Build His Wall
He probably won't shut down the internet. But declaring a "national emergency" is a bad idea anyway.
Economics
Private Companies Are Paying to Keep Yellowstone Clean During Shutdown
They have a profit-based incentive to keep the tourists coming.
Increasing Top Tax Brackets Is Easier Than Increasing Revenue Over Time
Proponents of jacking top marginal income tax rates such as AOC ignore how hard it is to actually boost revenue over the long haul.
Judge Blocks New York City Law Demanding Airbnb Share Reams of Private Host Data
Online room-sharing services had no avenue to legally challenge demands for private info.
Most Americans Want Congress to Fix Budget Crisis, Increase Spending. Huh?
You can't have it both ways.
The National Debt Hit $22 Trillion at the End of 2018
Growth alone won't get us out of this mess.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Wants Democrats to Drop the Pretense of Fiscal Responsibility
The fight over PAYGO is about whether Democrats will pretend to care about the deficit.
Stop Pretending the Smithsonian, National Park Closures Are a Crisis
Yes, the government shutdown is to blame. No, it's not that big of a deal.
These Booze-Making Capitalist Monks Will Make Your Day
When Europe's beer-brewing, liquor-distilling monks combine Catholicism and capitalism, the results are delicious.
2018 Proved That Trade Wars Aren't 'Good and Easy to Win'
Regardless of the president's Twitter bravado, this year has provided a painful lesson in how tariffs grow government and hurt the economy.
Manhattan Institute's Brian Riedl Is Very Worried About Deficits
Our fiscal problems aren't going away. In fact, they're getting worse.
California's Work Rules Sabotage the Gig Economy
New Luddites have used the courts and the legislative process to throw that figurative wrench in the machine.
Mark Sanford's Farewell: Spending and Debt 'Could Lead to a Future Hitler-like Character'
Departing congressman warns against populism, "cult of personality," "post-truth" politics, and a government spending addiction that threatens to drive the American civilization "extinct."
Donald Trump's Libertarian Christmas?: Podcast
Reason editors' best and worst moments of 2018, including the president's welcome and long-overdue drawdown from Afghanistan
Why Is N.Y. Mayor De Blasio Yelling at Corporations About Harms Caused by the City's War on Weed?
The government is the villain of this story, not wealthy industrialists.
GoFundMe Page Trolls Border Wall With 'Ladders' Campaign, Raises $80,000 for Immigration Nonprofit
The campaign isn't actually about ladders.
U.S. Baby Bust Fears Inspire a Radical Policy Proposal
Is the solution a "fertility dividend" that makes a portion of a person's Social Security benefit dependent on each of their offspring's earnings?
Judge: Trump Administration's Steel Tariff Rationale 'Makes Me Scratch My Head'
The Trump administration's response to a lawsuit challenging steel tariffs is a deeply un-conservative argument for greater executive power.
A Deficit-Happy Government May Lead to a Debt-Driven Financial Crisis
Get ready for permanent low growth, a stifled entrepreneurial spirit, and high unemployment.
A GoFundMe Has Raised More Than $1 Million for Trump's Border Wall
It's a bad idea in more ways than one.
This Lawsuit Could Sink Trump's Steel Tariffs
Today, the U.S. Court for International Trade will hear a challenge to the "national security" rationale Trump used to impose those tariffs in June.
In Venezuela, Yet Another Socialist Government Crushes Dissent
People getting starry eyed about socialism should look to Venezuela for some important warning signs.
House Committee Cancels Testimony of Gay Economist Who Once Joked About Taxing Gay Sex
His 16-year-old blog posts are completely irrelevant to his testimony on the minimum wage.
A Crackdown on Cash and Bitcoin? Curbing Crime vs. Empowering the Surveillance State
Economists Kenneth Rogoff and Lawrence H. White face off over what the impact would be of a ban on cryptocurrency and phaseout of the $100 bill.
Why Are Conservatives Suddenly Supporting Mandatory Paid Leave?
The additional cost of adding paid leave to Social Security would be $114 billion over 10 years.
CBP Paid a Contractor $13.6 Million to Hire 2 Agents
$13.6 million might be a drop in the bucket. But this is still incredibly wasteful.
Libertarian History/Philosophy
John Stossel's Holiday Gift Guide
Struggling to find gifts to get for loved ones? How about a book?
Aluminum Tariff Tradeoff: 300 Jobs for $690 Million in New Taxes
New study argues the tariffs have boosted employment, but doesn't examine the costs of President Donald Trump's protectionism.
India at a Crossroads
India is known as the land of contradictions, and recent events do little to undermine that reputation.
Are You Ready for the 'Inevitable' Clampdown on Tech and the Media?
When Apple's CEO Tim Cook says "the free market is not working," bad things are coming.
Study: Trump's Tariffs Are a $42 Billion Regressive Tax Increase
They are also sapping economic growth, reducing wages, and lowering employment. Winning!
New York Passes Minimum Wage Law for Uber, Lyft Drivers, Hikes Costs To Riders
What happens when prices are increased by fiat? They go up, usually, and in this case they may increase traffic congestion, too.
Taxpayers Will Pay $1 Million to Tear Down $18 Million Baseball Stadium That Predictably Failed to Rejuvenate Camden
The stadium never turned a profit and the team skipped town when local officials decided to start charging rent.
As 'Tariff Man' Attacks Stock Market, Justin Amash's 'Liberty Man' Is the Hero We Need
Tuesday's tweets demonstrate that Trump still doesn't understand that Americans, not foreigners, are paying his tariffs.
Resources Are Almost 5 Times as Abundant as They Were in 1980
New Simon Abundance Index elegantly refutes primitive zero-sum intuitions with respect to population and resource availability trends.
There's a New Wage-Gap Myth Going Around and It Makes Women's Work Life Look Grim
But don't believe the dire diagnosis. New research shows a mixed bag of pay patterns for women-and men-over the past 50 years.
America's Economic Health Has Improved
The U.S. rose four places in the International Tax Competitiveness Index, and this just the latest bit of good news.
America's Fitness Boom Is a Free Market Success Story
America has added about 100,000 yoga instructors, personal trainers, and spin class teachers in the past 14 years or so. That's supply meeting demand.
Darts and Laurels for the Late George H.W. Bush: Podcast
Also: How much should we care that Trump & co. lied in 2016 about a Putin-proximate real estate deal in Russia?
Trump's G20 Deal With Xi Jinping Promises De-escalation of Trade War but Lacks Many Specifics
Saturday's deal seems to be a strategic retreat by the Trump administration.
New Tracks From Meek Mill and Chance the Rapper Tackle Criminal Justice and Trump
Settle in with some headphones and get ready to nod.
My Puzzlement Over Climate Change Damage Estimates in New National Climate Assessment
Implausible worst-case scenarios do not further the debate over reasonable policies for addressing climate change.
Conservatives Are Wrong to Call for Government 'Trust Busting'
Censorship is when government limits speech, and tech firms are not monopolies. They are successful private businesses; others are free to compete with them.
After Cracking Down on Airbnb, New York City Comes After Traditional Hotels
New York City's new zoning ordinance would give the city an effective veto over proposed hotel projects in much of the city.
When Trump (or Obama) Threatens CEOs, It's the Little Guy Who Loses
Political finger-wags at the boardroom is a good sign that the lowly taxpayer is about to take it in the shorts.
