The Government Monopoly on Donated Kidneys Is Killing Americans
Organ donations in the U.S. are controlled by a network of federally sanctioned nonprofits, and many of them are failing.
Health
Kids Should Be Blindfolded and Dropped in the Woods at Night
In the Netherlands, kids grow up with more independence than in the United States.
Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Can Mark Cuban Make Prescriptions Affordable Again?
Special interests and government prevent the free market from working the way it should in the healthcare industry, making many Americans poorer and sicker.
In a Victory for the Free Market, FDA Approves New Schizophrenia Drug
Despite billions of taxpayer dollars spent on mental illness research, Cobenfy was developed by a private biopharmaceutical company.
Don't Expect a Return to the Trump Economy
If the former president wins the 2024 race, the circumstances he would inherit are far more challenging, and several of his policy ideas are destructive.
Season 2, Episode 4 Podcasts
Why We Can't Have Nice Things: The Case of the 17,000 Missing Kidneys
Also: Could legalizing the sale of kidneys and other organs save lives?
Recent Overdose Trends Underline the Folly of the War on Drugs
Both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris support supply-side tactics that are worse than ineffective.
Trump Dodged My Question About the Federal Debt
Reason's Nick Gillespie asked former President Donald Trump about how he plans to bring down the national debt.
Progress on the End Kidney Deaths Act
This legislation could save many lives by giving tax credits to kidney donors. But it would not be as good as full legalization of organ sales.
Drug Deaths Are Finally Declining. Nobody Really Knows Why.
One thing seems clear: Drug warriors do not deserve credit for the turnaround, although they deserve blame for the previous explosion in fatal overdoses.
Season 2, Episode 3 Health Care
Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Permission Slips for Innovation
Part Two: How Certificate of Need laws limit access to health care, and why those rules can be so difficult to dislodge.
Medicare and Medicaid Spend More on Native-Born Americans Than Immigrants
Despite anti-immigrant rhetoric, the foreign-born account for nearly 20 percent less public health spending than those born in America.
The Best of Reason: Should We Blame Fauci for the COVID Pandemic?
America's COVID celebrity is facing scrutiny for funding risky research that may have sparked the pandemic—and for allegedly covering it up.
Can This Psychedelic Help Cure Opioid Addiction?
This Kentucky Republican won't stop until he finds a state willing to make legal room for ibogaine, a drug he calls "God's medicine."
Cherries Are 'Unhealthy,' Says the Same Government That Once Pushed Low-Fat Pop-Tarts
The FDA’s latest nutrition rules target dried cherries and cranberries, putting small farmers at risk while offering zero benefits to consumers.
Should We Blame Fauci for the COVID Pandemic?
America's COVID celebrity is facing scrutiny for funding risky research that may have sparked the pandemic—and for allegedly covering it up.
Take Two
Plus: The Senate wrestles with IVF funding, a dictator dies, and SpaceX passengers conduct the first-ever private spacewalk.
Season 2, Episode 2 Health Care
Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Who Decides What Health Care Is 'Needed'?
Too often, it's government bureaucrats acting under the influence of special interests and against the wishes of doctors and patients, with sometimes tragic results.
A Setback for MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy
An FDA advisory committee concluded that MDMA's benefits had not been shown to outweigh its risks.
On Abortion, Harris and Trump Were Both Right and Both Infuriatingly Wrong
Each candidate made some good points about reproductive freedom and each told some major whoppers.
My New Article "The Presumptive Case for Organ Markets"
t makes case that enormous benefits of organ markets create a strong presumption in favor of legalization that standard objections don't even come close to overcoming.
Trump Endorses Federal Marijuana Reforms and Reiterates His Support for Legalizing Pot in Florida
His new stance could encourage Vice President Kamala Harris to emphasize her opposition to federal marijuana prohibition.
Season 2, Episode 1 Free Markets
Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Can Mark Cuban Make Prescriptions Affordable Again?
Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs project brings a bit of free market flair to the health care industry, but the lack of meaningful price signals is only part of the problem.
Eric Boehm: Why Is American Health Care So Dysfunctional?
The host of Why We Can't Have Nice Things returns to discuss the podcast's second season, which focuses on how government makes Americans poorer and sicker.
Season 2 Podcasts
Trailer: Why We Can't Have Nice Things Season 2
A new season brings six new stories about how the government is making Americans poorer and sicker.
More Babies!
Plus: Kamala Harris' big night, Japan ignores climate critics, Rio cops lose their minds, and more...
John Stossel Fact Checks RFK Jr.
Debate is one of the best ways to get closer to the truth. At least Kennedy is willing to do so.
Mark Zuckerberg Blames Biden for 'Government Pressure' To Censor Facebook
The Meta CEO says his platforms will not blindly obey the bureaucrats again.
Is Mobility More Important than Density?
Economist Tyler Cowen argues the answer is "yes." But much depends on what kind of mobility we're talking about.
At Rally, RFK Jr. Says He'll Stop Forever Wars, Seed Oils From Trump's Cabinet
Kennedy said that Trump would be the superior candidate on his three major, "existential" issues of "free speech, the war in Ukraine, and the war on our children."
Party of COVID-19 Authoritarianism Improbably Rebrands as 'Party of Freedom'
Democrats campaigning both on their pandemic record and minding your own damn business: Pick one.
Trump and Harris' Economic Plans Are Depressingly Similar
Both campaigns represent variations on a theme of big, fiscally irresponsible, hyper-interventionist government.
Kamala Harris' Affordability Agenda Is a Good Idea Backed by Terrible Policies
Americans need a politician dedicated to unwinding decades of government interventions that have driven up the cost of middle-class living.
Code Games
Plus: An appeals court sides with property owners seeking compensation for the CDC's eviction ban, a Michigan court backs the would-be builders of a "green cemetery," and Kamala Harris' spotty supply-side credentials.
Emergency Contraception Fills in Massachusetts Spiked After This Policy Change
Making emergency contraception easier to get leads to more people getting emergency contraception. Who would've guessed?
The Housing Theory of Childless Cat Ladies
Would a YIMBY building boom rejuvenate urban family life or produce sterile, megacity hellscapes?
FDA Declines To Approve MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy as a PTSD Treatment
The FDA, which approved the protocols for the studies it now questions, is asking for an additional Phase 3 clinical trial, which would take years and millions of dollars.
Federal Appellate Court Rules in Favor of Takings Lawsuit Against the CDC's Covid-Era Eviction Moratorium
The 2-1 decision overrules a trial court decision that went the other way, and could set an important property rights precedent.
The Secret Committee Behind America's Prohibition Comeback
Washington bureaucrats are rewriting the rules on drinking, and a hidden panel of unelected officials could be paving the way for Prohibition 2.0.
A Study of 'Problematic' Opioid Use Among Pain Patients Is Less Alarming Than It Seems
The authors of the meta-analysis misleadingly imply that pain treatment should be blamed for recent increases in drug-related deaths.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz Used COVID Relief Money on Things That Had Nothing To Do With COVID
Minnesota used federal taxpayer dollars to cover state workers' parking costs, fund the Minnesota Zoo, and teach minority-owned businesses how to apply for government contracts.
The U.S. Can't Afford To Cut Taxes on Social Security Benefits
The campaign promise from Donald Trump sounds nice, but it would be disastrous when considering the program is already racing toward insolvency.
Walz, Like Harris, Supports Marijuana Legalization—but He Beat Her to the Punch
The Democratic vice presidential nominee has a long record of supporting cannabis reform.
Chase Oliver: Q&A With the Controversial Libertarian Party Candidate
The 2024 Libertarian Party presidential candidate speaks out about the Israel-Hamas war, the authoritarian impulses of both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, and homophobia within his own party.
Tim Walz Was a COVID-19 Tyrant
The Minnesota governor actually defended the state's disastrous nursing home policies.
