Trump's Energy Picks Are Refreshingly Competent
If confirmed, Chris Wright and Gov. Doug Burgum will have the opportunity to prioritize innovation and deregulation to the benefit of taxpayers and the environment.
Policy
Families Need Affordable Housing, but New York Residents Use Red Tape To Block Development
With the help of New York’s environmental review law, local NIMBYs halted an approved housing project, adding to delays and costs in a city facing a housing shortage.
Will Doug Burgum Be Donald Trump's Housing Czar?
Plus: Democrats' housing-lite postelection recriminations and yet another ballot box defeat for pro–rent control forces in California.
European Commission Fines Meta for Serving Consumers
If advertisers don’t want to give data to Facebook Marketplace, they shouldn’t advertise on Facebook.
Biden Wants To Triple Nuclear Energy Capacity, but He'll Have To Cut Red Tape To Do It
Even with burgeoning private sector support, nuclear can’t thrive without regulatory reform.
Abolish Antitrust Law
Having a large market share may just mean that a company is really good at what it does.
Abolish the Department of Transportation
When money comes down from the DOT, it has copious strings attached to it—strings that make infrastructure more expensive and less useful.
Justice Gorsuch Wants To Hear More (Takings) Cases
Justice Gorsuch shows more interest in property rights challenges than his colleagues on the Court.
Jet Blue and American Airlines Guilty in Antitrust Suit, Despite No Clear Harm to Consumers
The First Circuit's ruling is another blow to the consumer welfare standard.
Environmental Protection Agency
Trump's Next EPA Administrator Is a Lawyer, Not an Environmentalist
Lee Zeldin’s legal prowess may lead to a shrinking of the administrative state.
Elon Musk Spent $118 Million To Elect Trump. What Will He Get in Return?
Will the mercurial tech mogul put his thumb on the scale to help his own companies, or will he push for a broader deregulatory agenda?
California Voters Opt for Orderly Urbanism on Election Day
Golden State voters decisively rejected progressive approaches to crime and housing.
Kamala's California Problem
As skyrocketing costs and mass exoduses define the Golden State, Democrats face a crucial reckoning.
Workplace Raids
Plus: Land acknowledgements, New York's migrant expenditures, and more...
Feds Use 'Border Security' To Justify Social Media Surveillance
Supposedly targeted at immigrants and travelers, the program endangers everybody’s liberty.
How Much Will Trump's Tariffs Cost?
Much of the detail remains to be worked out, but lawmakers and corporations are already preparing.
The Empty Promises of Industrial Policy
Despite decades of bipartisan attempts, industrial policy keeps failing to deliver on promises from both the left and the right.
Good Riddance, Lina Khan
Under Khan's leadership, the Federal Trade Commission has been bad for business and bad for consumers.
The Next President Should Abolish Everything
In the Abolish Everything issue, Reason writers make the case for ending the Fed, the Army, Social Security, and everything else.
Colorado Might Allow More People To Provide Veterinary Care
A ballot initiative to create a new category of medical providers for animals is winning approval, though votes are still being counted.
California's Rent Control Initiative Goes Down in Flames
A related initiative preventing the state's most prolific rent control–supporting nonprofit from funding future initiatives is headed for a narrow victory.
The Housing Election That Won't Fix the Housing Crisis
Victory in the fight for cheaper housing, a more liberal land-use regime, and greater property rights won't come from the White House.
The Alarmingly High, Frustratingly Unknown Stakes of Election 2024
We don't know how Kamala Harris would wield her awesome power, and we don't know how the rule of law would constrain Donald Trump.
Bad Candidates Can't Fix Bad Politics
Voters say they want to "stop the madness." Expect the madness to continue.
Final Published Version of "The Constitutional Case Against Exclusionary Zoning" Now Available
In this Texas Law Review article, Josh Braver and I argue that most exclusionary zoning violates the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
A Bad Election for Sex and for Tech
No matter who wins, we can expect bad policies surrounding sex and especially surrounding technology.
America's Unserious Presidential Policy Agendas
These two candidates can't even be trusted to explain their own ideas.
New Cities Offer a Chance To Rethink How Local Government Works
California would benefit from building more housing and having more experimentation with how public services are delivered.
Compendium of Writings About the 2024 Election and Issues at Stake [Updated]
Links to all my writings on these topics.
Dave Smith, David Stockman, and Jacob Grier: Who Is The Lesser Evil?
Dave Smith is for Trump. Jacob Grier is for Harris. David Stockman says we're screwed either way.
Presidential Punctuation
Plus: Kamala Harris' closing argument, the FTC's harassment of Musk-owned Twitter, and more
The Year's Most Important Housing Vote
Proposition 33 would repeal all of California's state-level limits on rent control. It's passage could prove to be a disaster for housing supply in the Golden State.
If Kamala Harris Wants To Lower Energy Costs in Puerto Rico, She Should Support the Repeal of the Jones Act
For decades, the Jones Act has increased costs and hurt grid reliability in Puerto Rico.
Increase in Tariffs Would Trigger Global Economic Decline, Study Finds
A new IMF study finds that a global increase in tariffs could decrease global GDP by nearly 1 percent by 2025 and over 1 percent by 2026.
This Election Has Been Defined by Presidential Policy Pandering
From taxes to special loans to price gouging, the Trump and Harris campaigns have engaged in a race to see who can pander hardest.
The Perils of Trump's Proposed Bitcoin Strategic Reserve
In 2021 Trump called bitcoin a "scam" but he seems to have realized his political coalition includes cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
Will the City of Cleveland Sue to Keep the Browns from Moving to the Suburbs?
City officials are threatening to invoke the "Modell Law" to prevent a potential move to a new facility in Brook Park.
Elon Musk Versus the California Coastal Commission
The state's powerful coastal land-use regulator is arguing its awesome development-stopping powers applies to rocket launches as well as housing.
Supreme Court Refuses to Hear "Passive Park" Public Use Property Rights Case
While I am eager for the Court to take another public use case, I am actually happy the justices chose to reject this one. Its unusual facts made it a poor vehicle for revisiting Kelo v. City of New London.
Archaic Federal Law Keeps Alaskans From Using Abundant Natural Gas Reserves
The Jones Act makes the North Slope’s resources inaccessible to the state’s energy-starved residents.
Kamalacare Is Just Bidencare
As with Biden, you can count on Harris to expand government programs.
The Justice Department's Proposals for Breaking Up Google's Dominance Won't Work
But consumers will pay a price.
In Rush to Redevelop, a California City Tramples Property Rights
Urban renewal efforts should recognize that existing businesses and new residents can coexist.
Expanding Rent Control Will Not Make Housing More Affordable for the Disabled
Advocates unconvincingly argue that repealing California's limits on rent control will open up more housing for people with disabilities.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris Keep Making Economically Illiterate Promises
These policies may sound good on paper—but they would be disastrous in reality.
Chip Mellor's Legacy Promotes a Broader Concept of Civil Liberties
For more than three decades, the Institute for Justice has shown that economic freedom and private property are essential safeguards for ordinary Americans.
No Place To Go
Despite homelessness being on the rise, local governments keep cracking down on efforts to shelter those without permanent housing.
