Why Do So Many Jobs Require a License?
Becoming a taxidermist or hair braider shouldn't involve costly hurdles.
Policy
Georgia Woman Could Lose $30,000 After Local Government Denies Her Permit To Open Hair Salon
Despite meeting all the requirements, the Board of Commissioners in Clayton County made an arbitrary decision to deny Khalilah Few a conditional use permit to open her salon.
All You Need Is Love (and Deregulation)
Building our way to affordable cities does not require a government-led "post-neoliberal" approach to housing development.
Colorado's AI Law Is a Cautionary Tale for the Nation
A rushed attempt to regulate artificial intelligence has left lawmakers scrambling to fix their own mistakes.
Spirit Airlines May Go Out of Business Because of the Justice Department
The DOJ blocked Spirit's merger with JetBlue in 2024 over concerns about market consolidation, but markets also consolidate when failing firms go bankrupt and exit.
My New Boston Globe Article on Why Massachusetts Should Reject Rent Control, and Instead End Exclusionary Zoning
Rent control would only make the housing crisis worse. Zoning reform would make things better.
Andrew Cuomo Proposes 'Zohran's Law' To Fix the Unfairness of Rent Law Cuomo Signed
Plus: Why Blackstone is good, actually, and a Georgia judge rules for tiny homes.
San Francisco's All-Electric Ordinance Will Make Housing More Expensive
San Francisco’s new ordinance would impose all-electric building standards for new construction projects or buildings undergoing “major renovations.”
Keep Government Funding—and Political Meddling—Far Away From Olympic Athletes
Plus: Congress might blow up the pro sports business model, and Las Vegas is struggling
Minnesota Town Denies Family Permission To Build Affordable Housing Unit on Their Property
The Pepin family is suing the City of Blaine after the City Council used dubious reasoning to deny a permit for additional housing on their property.
The New York Times Doesn't Understand Men
Plus: The economic impact of tariffs, ethics concerns around Trump’s foreign business dealings, and a listener question on NCAA deregulation
Federal Court Appears Receptive to Arguments Against Unilateral Presidential Tariff Power
President Trump’s invocation of emergency powers to impose tariffs faces skeptical judges.
Update on Potential Condemnation of New Jersey Church to Build a Park and Pickleball Courts
After a public outcry, the scheduled vote on the plan to use eminent domain has been postponed indefinitely. If the Town of Toms River does try to condemn the church, there is likely to be a major legal battle.
You Shouldn't Need a License to Talk
Occupational licensing can be useless, harmful—and even a threat to free speech.
One Big Beautiful Housing Supply Bill
Congress considers a consensus housing supply bill while the White House cracks down on the homeless.
South Park Is Saving Free Speech!
Plus: Trump’s "woke AI" order, Gawker’s cultural legacy, and a listener question on deregulation and the BBB.
Michigan Wineries Win $50 Million in Fight Against Local Zoning Rules
A federal judge ruled that Peninsula Township’s former restrictions on music, events, and grape sourcing violated the rights of local wineries.
Here's How the AI Action Plan Will Accelerate—and Throttle—AI Innovation
The American AI industry doesn't need industrial policy, just freedom.
Did USAID Really Save 90 Million Lives? Not Unless It Raised the Dead
A Lancet study’s inflated numbers are being used to push a partisan narrative, not inform public policy.
Curtailing Federal Control Over Emissions Should Be Done by Congress, Not the EPA
By going through the courts, the Trump administration risks perpetuating the regulatory ping-pong that has plagued Washington, D.C., for decades.
What Neil Gorsuch Gets Wrong About Judges and Government Power
Plus: Ozzy Osbourne, RIP.
Virginia Is Using AI To Identify Illegal and Redundant Regulations
While other states are focused on regulating AI, Virginia is using the technology to repeal regulations.
So You Wanted Flying Cars?
Plus: Chinese state-sponsored hackers, Trump-Epstein bromance, and more...
Is Housing 'Out of Reach' for More Than Half of Workers?
Plus: Single-stair reform in Nashville, an inclusionary zoning lawsuit in Seattle, and a zoning-created full-service Popeyes in Illinois.
Rent Prices Are Falling Fast in America's Most Pro-Housing Cities
From January 2024 to January 2025, average rent in Sarasota fell from $3,290 to $1,886 per month.
Should the U.S. Have a Public Health Insurance Plan?
Yale’s Jacob Hacker and Sesame’s David Goldhill debate a government-run health insurance plan.
Conservatives Shouldn't Oppose California's Potential Zoning Reforms
You have rights to your property, not to control others.
Seattle Property Owners Challenge Program That Charges 'Affordable Housing' Fees for Building New Homes
A new lawsuit alleges that the city's Mandatory Housing Affordability program unconstitutionally penalizes property owners just for trying to build housing.
New Hampshire's New Booze Law Will Hamstring the State's Brewpubs
Despite passing two bills to reduce barriers to enjoying a drink, the Granite State is making it harder for brewpubs to grow.
Federal Officials Won't Admit the Real Reason for Ditching the TSA's Shoe Rule
The widely resented and ridiculed policy, which the U.S. was nearly alone in enforcing, never made much sense.
Barack Obama Wants Democrats To Be the YIMBY Party. That's Easier Said Than Done.
The housing crisis is bad for national Democrats. At the state level, it's a political winner.
OpenAI and Perplexity's New Browsers Make the Monopoly Claims About Google Look Foolish
The market has demonstrated it’s perfectly capable of fostering innovation and competition without government intervention.
Life as an Academic Defender of the Intuitively Obvious
Academics are supposed to discover nonobvious, counterintituitive truths. But, especially in recent years, much of my work involves defending positions that seem obvious to most laypeople, even though many experts deny them.
America's Baby Formula Rules Are Due for an Update
A new effort called Operation Stork Speed aims to fix outdated FDA rules that block alternative baby formulas from reaching U.S. shelves.
The Decentralized Master Planning of Seaside, Florida
The city where The Truman Show was filmed balances communal norms with private preferences.
Trump Walks Back Talk of Abolishing FEMA
After criticizing the agency for being ineffective for months, the Trump administration now plans to reform it to supplement state disaster response efforts.
New Jersey Court Strikes Down Town's Use of Eminent Domain To Skirt Affordable Housing Mandates
Despite the setback, Middletown Township is taking the case to the state supreme court.
Supreme Court Refuses to Consider Eviction Moratorium Takings Case
But Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a strong dissent to denial of certiorari.
Pacific Legal Foundation Symposium on the 100th Anniversary of Euclid v. Ambler Realty
The symposium is seeking submissions.
The 'Big Beautiful Bill' Expands Health Savings in a Rare Policy Win
In a bill packed with spending, one provision offers real gains for health care choice and savings.
NIMBY Lawsuit Accidentally Abolishes City's Entire Zoning Code
Plus: The Supreme Court declines to hear major eviction moratorium case, Maine passes zoning reform, and why tourist traps are good, actually.
With Environmental Regulatory Reform, California Gov. Gavin Newsom Finally Does Something Substantial
Without Newsom's efforts, major reforms to California's stifling environmental laws would have died on the vine.
NIMBYism Stifles Housing Construction in Previous Growth Areas
In recent years, exclusionary zoning and other regulatory restrictions have begun to block housing construction in areas where it was once relatively easy.
California Passes Important New YIMBY Housing Law
The new legislation exempts most new urban housing construction from the previously often stifling CEQA law. YIMBY ("yes in my backyard") advocates are cheering.
California Enacts Sweeping Exemption to Development-Killing Environmental Law
Plus: Real rent decreases in New York City, the return of missing middle housing in Virginia, and how everyone's a socialist on housing in New York.
