U.S. Officials Tried To Block Baby Formula Imports—During a Shortage
One official was concerned that lifting tariffs would lead to "lots of questions from domestic dairy producers."
Policy
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.
Criminal Justice Reform Took a Back Seat at the 2024 DNC
The official Democratic Party platform no longer endorses abolishing the death penalty, decriminalizing marijuana, or repealing mandatory minimums.
What Walz and Vance Get Wrong About Opportunity and Mobility
Walz is wrong to attack Vance for leaving home to go to Yale. Vance is wrong to support policies that would close off similar opportunities to others.
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.
The Dumb and Dumber of Kamala's 'Greedflation' Narrative
The American economy is robustly competitive. The federal government could just mess it up.
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.
Kamala Harris' Dishonest and Stupid Price Control Proposal
Government intervention caused inflation, and it threatens to make matters worse.
Harris and Trump Offer Terrible Housing Policies
With minor exceptions, their proposals are likely to do more harm than good.
Harris Joins the FTC's Food Fight Against Kroger-Albertsons Merger
Amid rising grocery costs, the FTC's fight against the merger may end up hurting the very consumers it's supposed to protect.
Harris' Economic Illiteracy
Plus: Taylor Lorenz scandal, Chinese economy in trouble, tax-free tips, and more...
Americans' Support for Tariffs Plummets When They See Prices Rise
A new poll challenges the protectionist narrative currently dominating both sides of the political aisle.
San Francisco City Council Targets Free Speech To Cover Up Its Own Housing Failures
Desperate to control soaring rents, the city council bans rental data tools while ignoring its own role in the housing crisis.
Does Your State Let You Work Without Government Permission?
A new report ranks the states on their occupational licensing requirements.
Tim Walz's Other Stolen Valor Scandal
The Minnesota governor is being hailed as a YIMBY zoning reformer despite doing nothing of consequence on the issue.
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.
Pacific Legal Foundation Report on "Locking Squatters Out: How States Can Protect Property Owners From Squatters"
The report has useful data on the scope of the problem, and recommendations on what can be done about it.
E.U. Regulations Made the CrowdStrike Fiasco Much Worse
The Brussels Effect makes meddlesome European regulations a global problem.
YIMBYism is the Ultimate Localism
If you want "local control" of land use, the best way to do it is let property owners decide how to use their property for themselves.
Federal Court Rules That Google Illegally Maintained a Monopoly
Google is "the best," the court says. But being on top is dangerous.
No Muslims In My Backyard?
Plus: Kamala Harris doubles down on rent control, Gavin Newsom issues a new executive order on housing, and the natural tendency to keep adding more regulation.
A Recession for Kamala?
Plus: Violence in the U.K., dead bears in Central Park, parenting influencer absolutely roasted, and more...
Grocery Store Booze Doesn't Hurt Mom-and-Pop Stores
But 11 states still forbid wine from being sold in grocery stores anyway.
VinFast Delays Production After North Carolina Seizes Property for Factory Site
North Carolina taxpayers have already spent over $96 million on the site, while state officials have seized multiple private properties.
J.D. Vance Wants To Control You With Taxes
People making the same income should be paying the same level of taxes no matter how they choose to live their lives.
RFK Jr. Pays Lip Service to the Debt While Pushing Policies That Would Increase It
It's good to hear a candidate actually talk about our spending problem. But his campaign promises would exacerbate it.
The Best of Reason Magazine: A Baby Dies in Virginia
The lethal consequences of a common, obscure hospital licensing law.
California Forever, Forever
The company needs a lot of government permission slips to build its planned new city in the Bay Area. It's now changing the order in which it asks for them.
What Kamala Harris' Coronation Says About the Democratic Party
Plus: A listener asks the editors about Project 2025.
Proposed New York City Hotel Regulation Threatens To Push Prices Even Higher
With prices skyrocketing, the city is weighing whether to regulate hotels further by barring them from hiring contracted workers.
J.D. Vance Says Childless Americans Should Pay Higher Taxes. They Already Do.
Donald Trump's running mate has discovered the most politically toxic way to demand the status quo.
Bad News for Universal Basic Income
Researchers found that giving people $1,000 every month for three years resulted in decreased productivity and earnings, and more leisure time.
The Federal Trade Commission Needs To Stay in its Lane
Recent actions by the FTC show that its officers should review the Constitution.
The Best of Reason: Congress 'Can Regulate Virtually Anything'
How legislators learned to stop worrying about the constitutionality of federal drug and gun laws by abusing the Commerce Clause.
Biden's Big Government Solutions Dismiss Customer Welfare
Sen. Rand Paul writes that repealing the Robinson-Patman Act would help bust inflation.
Coconut Trees, Price Controls, and Demand Subsidies
Plus: Gainesville shrinks minimum lot sizes, a Colorado church can keep providing shelter to the homeless, and Berkeley considers allowing small apartments everywhere.
Mercatus Center Study Documents Progress on Housing Reform
Many states have enacted laws curbing exclusionary zoning and other regulations that block new housing construction.
Biden's Race-Ending Debate Performance Was So Bad That It Eclipsed Trump's Flagrant Falsehoods
Voters should not dismiss the former president's utter disregard for the truth as a personal quirk or standard political practice.
This Colorado Church Wants To Shelter the Homeless. The Town Won't Let It.
The Church of the Rock is suing, arguing that the zoning crackdown in Castle Rock violates the First Amendment.
Zoning Police and NIMBYs Want To Keep People Homeless
Vineyard owners face $120,000 in fines for letting an employee and his family live on their 60-acre property without a permit.
Can Trump Unite by Going Light on Policy?
Trump called the skimpy policies of the GOP platform a feature, not a bug.
Here's How To Pay for Trump's Tax Cuts
There seems to be general bipartisan agreement on keeping a majority of the cuts, which are set to expire. They can be financed by cleaning out the tax code of unfair breaks.
Trump Changes His Mind on Zoning. Again.
Whoever is president has very weak incentives to get zoning reform right.
