Economic Lessons From COVID-19
What the pandemic has re-taught us about the perils of planning, the power of incentives, and the complexities of externalities.
June 2021
The Era of Small Government Is Over
Is there any hope to check the growth of the state?
Features
The Equity Mess
Despite their professed goals, Democrats' pandemic policies have widened disparities between races, classes, and genders.
When the Government Makes Wildfires Worse
Federal policies are subsidizing people's choices to build homes in harm's way.
Interview
'The Intellectual Johnny Appleseed of the Counterculture'
A conversation with Whole Earth Catalog founder, Merry Prankster, and woolly mammoth de-extinctionist Stewart Brand.
Topics
When Politics Makes It Impossible To Plan
For more than a decade, politicians have moved toward seizing short-term wins through any mechanism available to them.
Photo: Fun With Frozen Ferrets
Elizabeth Ann, a black-footed ferret, was cloned from cells of another ferret that were cryopreserved at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance's Frozen Zoo.
Section 230 Haters Aren't Going Away
Though Trump is gone, the desire to bend the internet toward partisan goals is alive and well.
The Pandemic Will Make Kids or Break Them
During a pandemic, as always, life is about balancing risks, not eliminating them.
Judges Stick Up for Asset Forfeiture Victim
When officers searched Jermaine Sanders' car, they found less than half an ounce of marijuana and seized $17,000 of his money.
An $86 Billion Moral Hazard
Nestled in the $1.9 trillion emergency spending bill passed in March was a bailout for unions' private pension funds.
Congressional Democrats Waffle on Qualified Immunity
Cops say they can't function without qualified immunity, while their supporters on the right say abolishing it would be a step toward defunding the police. Neither claim is true.
When Fighting 'Misinformation' Is Really Fighting Free Speech
There is no "fake news" exception to the First Amendment.
On Pot Legalization, Biden Offers Only Inaction
The new administration does not appear to be interested in addressing the conflict between state and federal marijuana laws.
It's Too Bad We Can't Fire More Governors
Citizens should be able to punish elected officials who have done an extraordinarily bad job rather than be forced to count on elected legislators to do the heavy lifting.
'Hero Pay' for Grocery Workers Is Terrible for Grocery Workers
Laws which mandate big wage increases for workers during the pandemic are leaving store closures in their wake.
Refusing To Show ID Is Not a Crime
George Wingate, who had pulled over on the side of the road to check an engine light, flatly refused to show his ID when a sheriff's deputy demanded it.
There's Nothing Modern About MMT
Similar measures have been tried before, right here in America, and they have worked. But that's actually not good news for MMT fans today.
Books
Rethinking the Power To Take a Life
America's approach to capital punishment changed in the 1970s. It's time for another look.
Wanted: A Better Way To Think About Health Care
If social insurance plans had been designed by libertarian-leaning policy mechanics, what might they have produced?
Reviews
WandaVision
The show perfectly encapsulates the feelings of grief, confusion, and isolation born of the pandemic.
In & Of Itself
Derek DelGaudio's In & Of Itself is not merely a magic show or a one-man play.
Kingdom of Silence
The new documentary traces the evolution of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's attitude toward the Saudi regime.
One Night in Miami
The movie depicts the fictionalized gathering of Cassius Clay, Malcolm X, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke, who spar over what each is doing to advance civil rights.
Want Me
In her new memoir, journalist Tracy Clark-Flory weaves in a quarter-century of cultural advice, warnings, and gripes about the sex lives of millennials.
ETC.
Grant McCracken on How To Reengineer the Honor Code
"The tissue of an honor society comes undone almost instantaneously once the wolf of 'everybody does it' enters the room."
