Could 2025 See the Lowest Murder Rate Ever Recorded?
While it's too early to say for sure, the data are extremely encouraging.
Latest
Brickbats: June 2025
News of politicians, police, and bureaucrats behaving badly from around the world.
Trump Promised To 'Save Vaping.' His FDA Head Does Not Seem Inclined To Do That.
Marty Makary grossly exaggerates the prevalence of adolescent nicotine addiction, the concern underlying his agency's restrictions on e-cigarette flavors.
Courts Are Quietly Taking Over the Internet
The next generation of online platforms is being shaped less by engineers and entrepreneurs and more by regulators and courts—and they’re very bad at it.
The Trade War Is Eroding America's Soft Power
The debate over free trade should include more than the costs of Trump's tariffs versus the value of cheaper stuff.
The Alien Enemies Act Doesn't Say What Trump Claims It Says
Father of the Constitution James Madison made a distinction between alien enemies and alien friends.
Can We End Racism by Ending the Idea of Race Itself?
Author Sheena Michele Mason offers an alternative vision for anti-racism.
The Supreme Court Said States Can't Discriminate in Alcohol Sales. They're Doing It Anyway.
Two decades after Granholm v. Heald was supposed to end protectionist shipping laws, states and lower courts continue to undermine the decision.
Cocaine Hippos, Monkey Copyrights, and a Horse Named Justice: The Debate Over Animal Personhood
Are human courts the best venue to protect wild animals?
Harvard's Best Protection Is To Get Off the Federal Teat
It's the best shield when the executive branch tries to strong-arm private universities.
Trump's Mass Cancellation of Student Visas Illustrates the Lawlessness of His Immigration Crackdown
A federal judge blocks the administration's "Student Criminal Alien Initiative," which targeted foreign students who had no criminal records.
Come July, Keys Will Be De Facto Illegal In Minnesota
The vast majority of keys on the market contain more lead than is allowed by the state's strict new heavy metal standards.
Texas Bans Delta-8 THC, Which Is Only Popular Because of Prohibition
Six years after legalizing hemp and its by-products, the state is revising its drug policies and criminalizing products sold by thousands of Texas businesses.
The Executive Power Case That Unites Donald Trump and Franklin Roosevelt
Trump’s firing of a federal agency head may soon spell doom for a New Deal era precedent that limited presidential power.
That Time L.A.'s Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Called in a Bomb Threat on His Own City Hall
Former official Brian K. Williams just admitted that he faked a bomb threat during a work meeting. Now he faces up to 10 years in prison.
A Split Supreme Court Says Oklahoma Can't Have a Religious Charter School
The deadlocked court doesn't provide much clarity to sticky questions about the limits of religious freedom.
C. Bradley Thompson and Jeremiah Johnson: Rise of the 'MAGA Manosphere'
Did mainstream conservatives and libertarians lose a generation of young men to the reactionary right?
Trump Declares That iPhones Should Be More Expensive
Whether due to tariffs or because they are made in America, the result would be much higher prices.
Pregnant Women in Prison Aren't Getting Care, and No One Is Keeping Track
U.S. criminal justice policies have led to a 585 percent increase in the incarcerated women’s population since 1980 and have resulted in the highest female incarceration rate in the world.
RFK Jr. Plays the Hits
Plus: NYC can't build a damn park, violence against diplomats, worrying news from Anthropic, and more...
Farmers Need Free Markets, Not Tariffs and Welfare
The more important the product—and food certainly ranks high on any list—the better it is to allow markets to work.
With REAL ID, America Now Has National ID Cards and Internal Passports
To make us safer, the feds required standardized ID and one-stop shopping for identity thieves.
Review: The Free Market Comes to The Sims 4
Even simulated entrepreneurs aren't free from the burdens of business registration fees.
Review: Was Charles Manson Carrying Out a CIA Experiment?
Errol Morris' new Netflix documentary explores alternative theories of the Manson cult's infamous 1969 murders.
Is Donald Trump To Blame for a COVID Lab Leak?
Criticisms of the president's alleged flip-flopping on gain-of-function research funding miss some key context.
A Top Antitrust Enforcer Is Open To Prosecuting People Who Disagree With Him
Mark Meador thinks the Federal Trade Commission may have the legal right to investigate nonprofits that “advocate for the interests of giant corporations” if they don’t disclose their donors.
How Does the National Debt Affect You? A Budget Expert Explains.
Higher debt means lower wages, higher interest rates, and fewer opportunities, says Romina Boccia of the Cato Institute.
Republicans Just Killed California's E.V. Mandate. Will They Regret It?
The vote could set a dangerous precedent and empower progressive policymaking in the future.
Gary Winslett: The American Dream Has Migrated South
Middlebury professor Gary Winslett argues the South—not China—poached the Rust Belt’s manufacturing base by out-competing it on policy.
Trump's Prescription Price Controls Would Lead to Fewer New Drugs
The executive order is likely unconstitutional, but if implemented as written, it would be detrimental to the American health care market.
Congress Is Giving Energy Lobbyists a 3-Year Window to Keep Up to $2 Trillion in Subsidies
The "one big, beautiful bill" keeps the corporate welfare that Republicans claim to hate.
A Giant Pile of Money Won't Fix Democrats' Joe Rogan Problem
If he's chosen, he ain't Rogan.
Israeli Embassy Staffers Killed
Plus: Trump bill passes the House, Danish father of five detained in ICE custody in Louisiana, and more...
Trump's FTC Chair Is Continuing To Push Lina Khan's Antitrust Ideology
The Federal Trade Commission was established to protect consumers. Under Biden and Trump, its focus has shifted.
America's Credit Is Falling—and the Government Is Still Digging Deeper Into Debt
The lesson from the Moody's credit downgrade is that the U.S. cannot borrow its way to prosperity.
Dave Smith and Alex Nowrasteh Debate Immigration
Is it consistently libertarian to support government restrictions on immigration?
A Federal Judge Says New Mexico Cops Reasonably Killed an Innocent Man at the Wrong House
U.S. District Judge Matthew Garcia rejected the argument that the officers "recklessly created the need to apply deadly force by going to the wrong address."
Supreme Court Orders Maine Legislator Censured for Social Media Post Must Get Voting Rights Back
On Monday, the court granted an emergency injunction allowing Rep. Laurel Libby to resume voting and speaking after she was censured for a post criticizing trans women in women's sports.
The GOP Tax Bill Will Add $2.3 Trillion to the Deficit, CBO Says
That total could double if temporary provisions in the bill become permanent, as is likely to happen.
A Judge Blocked Apple From Collecting These Commissions
"It's hard to see how completely ripping [the system] apart will be helpful to consumers," warns one economist.
The FTC's Probe Into 'Potentially Illegal' Content Moderation Is a Blatant Assault on the First Amendment
In the name of "restoring freedom of speech," FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson wants to override the editorial judgments of social media platforms.
Antitrust Remedies Against Google Would Punish Consumers, Not Protect Them
Forcing the sale of Chrome or banning default agreements wouldn’t foster competition—it would hobble innovation, hurt smaller players, and leave users with worse products.
Report: 50 Venezuelans Sent to Salvadoran Prison Entered the U.S. Legally, Contrary to White House Claims
"It's not just one or two administrative errors," says the Cato Institute's David Bier.
