Adam Smith Understood That We Need Each Other
The thinker's views of human sympathy, beneficence, justice, and the division of labor still resonate.
Features
Adam Smith's Quiet Christianity
The Scottish thinker's famous friendship with David Hume demonstrates his liberalism, not his atheism.
Liberalism Isn't Rule by Elites
But Patrick Deneen’s “common-good conservatism” almost certainly would be.
Comic: The Revised Adam Smith
The ghost of the so-called father of economics chastises those who would use his words for their own misbegotten ends.
Adam Smith Wasn't a Progressive
Stop quoting him out of context on taxation, education, and monopoly.
The Left-Right Spectrum Is Mostly Meaningless
The political landscape doesn’t fit on a simple map.
Will 2024 Bring the Return of the Neocons?
The GOP nominee can forge a humbler path on foreign policy—or turn back to failed neoconservatism.
Storks Don't Take Orders From the State
Falling birthrates, pro-natalist policies, and the limits of population control
Debate: The E.U. Was a Mistake
Are the plausible alternatives to continental governance any better?
How an Ill-Informed Internet Mob Ruined a UVA Student's Life
Morgan Bettinger was accused on social media of telling protesters they would make good "speed bumps." It was more than a year before investigations cleared her.
Debate: To Preserve Individual Liberty, Government Must Affirmatively Intervene in the Culture War
What happens when anti-liberty zealots get the same powers?
Debate: Despite the Welfare State, the U.S. Should Open Its Borders
Can Americans afford to welcome the huddled masses?
Debate: Democracy Is the Worst Form of Government Except for All the Others
What is the relationship between liberty and democracy?
Debate: Mentally Ill Homeless People Must Be Locked Up for Public Safety
Have we forgotten the era of mass institutionalization?
Debate: Cats Are More Libertarian Than Dogs
Do felines contribute more to human liberty?
Debate: It's Time for a National Divorce
Are political breakups really as American as apple pie?
Debate: Bitcoin Is the Future of Free Exchange
Where am I supposed to spend my cryptocurrency?
Debate: The U.S. Should Increase Funding for the Defense of Ukraine
Does Ukraine face an existential risk? Does it matter?
Introducing Reason's 2023 Debate Issue
Where libertarians debate democracy, open borders, cats and dogs, and more
Debate: Artificial Intelligence Should Be Regulated
Is an A.I. "foom" even possible?
The Zoning Theory of Everything
Land use policies explain the battles over everything from the Great Recession to abortion to Donald Trump.
The Drug Exception to the Second Amendment
Conservatives have been slow to recognize the threat that drug prohibition poses to gun rights and other civil liberties.
The Luddites' Veto
Beware of activists touting "responsible research and innovation." The sensible-sounding slogan masks a reactionary agenda.
Speak Loudly and Carry a Big Bat: Ron DeSantis Is on Deck
Does he want to limit government, or is he just out to win at all costs?
How a Public Housing Project Became an Unplanned Neighborhood
A favela in southern Brazil shows the upside of an "invasive" urban form—and offers lessons for U.S. housing policy.
Across the Globe, Government Health Care Systems Are Failing Us
By restricting private health care choices, the NHS and other beloved single-payer systems were doomed from the start.
Examining America's War in Iraq After 20 Years
It was a blunder. Worse than that, it was a crime.
The U.S. Probation System Has Become a Quagmire
What was originally intended as an alternative to incarceration has become a system for mass state control.
How the CDC Became the Speech Police
Secret internal Facebook emails reveal the feds' campaign to pressure social media companies into banning COVID "misinformation."
Kamala Harris Is a Flop
The underwhelming vice presidency of an unpopular former prosecutor has created a succession problem for the Democrats.
A Modern History of 'Groomer' Politics
The social changes that paved the way for gay and trans acceptance have made pedophile acceptance less likely, not more.
Don't Underestimate Clarence Thomas
Justice Thomas' footprints are all over the Court's recently concluded term.
Absolute Immunity Puts Prosecutors Above the Law
By giving powerful law enforcement officials absolute immunity from civil liability, the Supreme Court leaves their victims with no recourse.
Pandemic Repairs Were Supposed To Put D.C. Metro Back on Track. Then It Literally Went Off the Rails.
Putting the district's train system back on track will take more than better bureaucracy.
Governments Scramble To Manage, Regulate, and Throttle Crypto
Most dangerously of all, they're starting to make their own central bank digital currencies.
We Are Going to the Moon
Thanks to the rise of private spaceflight companies, mankind will have a future off-Earth.
Comic: Robert A. Heinlein in 'The Moon Is a Hot Babe'
An aeronautical engineer considers writing a novel about a new start on the moon.
The FCC: America's Other Space Agency
How the FCC went from regulating telegraphs to regulating satellites
Space Is an Opportunity To Rethink Property Rights
Here's what could happen when John Locke and Henry George go to the moon.
Robert Heinlein's Dream of Private Space Travel Is Coming True
A new generation of companies has made space travel affordable.
How Corporations' Good Social and Environmental Intentions Undermine the Common Good
An excerpt from The Next American Economy: Nation, State, and Markets in an Uncertain World.
What the 1970s Can Teach Us About Today's Inflationary Politics
Inflation is a problem for politicians. Unfortunately for them, it's not a problem they know how to solve.
