Before Promising To Solve the World's Big Problems, Politicians Should Aim To Fix Potholes
The lonely crusade against government hubris.
Government
Elon Musk: Government Is 'the Biggest Corporation, With a Monopoly on Violence, Where You Have No Recourse'
Musk's finally ready to admit that government subsidies distort markets and that government actors are terrible at capital allocation.
Why Does Bernie Sanders Think Billionaires Should Get Out of Space?
Today's highly successful space race "is not something for two billionaires to be directing," says Sanders, who favors the government spending taxpayer money to do the same damn thing (but more slowly).
Americans Now Prefer Smaller Government, But May Not Get It
No matter what the public wants, crises typically leave the state more powerful.
Brutal Treatment of Asylum-Seekers Is the Reality of Government
That’s why its role in our lives should be reduced to the minimum.
21 Federal Agencies Manage 200 Different Diet-Related Programs, Leading to Overlap and Chaos
"There really is no overarching federal strategy to guide the government’s efforts to improve Americans’ diets," says a new government report, which indicates that overlap in initiatives is creating waste.
Bitcoin: 'A Weapon for Us To Fight Oppression'
Senegalese app developer Fodé Diop sees bitcoin as a way to end "monetary colonialism" in the developing world.
Vaccines Are Good. Vaccine Mandates From the Government Are Bad.
If you support "my body, my choice," you cannot support vaccine mandates.
If Government Is Good at One Thing, It's Making a Crisis Worse
The same institution that's unable to run the Postal Service or Amtrak orchestrated our invasion and withdrawal of Afghanistan.
Bezos, Branson, and the Billionaire-Funded Race To Make Space a Bargain
Billionaires are going to space. They will help us get there too.
The U.S. Has Strayed Far From Its Founding Ideals
Governments at the state, local, and federal levels can obstruct our pursuit of happiness and at times even jeopardize our safety.
Without a World War, We Have an Unaffordable War-Sized Government
Americans distract themselves with freak-show headlines while political institutions escape their control.
Tech Companies Could Form Their Own Governments Under a New Nevada Proposal
Plus: Replacing cops with health care workers saves lives, tech policy advice for President Biden, and more...
In 2021, Politics Needs a 'Leave Us Alone' Coalition
Government is not reason. It is not eloquence. It is force. We could use a little less of that, please.
Gun Control Puts Your Life at Risk
In the 20th century, far more people were murdered by genocidal governments than by armed criminals.
Will-to-Power Conservatism and the Great Liberalism Schism
By virtue of representing the correct vision of the good, these conservatives say, they have every right to use the coercive power of the state to interfere with others' choices.
How To Reboot the Government with Common Sense
Hold agencies and regulators accountable for outcomes, not compliance.
Treating Mental Illness With Care, Not Punishment, Goes Beyond Defunding Police
We need to remove all the ways that government deters people from seeking treatment.
Past Crises Have Ratcheted Up Leviathan. The COVID-19 Pandemic Will Too.
People sometimes regret actions taken hastily during a crisis but find reversing them diabolically difficult.
Freedom Is a Pandemic Casualty in Authoritarian Regimes and Liberal Democracies
Around the world, governments are taking advantage of COVID-19 to tighten the screws on their subjects.
Cellphone-Tracking Can Help Fight the Pandemic Only If Governments Resist Their Snoopy Instincts
Contact tracing might offer hope for slowing the spread of the pandemic—or fulfill every Big Brother-ish fear privacy advocates have ever raised.
The Coronavirus Has Exposed Governmental Failures. It Might Also Offer Hope for Change.
Government agencies and public utilities are the most preposterous examples of stasis. The coronavirus might force them, finally, to innovate and join the modern world.
The Good News Is That We Probably Won't Elect a Socialist. The Bad News Is That We Already Have, Many Times.
Americans probably don't want a president who will nationalize the means of production, but we're happy to keep electing ones who grow government spending.
3 New Year's Resolutions the Government Should Adopt
Congress and President Trump should use 2020 to craft more sane policies on trade, immigration, and the budget.
Give, Don't Govern
Philanthropy helps others. Government controls them instead.
When Government Lobbies Government for More Government
For all their harrumphing about the evils of corporate influence-peddling, left-wing demagogues are willfully blind to the biggest influence-seekers in state and federal capitols.
A 79-Year-Old Woman Receives a Jail Sentence for Feeding Stray Cats
"I'm an animal lover, and I feel guilty that they're wandering around out there and they have nothing to eat."
Should Baltimore Pay Ransom to the Hackers Holding City Computers Hostage?
The city’s systems have been down since May 7, with no end in sight.
Oakland's 'Pothole Vigilantes' Are the Batman and Robin of Road Repair
"We love the city, we hope they fill the potholes faster. And if they’re not going to do it, we’ll do it ourselves.”
It Took Good Samaritans 2 Hours and $150 To Paint a Crosswalk That D.C. Ignored for 6 Months
Yet another example of private citizens taking it upon themselves to do what the government is incapable of.
The Problem With Nudging People to Happiness
Cass Sunstein's latest book puts a lot of faith in the efficacy of government to structure our choices.
What Inmates, the Amish, and Imperial Chinese Law Teach Us About Relying on the State
David Friedman’s Legal Systems Very Different from Ours explores the costs and benefits of various legal systems across time.
Americans' Least Favorite Company Isn't Even a Company. Can You Guess What It Is?
No matter their age or political persuasion, Americans have similar thoughts on this one.
Try Common Sense and Dump Old Right-Left Ideologies, Says Philip K. Howard in New Book: Podcast
He also offers up concrete proposals not just to reform government but to route around it and get on with our lives already.
We Found a Perfect Metaphor for Government
The city admitted its mistake after collecting the fines.
Don't Tie Tragic National Park Deaths to the Government Shutdown
Some news outlets have insinuated that the government shutdown is to blame for several tragic deaths. Statistics say otherwise.
The Problems With Federal Immigration Agencies Predate Trump
Audits dating back to 2003 highlight a culture of mismanagement and misconduct.
The National Debt Hit $22 Trillion at the End of 2018
Growth alone won't get us out of this mess.
Ideology Is Out, Identity Is In
Stanford's Francis Fukuyama on the rise of populism in the West and how identity politics thwarted the end of history.
When Nonviolence Isn't Enough
Does the right to self-defense apply against agents of the state?
