Price controls
No, Politicians Can't 'Fix' Prices—and That's OK
Price controls lead to the misallocation of resources, shortages, diminished product quality, and black markets.
Rent Control Remains the Wrong Solution to Housing Woes
Restricting the price of housing kills incentives to supply places to live.
The Government Can't Save India's Suffering Farmers
Protests in the country come from an understandable place. But their demands are divorced from certain unfortunate economic realities.
Feds Make a Pharma Patent Grab
A Biden administration ploy could give the federal government control over drug prices.
Bureaucrats Are Moving To Cap Bank Overdraft Fees, Which Will Hurt the People It's Meant To Help
Many who see overdraft protection as preferable to other short-term credit options will have fewer choices as some banks decide the service isn't worth offering anymore.
Argentina, Once One of the Richest Countries, Is Now One of the Poorest. Javier Milei Could Help Fix That.
The new libertarian president believes in free markets and the rule of law. When people have those things, prosperity happens.
The High Costs of Biden's Price-Controlled Drugs
Americans will be sicker and deader in the long run than they otherwise would have been.
Progressives and Populist Republicans Are Coming for Your Credit Card Rewards
New legislation would intervene in the credit card market to help businesses like Target and Walmart, who don't like the fees they have to pay to accept credit card payments.
California Regulations Prevent Insurers From Accurately Pricing Wildfire Risk, so Now They're Fleeing the State
California homeowners are finding out that government-imposed market distortions cannot be maintained forever.
The Government Wants To Cap Credit Card Late Fees. It Will Hurt the Poor.
Delayed payments will increase, and companies will respond by raising interest rates—or denying low-income applicants outright.
The Federal Reserve Was Supposed To Ease Economic Instability. Instead, It's Made It Worse.
A responsible political class would significantly reform the organization. Instead, they will likely continue to give it more power.
Biden's New Budget Would Hike Taxes and Wage Class Warfare
The higher taxes on small businesses and entrepreneurs could slow growth. Less opportunity means more tribalism and division.
Biden's Drug Price Controls Will Kill More Patients in the Long Run
And increase total health care costs to boot.
National Conservatives Can't Find a Good Excuse for Viktor Orbán's Inflation Disaster
Hungary's inflation hits 24.5 percent—the highest in the European Union—and Orbán's price controls aren't helping.
New York Times Blames 'Deregulation' for Regulated Electric Costs
Deregulated states may spend more on transmission, but that part of the market is still heavily regulated.
Great Moments in Unintended Consequences: Antwerp Siege, Hearth Taxes, Cash for Clunkers (Vol. 9)
Good intentions, bad results.
Here's What the Media Get Wrong About Hurricanes
No, a big storm does not require big government.
Storms and Reforms
Plus: The editors unpack a philosophical question from a listener concerning foreign policy.
The U.K.'s New 'Free Market' Prime Minister Is Fighting Inflation With Price Controls
This fiscal irresponsibility throws gasoline on the country's already raging inflation fire.
What Would It Take for the Democrats To Really Be the Party of Opportunity?
Government should not penalize investment, thwart competition, discourage innovation and work, or obstruct production.
Eric Adams' Emergency Price Controls on Baby Formula Will Make the City's Shortage Worse
There are few things more politically popular, and more economically counterproductive, than banning price increases during a shortage.
Banning 'Unconscionable Excessive' Gas Prices Is Risky Economic Nonsense
Democrats are trying to inject a political solution into an economic problem.
No, Gas Prices Didn't Spike Because of 'Corporate Greed'
Corporations were just as greedy when prices fell in 2019 and early 2020.
Elizabeth Warren Introduces Price-Gouging Bill That Fails To Define What Qualifies as Price Gouging
The bill would penalize companies for price gouging during times of war, public health emergencies, or natural disasters—which would have encompassed all of the last two years.
Price Controls Would Make a Dire Economic Situation Worse
Certain politicians would do well to learn that inflation is not caused by corporate "greed."
California's Terrible Price-Gouging Law Puts Markets at Mercy of Ambitious Prosecutors
Higher egg prices are not a crisis in the middle of a pandemic full of supply problems.
Biden Is Poised To Make Freight Trains Less Safe. You Can Thank Special Interests.
Once again, Washington is giving us every reason to believe it's selling favors to cronies even if it means everyone else loses.
A Fuel Leak From a Navy Facility Could Shut Down All New Development on Hawaii's Most Populous Island
Contamination from the Navy's Red Hill underground fuel facility on Oahu has reduced Honolulu's water supply by 20 percent. Water officials are considering a moratorium on new construction to conserve water.
How the War on Sprawl Caused High Housing Prices
Since the 1960s, planners have convinced many state and regional governments to limit the physical spread of urban areas.
Pump Prices Are Going Up, But That's a Helluva Lot Better Than 1970s Gas Rationing
Oil supplies were already tight before petro-state Russia invaded Ukraine.
DOJ, FBI Will Investigate Companies for 'Illicit Profits'
Elizabeth Warren's bizarre theories about corporate greed driving inflation have made their way into federal law enforcement, it seems.
Price Controls Were a Disaster in the 1970s. They Would Be a Disaster Today, Too.
The idea would benefit central planners and grow the ranks of bureaucrats while making the poor even poorer.
Don't Blame 'Greedy Corporations' for Inflation. Blame the Government.
"Greed is constant. If it's greed, how do we explain prices falling?"
Hungary To Place Price Ceiling on Groceries
Price controls almost never achieve their goal, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has decided to utilize them anyway.
Price Controls Are the Worst Possible Solution to Inflation
Addressing a distortion of the market with another distortion of the market will only make the problem worse.
Food Costs Likely To Rise as Farmers' Expenses Shoot Up
Bad policy and unpredictable nature are sending food prices through the roof.
Biden's Drug Price Controls Would Make Americans Sicker and Shorten Their Lives
The plan would reduce supply while increasing demand, resulting in harmful shortages.
Pennsylvania's Liquor Control Board Will Ration Booze Sales Because It Won't Admit That Prices Work
Price controls fail for other products, and liquor is no different.
Senators Aim To Curtail Presidential Power Over War, Arms Sales, Emergency Declarations
Plus: The FBI had at least a dozen informants helping put together the plot to kidnap Michigan's governor, price controls fail again, and more.
Laws Against Price Gouging Won't Fix the Long Lines at the Gas Station
Don't punish businesses for raising prices during a crisis.
Wartime Rationing Changed How America Ate for a Century. The Pandemic Will Do the Same.
The government tried to stabilize the nation's food supply 80 years ago. Its efforts backfired.
DoorDash Customer Fees Go Up Thanks To Dumb Regulations
Plus: Mask burning is freedom of speech, New York reaches recreational weed deal, and more...
Did Anti-Price Gouging Laws Lead to More COVID-19 Deaths?
A new paper finds that the shortages produced by emergency price controls led to more social interactions as people searched for scarce goods. Additional COVID-19 deaths weren't far behind.
Joaquin Castro Accidentally Makes the Case for 'Price Gouging'
Texas officials' rush to enforce price gouging laws during that state's winter storms will only make residents worse off.
Black Markets in COVID-19 Vaccines Were Inevitable Once Government Got Involved
A politicized vaccine distribution process intended to take price out of the picture has given the edge to the rich, connected, and powerful.
