How To Waste $1 Trillion
Why should we believe that this boondoggle will produce better results than hundreds of other corporate welfare programs?
Subsidies
How a Massachusetts Power Plant Illustrates America's Fraught Shift to Green Energy
Brayton Point was a coal-fired plant that tried to clean up its act. Protesters and politicians demanded its closure. A new offshore wind project won't be sufficient to replace it.
The Democrats' New Inflation Bill Includes Tax Credits for Electric Vehicles That Don't Exist
Even Democrats are criticizing the bill's unrealistic expectations.
The CHIPS Act Is Corporate Welfare Disguised as Industrial Policy
If you believe that moving most of our chip production onshore is good for national security, you should labor for regulatory reforms rather than subsidies.
Don't Give U.S. Chipmakers a $76 Billion Government Handout
Making the U.S. semiconductor industry dependent on subsidies is not the way to stick it to China.
Crony Capitalism Is Apparently Business-Friendly
North Carolina wins "America's Top State for Business" by picking winners and losers.
Democrats Are Trying To Push Through Another 'Build Back Better' Bill. It Would Only Make Inflation Worse.
Here's hoping we don't wind up with more of the spending and favoritism that's become so common.
How Would You Change the Constitution?
I asked scholars, podcasters, and passersby how they'd change the nation's founding charter. Here's what they told me.
Does Affordable Housing Make the Surrounding Neighborhood Less Affordable?
A Urban Institute research brief found that affordable housing developments in Alexandria, Virginia, were associated with a small increase in surrounding property values.
GM Slashes Prices for Its Electric Vehicles (To Compete With Tesla)
You can thank robust competition for the fact that environmentally friendly cars are easier than ever to afford.
The Atlanta Braves Won the World Series. Their Stadium Is Still a Taxpayer Boondoggle.
The economic benefits are a home run that never came, and never should have been expected.
Major League Baseball: Don't Nationalize it, Privatize it!
Opening Day and a bad New York Times op-ed are timely reminders that much of what ails professional baseball is the intrusion of government.
Blame Insane Government Spending for Inflation
Some want to solve the problem with subsidies for gas, housing, child care, and more. That only risks greater stagnation.
Taxpayers To Be Billed a Billion Dollars for Buffalo Bills' New Stadium
If approved by the New York legislature, it would be the biggest public handout in NFL history.
No, California Shouldn't Keep Crazy High Marijuana Taxes 'For the Children'
Child care workers benefit from state subsidies. They’re fighting against possible cuts by encouraging regressive taxes that fuel a new drug war.
The Super Bowl Will Be Played in the Most Expensive Stadium Ever Built. Taxpayers Didn't Pay a Dime.
Meanwhile, Virginia and Washington, D.C., are in a bidding war to decide which taxpayers will have the chance to pay for the Washington Commanders' new stadium. It shouldn't be this way.
Massive Subsidies Won't Solve the Semiconductor Supply Chain Crisis
Chipmakers don't need the money, and they won't get it until after the current mess has been resolved.
'We' Didn't Increase the Debt. Politicians, Congress, and Bureaucrats Did.
Using "we" implies a collective responsibility, creates the false impression that most people are on board, and hints that we'll share equally in the benefits.
The Packers Have a Unique Way To Fund Stadium Improvements: Ask Fans for Money
Other teams beg for taxpayer handouts.
The 'Build Back Better' Bill Will Spend a Lot of Money To Make Our Problems Worse
You can support pre-K education and affordable child care and worry about climate change while understanding that policymakers need to get out of the way.
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.
Biden Dumps Free Community College From Spending Bill
These schools are already extremely accessible to low-income students. Don’t mess with their flexibility.
How Government Devastated Minor League Baseball
And why stopping the subsidies can help bring it back.
Memphis Gave IKEA $9.5 Million While Several Smaller Furniture Stores Went Under
Corporate welfare hurts the people who actually need help.
House Democrats' Tax Bill Lavishes Subsidies on Local News
The Democrats' new tax plan would give local newspapers up to $25,000 in refundable tax credits for each journalist they employ.
California Wants To Throw $100 Million at Its Mismanaged Retail Marijuana Sector
Lawmakers want to pay cities to help cannabis businesses navigate the state’s oppressive bureaucracy.
Marco Rubio Echoes the Chinese Tyrants He Supposedly Hates
If you're going to attack Mark Zuckerberg for cozying up to Xi Jinping, maybe you should try harder not to sound like a Chinese dictator.
Foxconn Finally Admits It Won't Create 13,000 Jobs in Wisconsin
It now plans to employ just 1,454 people after bulldozing dozens of homes to make room for a factory Donald Trump once touted as the "eighth wonder of the world."
Schumer Insists on Keeping Beachfront Bailouts for Wealthy Americans' Vacation Homes
The senate majority leader is stymying long-needed increases in federal flood insurance rates.
Facebook Restores News Links in Australia After Getting Some Concessions
Big outlets get subsidies. The government still gets to pick winners and losers.
A Silicon Curtain Descends
Trump escalated America's war against Huawei and China. Biden should beware burgeoning technonationalism.
American Tariffs Are Bad for Booze. European Tariffs Would Be a Disaster.
The E.U. is considering levying $4 billion in new tariffs on American goods, with alcohol likely to be one of the targets.
Wisconsin's Foxconn Boondoggle Looks Worse Than Ever
President Donald Trump and Gov. Scott Walker promised thousands of jobs in return for billions of dollars in subsidies from the state. More than two years later, there's little to show for it.
California's Energy Regulations Hurt the Poor, While 'Green' Subsidies Benefit the Rich
Incentive programs for electric cars and solar panels mostly benefit those who can afford those things, while regulations that drive up the cost of energy hurt those who can't afford much to begin with.
'Throw a Billion Dollars from the Helicopter' Is a Grand-Slam Attack on Publicly Financed Stadiums
A new documentary chronicles the defeat of a grassroots protest to halt the Texas Rangers' subsidized stadium deal.
Governments Splurged on Stadiums and Luxury Hotels Before Coronavirus Shut Them All Down
These subsidies were a bad deal for taxpayers even in good times. In the midst of a global pandemic, they're devastating.
U.K. Media Lobby Wants Government To Force Advertisers to Support Coronavirus Coverage
Desperate for revenue, online outlets try to use a crisis to overrule their customers’ judgment.
With COVID-19, That Which Is Not Forbidden Is Mandatory—and Subsidized
When this is all over, don’t expect politicians to lose their taste for ordering us around.
Has D.C. Found the Right Way To Do 'Free' Public Transit?
Councilmember Charles Allen has proposed giving every D.C. resident a $100 monthly subsidy for bus and train rides.
Private Flood Insurers Chastised for Not Insuring Houses Likely To Be Flooded
It's simple: You should not build your house in places where you can't get private flood insurance.
American Taxpayers Are Subsidizing Ultra-Cheap Shipping From China
For decades, the U.S. Postal Service has charged some countries less than it charges domestic shippers to move packages within the United States.
Betsy DeVos Threatens To Cut Funding for Duke-UNC Middle East Studies. Why Stop There?
The Department of Education alleges the universities' research is discriminatory against certain religions.
Curt Schilling Blew $75 Million in Public Funds Making Bad Video Games. Naturally, He Thinks He Should Be in Congress.
Schilling and Trump are alike in attacking immigrants for costing money, while seeking out business subsidies.
Delusional LA Mayor Eric Garcetti Promises $1 Billion Profit on 2028 Olympics
Why do elected officials keep pushing the same damn lies about the economic impact of publicly funded sports events?
Kansas City Uses Bad Research To Justify Corporate Welfare
A local development study didn't evaluate whether government incentives had anything to do with a business's decision to invest.
