Nikolai G. Wenzel
Why I Pledge Allegiance to the Constitution — Not the Flag
The pledge demands patriotic devotion. The skeptical Constitution builds limits on power. Only one protects liberty.
New York’s Death Wish
History — and a gritty 1970s vigilante flick — offers sobering lessons about what happens when public institutions fail at their most basic task: keeping citizens safe.
Privacy for the Powerful, Surveillance for the Rest: EU’s Proposed Tech Regulation Goes Too Far
Protecting kids is a weak pretext for total digital surveillance. What's worse, the EU's monitoring exempted its own politicians from scrutiny. Their privacy matters, but not yours.
Argentina’s Midterm Moment: Brave Reform, or Back to Perónism?
Javier Milei’s aggressive reforms have slashed spending, curbed inflation, and reignited growth. Argentina’s midterms will decide whether reform endures.
80 Years After Total Surrender, Japan’s Strong Institutions Still Deliver
A combination of constitutional and commercial fixtures set Japan up for stability and growth, even as its Southeast Asian neighbors struggled.
Rediscovering Frédéric Bastiat in an Age of Tariffs
Bastiat's writing combines campy, folksy stories with blinding economic logic. Even 200 years later, he has much to teach us.
Relative Drug Pricing is Bad Medicine
Drug price discrepancies reveal the complications of state intervention: quasi-monopoly, patents held hostage, and years-long wait times.
Argentina, 1500-2023: An Institutional Story
Argentina serves as a case study for the relationship between institutional environments and economic growth, as reality matches the theoretical predictions: economic freedom is a necessary condition for economic growth.
Pharmaceutical Middlemen Face Lawmaker Scrutiny
More than 25 percent of the federal budget is spent on health care. Endless government intervention, however well-intentioned, rewards lobbyists and distorts markets leaving patients short of options.
A Roadmap for DOGE’s 30 Percent Budget Cut
Of every dollar in the economy 46 cents are controlled, directly or indirectly, by politicians and bureaucrats. A new department wants to bring that total down.
