Regulation
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Lighthouses Were Always Private, Until Government Took Them Over
There was nothing inherent to the lighthouse that made it a public good. It was a public good because government regulation made it so.
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How A Super Bowl Ad Could Help Unravel Government Farm Subsidies
Super Bowl commercials are one of the last bastions of truly mass media – where a 30-second spot can start a national conversation. The ads from Anheuser-Busch alleging that its competitors Coors Light and Miller Lite use corn syrup while it does not just might be a moment that gets people talking about government’s role…
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Beyond the Size of Government
People favor expansive government for different reasons and will want that government to do very different things, depending on their ultimate beliefs. Those beliefs will also typically lead them to support a government that is active in one area but not others.
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These Shutdowns Devastate the Credibility of Government
The problem is not a single program or regulation. It’s the complete paradigm of a state that knows no limits to its power. That paradigm has gradually faded. Another will take its place.
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The Downsides and Dangers of Mission Making
Mission making turns economic decision-making into a political conflict of interest groups possessing bargaining power in the halls of government to determine what gets done, in what ways, and for whose benefit.
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The Real Problem Is the Politicization of Everything
To regain civility in human interactions and finally treat other human beings as human beings again, we would do well to get politics out of human affairs.
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The Secret History of Tamales Offers a Lesson in Humility
The history of tamales offers a powerful historical lesson about humility: most of the time, we don’t understand why rules are good, and we certainly should doubt our ability to choose reforms that will be better.
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The Humanitarian Case for the Freedom to Associate
Anti-discrimination law interrupts important information flows that enable buyers to make rational decisions, supporting values of which they approve and denying funds to people with values of which they disapprove. These laws thereby interrupt the feedback mechanism that makes market democracy work. It also takes away the incentive for people to adapt their own value…
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Eight Questions We Should Be Asking about Economics
We rely on competitive markets to supply us with “correct” quantities of goods and services ranging in importance from chewing gum to industrial chemicals, and from pedicures to petroleum. So why do we not rely on competitive markets to supply us with the “correct” quantity of money?
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Identity Politics Is Devouring Itself
Find any biological trait, posit it as a collective interest, set that trait against all other traits, and then struggle for power and privilege; your outlook comes to be characterized by loathing and resentment against the collective guilt of everyone but yourself.
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Economic Controls Turn Regular People Into Criminals
When government regulates and legislates, it is not causing some imagined form of social uplift for the masses toiling under the terrible demands of freedom. It is instead making more criminals out of people who just want to live a better life.
