Topic: Government

Classical Liberalism, Government, History

What Would Lincoln Do?

– October 9, 2020

“Salmon P. Chase, the greatest civil rights lawyer of that day, in particular, campaigned for Lincoln’s re-election. Then, on the day the Senate reconvened, Lincoln sent over a one-sentence message nominating Chase, who was then confirmed without debate, on a voice vote.” ~ Clifford F. Thies

Capitalism, Economic Education, Government, Regulation

Woke Financial Crisis Part Deux

– October 9, 2020

“Ideologues can claim that mathematics is merely a human construct but there really is a real world out there. It has bitten us in the keister before and appears poised to do so again, just for ignoring it. Maybe we should all wake up.” ~ Robert E. Wright

Economic Education, Government, Regulation

Why is the United States Trying to Shut Down Huawei?

– October 7, 2020

“Really, where did conservatives and/or Republicans ever get the idea that we’re improved the more that our politicians weaken our competitors? And since national security is regularly bruited as the excuse for nascent protectionism, where did they ever get the idea that the latter would make us safer in a foreign policy sense?” ~ John Tamny

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Government

The Constitutional Reckoning of State Lockdown Orders

– October 7, 2020

“There is no doubt that the governors across the country have gone off the constitutional deep end in response to Covid-19, exercising powers that are not only unprecedented but unproven. These cases, notably in Michigan and Wisconsin, all share some important legal themes that may suggest the beginning of a constitutional reckoning for governors across America.” ~ Ethan Yang

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Economic Education, Government

End this Recession Now!

– October 6, 2020

“The remedy for this self-imposed economic harakiri, this desperate and destructive attempt at self-harm that is governments’ pandemic response, is exactly that: end it. Abolish. Abandon. Cease and desist. Have governments get out of the way and individuals make choices of their own, choices adjusted to their own risks and risk tolerance – not a mindless one-size-fits-all solution that takes very little account of real people’s lives.” ~ Joakim Book

Economic Education, Government, History

Voters’ Incentives and Terrible Public Policy

– October 6, 2020

“In about a month, Americans will elect a new President and a new Congress. In our ideal world, they would do so by very carefully weighing the costs and benefits of different policies and choosing the combinations that they reasonably believe to be in everyone’s best interests. In the world we inhabit, though, they will go to the polls and vote enthusiastically for policies that create more common harm than common good.” ~ Art Carden

Crisis, Economic Education, Government

A Curveball Isn’t an Existential Threat

– October 5, 2020

“Too many people over the past six months have taken leave of their senses. We, our children, and our grandchildren will long live with the consequences of this foolish panic – consequences that almost surely will inflict on humanity harms far worse than any that Covid could possibly have ever inflicted.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Economic Education, Government

Goodbye Grounded, My Favorite Coffee Bar Destroyed by Lockdowns

– October 5, 2020

“Multiply my story by the hundreds of thousands of patrons of their favorite store, bar, restaurant or coffee shop all over the City — and the hardworking owners of these establishments who poured their souls, lives, and savings into them — and you have a partial measure of the human cost, not just of Covid, but of the draconian lockdown policy and the other death-by-a-thousand-cuts regulations that have magnified its harm.” ~ Raymond C. Niles

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Government

The Compulsory Masking of New York City

– October 2, 2020

“If these officials had our best interests in mind, instead of treating us like children or animals upon whom arbitrary punishment is inflicted in order to obtain obedience, they would contemplate the real problem and narrowly tailor solutions, taking into consideration the impact of any new policies on the population at large. That includes the economic and psychological consequences of lockdowns, mask mandates, and enforced social distancing. Positive PCR tests are not the only thing in the world that matters.” ~ Jenin Younes

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Government

Will the Pandemic Panic Card Win in 2020?

– October 1, 2020

“Biden is effectively promising to rescue people who ‘want to be safe.’ But there is nothing in either his record or the records of federal agencies or governors to indicate that people would be better off closeted until notified it is safe to come out. In the long run, people have more to fear from politicians than from viruses.” ~ James Bovard

Crisis, Government, Policy

The Case for Lockdown Reparations

– October 1, 2020

“Although it is unclear whether existing law guarantees a pathway to lockdown reparations, the principles enshrined in the 5th Amendment as well as basic economics provide an attractive case to implement reparations. Not only would it be the moral thing to do but lockdown reparations may also lead to a productive policy framework that protects individual liberty and enables more informed decision-making.” ~ Ethan Yang

Government, Regulation, Socialism

Lockdown: The New Totalitarianism

– October 1, 2020

“The lockdowns are looking less like a gigantic error and more like the unfolding of a fanatical political ideology and policy experiment that attacks core postulates of civilization at their very root. It’s time we take it seriously and combat it with the same fervor with which a free people resisted all the other evil ideologies that sought to strip humanity of dignity and replace freedom with the terrifying dreams of intellectuals and their government sock puppets.” ~ Jeffrey Tucker