Topic: Government

How Much Can We Trust Supposed Earmark Reforms?

– April 7, 2022

“Every time Americans are assured they will be ‘insured’ against earmark abuses, it is made to sound like real reform. But that insurance is far more image than substance. Perhaps that is why for some K Street lobbyists, ‘It means joy, rapture, hallelujah.’” ~ Gary M. Galles

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Biden’s Billionaire Tax Proposal

– April 6, 2022

“The proposal just gives more ammunition to the extreme left in the Democratic Party—Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and their allies.” ~ Randall G. Holcombe

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Explaining Free Speech to the Twitterati (Elon Musk Edition)

– April 5, 2022

“Digital mobs will still be able to ruin people’s lives. But as long as Musk liberalizes Twitter’s speech policies, the free-speech reductionists will have to decide whether they want to stick around for the steady diet of real diversity.” ~ Max Borders

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Nudge Off, Paternalists!

– April 5, 2022

“Americans don’t want bureaucrats, as flawed in the head as anyone else, to try to protect them from themselves. Heal thyself, O regulators! Get back to us when you no longer suffer from debilitating cognitive biases yourselves.” ~ Robert E. Wright

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Why ESG Ratings Are like Netflix’s Inventing Anna

– April 4, 2022

“ESG is intertwined within the upper crust of global institutions, and despite the exposure of data discrepancies within intergovernmental organizations or mounting concerns regarding ESG efficacy, the UN isn’t about to give up its plans.” ~ Kimberlee Josephson

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Economic Freedom Is the Way Forward

– April 4, 2022

“There is nothing ‘simplistic’ about adopting the entrepreneurship-and-competition path as the way forward for the American economy. It not only requires a sophisticated understanding of problems, but also demands the courage to act.” ~ Samuel Gregg

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Tony Soprano’s Critique of Identity Politics

– April 3, 2022

“Soprano is no role model for classic liberals because he made a living by extracting economics rents by fraud and force. But he reminds Americans that they are individual human beings first, Americans second, and who really cares about the rest?” ~ Robert E. Wright

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As Fred Smith Steps Down as FedEx CEO, President Biden Steps In It

– April 3, 2022

“Against the longest of odds, billionaires rush a much better future into the present to all of our betterment. Fred Smith’s amazing accomplishments vivify this truth.” ~ John Tamny

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Why Not One China and One Taiwan?

– April 2, 2022

“Beijing should learn from Moscow’s stalled blitzkrieg in Ukraine that invasion of another’s homeland and decapitation of a sitting government may not be easy, despite overwhelming advantages in terms of advanced weaponry and numbers of military personnel.” ~ Dean Peng & Christopher Lingle

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The War That Never Ends

– April 2, 2022

“Manufacturing Militarism offers a compelling mix of theory and history. Coyne and Hall show us how useful economics can be for understanding the war on terror and the propaganda that sustains it.” ~ Nathan P. Goodman

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Fear of Hobgoblins Doesn’t Justify Zoning

– April 1, 2022

“Zoning gives government massive power, which has been used arbitrarily. Self-interest, self-selection and differing transportation and infrastructure needs resolve many scare stories when property rights are defended.” ~ Gary M. Galles

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Crypto’s Privacy/Commingling Dilemma

– March 31, 2022

“Mixing is a less-than ideal way to gain privacy. In solving for privacy, mixing introduces another problem; commingling. When you use a mixing tool, you’re introducing your licit funds into the same pot as potentially criminally-derived funds.” ~ J.P. Koning

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