Topic: Regulation

Of Moats and Search Engines: The DOJ’s Coercive Case against Google

– September 23, 2023

“Google is the best search engine in the world, and it paid to have its site featured as the default option for consumers. This not only benefited Google, but also Apple and Android customers.” ~Kimberlee Josephson

Authoritarianism, Entrepreneurship, Property Rights, Regulation

Dark Matter and the Swimming Pool App

– September 22, 2023

“DHHS wants to regulate pool rentals without going through the process of formal rulemaking. So the agency releases a guidance document telling impressionable county officials and homeowners that, as far as they’re concerned, they’re treating Swimply rentals as if they have a rule in place.” ~Jon Sanders

Economic Growth, Free Trade, Regulation

Beware of Mistaking Artifacts for Economic Realities

– September 21, 2023

“Recognition that the size, or possibly even the very existence, of any measured US trade deficit depends heavily on the accounting conventions used to record international commercial transactions should be sufficient to calm the fears that arise whenever this accounting artifact shows a deficit.” ~Donald J. Boudreaux

Authoritarianism, Environmentalism, Regulation, Technology

Truck This: Why I’m Leaving the Long-Haul Industry

– September 21, 2023

“However well-intentioned these rules and regulations might be, it’s clear that no one is consulting with the long haul truckers about the totally foreseeable bad outcomes.” ~Christopher Wilcox

Economic Trends, Financial Markets, Free Banking, Regulation

Get Ready to Kiss Your Credit Card Rewards Goodbye

– September 20, 2023

“The benign-sounding Credit Card Competition Act is a double whammy. It’s not just a threat to my credit card rewards; It’s a violation of my libertarian principles.” ~Jon Miltimore

Free Markets, Regulation, Technology

Should Buying Or Selling “Hidden Cities” Air Tickets Be Banned Or Punished?

– September 17, 2023

“Hidden-city opportunities emerge when there are significant differences in the price elasticity of demand relating to certain itineraries with stopovers.” ~Christopher Lingle

Authoritarianism, Environmentalism, International, Leadership, Regulation

ESG as a Plan B for the Development Rights Agenda

– September 10, 2023

“ESG won’t be going away. It will be renamed and reinvigorated as mechanisms for oversight and reporting are revamped and rolled out.” ~ Kimberlee Josephson

Art and Culture, Authoritarianism, Policy, Regulation

Respectfully Disagreeing With George Will on the Drug War

– September 9, 2023

“As long as the police are charged with enforcing drug prohibitions, they simply cannot be held accountable.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

Free Markets, Government, Regulation

The Can Conundrum: Governments Don’t Have Coherent Goals

– September 7, 2023

“Policies enacted to fix one problem lead to still other problems, which will then require other policies to fix, and so on, until we’re crushed by a giant snowball of well-intended “solutions” and their unintended consequences.” ~ Art Carden

Books, Economic History, Policy, Property Rights, Regulation

Locked Down: What Do We Really Need Collective Action For?

– August 30, 2023

“Locke’s view, reflected in our Founding documents, is that preserving our freedoms requires one type of collective action: the preservation of our rights. No more. Actions beyond that benefit some at the expense of others.” ~ Gary M. Galles

Books, Property Rights, Regulation

A Review of M. Nolan Gray’s “Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix it”

– August 27, 2023

“While most cities in the United States continue to constrain themselves with zoning as we have come to know it, Gray points out that there are some notable exceptions where zoning has been reformed or removed and the early results are promising.” ~ H. Sheldon Weeks

Books, Policy, Property Rights, Regulation

Should We Abolish Zoning?

– August 25, 2023

“Many people consider zoning part of the ‘property right’ they bought in their home. They really should set up covenants if they want that security.” ~ Jason Sorens