Topic: Regulation

Massachusetts Bans Dancing Like It’s 1684

– March 18, 2021

“Under lockdowns, society is divided between the clean and unclean, not for reasons of spiritual sin, but for reasons of exposure to SARS-CoV-2, as proven by a PCR test which is then tracked and traced to root out all stains of germ from the community. Despite the 300 years between them, the ideological distance between Rev. Increase Mather and Governor Charlie Baker is not that great.” ~ Jeffrey Tucker

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Regulation

The One-Year Anniversary of Lockdowns

– March 15, 2021

“The trauma of 2020 will be felt decades hence. The healing will only come from honesty and truth, and a thorough rejection of the folly, duplicity, and deception that has defined our era.” ~ Edward Stringham

Free Markets, Government, Regulation

The Right to Work and Occupational Licensing

– March 4, 2021

“There is nothing more Un-American and Anti-Capitalist than a system that ordains some with the right to earn a living and bars others from that same essential right. Rather than cultivating an environment where everyone can safely contribute, occupational licenses have made the economy a pay-to-play scheme that only serves well-connected interests.” ~ Amelia Janaskie, Ethan Yang & Jack Nicastro

Energy, Free Markets, Regulation

The Case for the Deregulated Texas Power Grid

– March 3, 2021

“Markets learn from outlier events such as this one. Institutions and individuals will adapt in light of new perceptions of weather exigencies and risks. This is the major advantage of any deregulation market: it is adaptive. The same cannot be said for any system of regulated state control.” ~ Jack Nicastro

Government, Policy, Regulation

Daycare Costs are Driven by Over-Regulation

– February 25, 2021

“Adding the direct and indirect effects of government policies on daycare costs forces one to accept that the crisis is created by government interventions. If one really cares about making it easier for households to have both parents working thanks to accessible childcare, one should really look at policies that increase the supply before considering ways to subsidize demand.” ~ Vincent Geloso

Crisis, Economic Education, Regulation

Prices Help Us Bear One Another’s Burdens

– February 19, 2021

“When it comes to getting supplies to where they are most urgently needed, prices are absolutely necessary. Strangers on the other side of the world might not be texting to ask if they can help us specifically, but when they confront higher prices for water, gas, and building supplies and decide to make do with a little less, they are helping us in our time of need and bearing our burdens with us.” ~ Art Carden

Cryptocurrency, Financial Markets, Regulation

Accountants Have Learned To Live With Crypto

– February 19, 2021

“Accounting professionals need to learn to live and work with crypto, and standard setters need to be proactive in the creation of crypto-specific standards. Applying standards developed for the 20th century economy to 21st crypto assets is already causing issues, and should be rectified to avoid wider market disruptions.” ~ Sean Stein Smith

Economic Education, Government, Regulation

Exploring Deeply the Economics of Price Controls

– February 17, 2021

“Governments are fond of dictating maximum prices and minimum wages. To the economically ignorant, these policies appear humane and worthwhile. But when examined through the lens of economics, these policies are clearly revealed to be harmful to the very persons they are ostensibly meant to help.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

Policy, Regulation

Who Wanted Pandemic Lockdowns?

– February 9, 2021

“That we will look back with astonishment at what has happened to the world is a near certainty. The folly! And people of the future will never stop asking that great question of why. The answer is finally unsatisfying. It was a massive screw up by people and groups who wanted to try something completely new, none of whom were willing to bear responsibility for the results. It will be up to the rest of us to pick up the pieces and get life on the right track again.” ~Jeffrey Tucker

Economic Education, Environmentalism, Regulation

“Sustainability” Misses the Point

– February 7, 2021

“By standard definitions, what we are doing is ‘unsustainable,’ but most human activities are. Over some time period every activity is unsustainable, but that’s not an indictment, practically or morally, of doing them. When the environment is harming humans (the default position of life), we should offer those humans the best available protection against that – with or without a worsening climate.” ~ Joakim Book

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Regulation

Masking America’s Greatest Natural Monuments

– February 6, 2021

“There are unseen perils when federal policy seeks to placate mass fears rather than protect public safety. Plenty of Americans need to heed the warning a British publication gave to its readers: ‘Is constantly monitoring COVID rulebreakers wrecking your mental health?'” ~ James Bovard

Economic Education, Financial Markets, Regulation

Robinhood and Redditors: Who’s Robbin’ Who?

– February 5, 2021

“We don’t need more regulation; we need better regulation. We need the rule of law not only in monetary institutions but in financial markets too. We need to replace the ‘regulatory leviathan’ in financial markets with ‘a regulatory constitution.'” ~ Roger Koppl