Topic: Regulation

Lighthouses Were Always Private, Until Government Took Them Over

– February 6, 2019

There was nothing inherent to the lighthouse that made it a public good. It was a public good because government regulation made it so.

Regulation

How A Super Bowl Ad Could Help Unravel Government Farm Subsidies

– February 5, 2019

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 in agriculture.

Regulation

Beyond the Size of Government

– February 5, 2019

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.

Harwood Economic Review, Regulation

Regulation Issue

– February 4, 2019

The Harwood Economic Review, Winter 2019

Regulation, Taxation

These Shutdowns Devastate the Credibility of Government

– February 1, 2019

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.

Regulation, Socialism, Unemployment

The Downsides and Dangers of Mission Making

– January 29, 2019

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.

Regulation

The Real Problem Is the Politicization of Everything

– January 28, 2019

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.

Regulation

The Secret History of Tamales Offers a Lesson in Humility

– January 28, 2019

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.

Regulation

The Humanitarian Case for the Freedom to Associate

– January 26, 2019

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 system in ways that are most consistent with a pluralistic society.

Monetary Policy, Regulation

Eight Questions We Should Be Asking about Economics

– January 23, 2019

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?

Regulation

Identity Politics Is Devouring Itself

– January 21, 2019

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.

Regulation

Economic Controls Turn Regular People Into Criminals

– January 14, 2019

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.