Opposing Subsidies Isn’t Opposing What’s Subsidized: Bastiat’s Lesson
“Among the dead and largely forgotten, Bastiat is worth reading for the depth of his insight and the clarity of his exposition. His articles and essays expose the hidden absurdity of a lot of proposals to “encourage the national labour” by subsidizing the arts, by blocking out the sun to benefit the candlemakers, or by building a negative railroad consisting of nothing but stops.” ~ Art Carden
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The Real Pandemic Was a Nursing Home Problem
“It is increasingly clear that despite driving the U.S. economy into an artificial depression, destroying tens of thousands of businesses and the lives of millions of citizens, and elevating rates of domestic violence, divorce, substance abuse, and suicide, US government policies failed to protect the most vulnerable segment of the population: individuals in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.” ~ Peter C. Earle
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Small Convertibles are Safer? Why?
“A seemingly dangerous car makes the driver aware of the dangers of hurling down the road at high speeds while being surrounded by drivers who are clueless about how terrifying driving truly is. Having such awareness is crucial to driving safely and defensively. That is why there are fewer crashes and fewer deaths in convertibles.” ~ Jeffrey Tucker
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Should Those Passing Counterfeits be Treated like Counterfeiters?
“It seems odd that the crime of uttering currency is considered to be so grave an offense in this day and age. Reducing the punishment might cause law enforcement officers to approach cases of uttering as they do other less serious, non-violent offenses.” ~ J.P. Koning
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Doubts About Contact Tracing
“Contact tracing might make sense for certain diseases. But it turns out that there is no evidence that this novel coronavirus can be contained by contact tracing. Let us consider some of the articles on this topic.” ~ Edward Stringham
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The Fatal Conceit of COVID-19 Epidemic Models
“The epidemiological world has published countless articles and studies warning against the tendency and ease with which one can overestimate Ro. We have fallen prey to this tendency once again.” Gregory van Kipnis
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Don’t Defund Police, Make them Part of the Market
“There is an argument regularly doled out by police unions which states that without the wide swath of protections that police officers face, they would be more reluctant to investigate, pursue, and apprehend wrongdoers. If so, there are ways to fix that problem.”~Peter C. Earle
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To End an Era of Brutality, End Qualified Immunity
“If qualified immunity has been acting as insurance for police officers, to retire the legal doctrine would lead officers to bear greater legal risk. The theory goes that in bearing this risk, officers will be incentivized to engage in their service more carefully. But this does not change the fact that the officers will be bearing greater cost than they would otherwise.” James Caton
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Financial Markets Work Without Coercion
“Coercion is sure to diminish the positive contributions that financial markets make to the larger economy. Even worse, such coercion would violate the rights of the property owners whose voluntary choices give rise to financial markets.” ~ Donald Boudreaux
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Micromanaged Business Reopenings Could Cause More Harm
“In attempting to convey that the adults in the room have spent a long time thinking about this difficult issue, Massachusetts instead exposes just how little regulators’ blunt instruments can possibly add.” ~ Max Gulker
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Government Has Forced Culinary Genius Into Paper and Plastic
“Politicians missed the boat completely in forcing restaurants into takeout concepts. For all too many chefs, this one-size-fits-all solution insulted and continues to insult their genius. This is about much more than money.” ~ John Tamny
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The Ides of March, 2020: When Bank Regulation Failed
“When the rules make it impossible for a bank to make sound and reasonable acquisitions of new assets because they are up against their capital limits, things can go badly awry.” ~ Warren Gibson
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