In politics, as in commerce, consumers cannot always be trusted. Sometimes they’re duped, or foolish, or just make decisions for the wrong reasons. That’s when we need government to step in and take the decision out of their hands. I propose the passage of the Control and Help Upgrade the Market in Politics (CHUMP) Act […]
Our friends over at the Reason Foundation, a venerable libertarian think tank and publisher of Reason magazine, recently received a grand jury subpoena from a federal prosecutor in New York, reports Ken White at Popehat. The subpoena demands that Reason disclose “all identifying information” it has regarding six pseudonymous users who posted comments about the death and afterlife […]
In 30 years of traveling to 81 countries, I’ve come across some pretty nasty governments and some darn good people. To be fair, I should acknowledge that I’ve also encountered some rotten people and a half-decent government or two. The ghastliest of all worlds, of course, is when you have rotten people running nasty governments […]
“All the common areas of Atlantic Station including the streets, sidewalks, parks, and alleys are private property.” Thus reads one line buried in the Rules of Conduct for Atlantic Station, Atlanta, Georgia: a marvelous city within a city. But it’s this one line that makes the critical difference. It’s why this one-square mile in the heart of […]
“[Economic] planning does not accidentally deteriorate into the militarization of the economy; it is the militarization of the economy.… When the story of the Left is seen in this light, the idea of economic planning begins to appear not only accidentally but inherently reactionary. The theory of planning was, from its inception, modeled after feudal and militaristic organizations. Elements […]
Richard Nixon stood by a lemon-yellow refrigerator in Moscow and bragged to the Soviet leader: “The American system,” he told Nikita Khrushchev over frosted cupcakes and chocolate layer cake, “is designed to take advantage of new inventions.” It was the opening day of the American National Exhibition at Sokol’niki Park, and Nixon was representing not […]
MANAGUA, Nicaragua — It’s May 27, 2015. Driving south on First Avenue toward Masaya on a hot, late-spring day in the Nicaraguan capital, my eye caught an image in the distance. “That looks like Curly from The Three Stooges!” I thought. Nah, what would he be doing here? Nyuk. Nyuk. As we approached, I suddenly […]
Another debate on the proper role of the judiciary has broken out on the interweb. Last time, the debate was over “judicial deference” vs. “judicial engagement.” This one is about “judicial supremacy.” Michael Paulsen kicked off this round right here with his blog post “The myth of judicial supremacy,” in which he claimed that what he called […]
When it comes to being employed by the government, membership has its privileges. How far do these privileges extend? It’s a question that is central to political philosophy. It is most poignantly addressed by one of my favorite pieces of writing, Frédéric Bastiat’s The Law (1850). The same question is being debated on the streets in every U.S. […]
Vince Vaughn, Ron Paul supporter and star of the forthcoming second season of True Detective, has been making waves with his comments on Edward Snowden and guns in a wide-ranging interview with GQ magazine. One section that has gun control activists fulminating (and many libertarians swooning) is his comments on gun rights and, especially, on guns in schools: I support people having […]
“I like a little rebellion now and then,” Thomas Jefferson famously wrote. The primary author of the Declaration of Independence and America’s third president regarded rebellion as “like a storm in the atmosphere.” It clears the air and settles matters. A storm is brewing in the Brazilian political atmosphere at this very moment. Amazingly, the […]
In an article in the New Republic, Lauren Sandler argues that it’s about time the United States join the ranks of all other industrialized nations and provide legally guaranteed paid leave for pregnancy or illness. Her arguments are similar to ones employed in the minimum wage debate. Opponents say that making particular workers more expensive will lead employers (on […]
Did the labor unions goof, or did they get exactly what they want? Los Angeles has approved a minimum wage hike to $15 an hour. Some of the biggest supporters of that increase were the labor unions. But now that the increase has been approved, the unions are fighting to exempt union labor from that […]
Most of my new book, The Grasping Hand, focuses on the broader legal and political issues raised by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Kelo v. City of New London. As explained in the first post in this series, I wrote the book primarily to address these big-picture issues. But the story of how such a momentous case arose from […]
It’s another step toward criminalizing advocacy: writing in the Washington Post, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) urges the US Department of Justice to consider filing a racketeering suit against the oil and coal industries for having promoted wrongful thinking on climate change, with the activities of “conservative policy” groups an apparent target of the investigation as well. A […]