I periodically share polling data. This is because public opinion research (if done honestly) provides insights on the degree to which people are either well informed, uninformed, or misinformed. And that kind of information is useful for policy wonks like me since it…
Daily Analysis
European Politicians Love the Underground Economy…When It Means They Can Spend More Money
Libertarians tend to like – or at least have a grudging respect for – the underground economy. For instance, even if we’re personally very straight-laced, we don’t like government prohibitions against gambling, drugs, and prostitution. This is why we’re not upset when…
Immorality and the Redistributive State
Back in 2012, I shared a sadly amusing image about how the modern political process has degenerated into two wolves and a sheep voting what to have for lunch. I was making an argument in that column against majoritarianism (and that is a critical issue, as explained…
Obamacare is Bad News for Your Wallet Today and Worse News for Your Wallet Tomorrow
I wrote a few weeks ago about the hidden economic damage of Obamacare, particularly the harm to the job market. Today, let’s get further depressed by looking at the ever-worsening fiscal damage of the law. Here’s some of what Chuck Blahous of Mercatus wrote about this…
Scholarly Evidence Shows that Discretionary Spending Undermines Economic Growth
I’ve shared lots of data and evidence about the harmful economic impact of government spending. Simply stated, budgetary outlays divert resources from more productive uses.And this results in labor and capital being misallocated, leading to less economic output….
Everything You Need to Know about Greece
We’re going to touch on two topics today. I realize that not that many readers care about Greek economic policy, but sometimes other nations can teach us very important lessons. For better orworse. And in the case of Greece, the lesson is that government intervention…
Is the IRS Suffering from “Fewer Resources”?
The internal revenue service has allowed itself to become a tool of the White House. To be more specific, bureaucrats at the tax-collection agency sought to undermine a free and fair political process by stifling political speech. And now the IRS is lying about its…
Bigger Government Means More Corruption
A story in Fortune reports that government corruption at the state level is very costly. …corruption is everywhere, in one form or another. And it’s costing U.S. citizens big time. A new study from researchers at the University of Hong Kong and Indiana University…
Herbert Hoover’s Anti-Market Policies Helped Turn an Economic Downturn into a Great Depression
There have been many truly awful presidents elected in the United States, but if I had to pick my least favorite, I might choose Herbert Hoover. I obviously have disdain for Hoover’s big-government policies, but I also am extremely irritated that – as Jonah Goldberg…
America Should Export a Belief in the Free Market, Not Cronyism
Numerous arguments have been made here in opposition to re-authorization of the Export-Import bank. But perhaps the most fundamental is that America ought to lead by example when it comes to belief in the free market. We should not be exporting support for cronyism to…