Daily Analysis

Wherein I Agree With The Statists: Don't Let BP Win

Iain Murray writes at the Washington Examiner that advocacy groups Change.org and the Alliance for Climate Protection are arguing – in an email entitled, “Don’t Let BP Win!” – that “Stalling climate and energy legislation would be a big win for oil…

Faith in Government Regulators is Misplaced

Shakespeare would likely describe the latest major legislation winding its way through Congress as a piece of legislation crafted by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.  Rather than address the systemic distortions created by prior government policies,…

Postal Service Reform is Easy

The U.S. Postal Service has been hemorrhaging money for decades, and it’s not hard to understand why.  As a government protected monopoly, the Postal Service cannot adjust to changing market conditions like an ordinary business.  In addition, they are often…

President Obama's Disastrous Response

President Obama used his first televised speech from the Oval Office, ostensibly on the topic of the BP oil spill, to run through his usual speech-making checklist, which includes blaming Bush and beating up on idealogical straw-men, like his long ago debunked…

The Way Healthcare Should Function

This article from the Weekly Standard almost makes me want to cry with frustration. It shows how the healthcare system generally would function in the absence of government-imposed distortions such as Medicare, Medicaid, and (especially!) the tax loophole for…

The Enduring Influence of Ayn Rand and Atlas Shrugged

In a review of two new biographies about Ayn Rand, Charles Murray explains what made her books – particularly Atlas Shrugged – so powerful and persuasive: In 1991, the book-of-the-month club conducted a survey asking people what book had most influenced…

Brazil’s President Is Wiser than Obama

Every so often, perhaps inadvertently, a collectivist says something very smart. In the case of Lula da Silva, Brazil’s socialist president, he made the common-sense observation that you can’t redistribute without first producing. He didn’t quite realize what he was…