Bitcoin, a digital cryptocurrency, is a potentially disruptive technology offering both social and economic gains. While the technology that has revolutionized peer-to-peer payments is growing in popularity, it is nevertheless vulnerable to being stamped out by overzealous regulators and reactionary politicians. Bitcoin is the world’s first decentralized digital currency. Its revolutionary use of a public, […]

Back in 2012, I reported on some academic research showing that Democrats lost about 25 seats in the 2010 mid-term elections because of support for Obamacare. But it’s not just big-government entitlement programs that are politically unpopular. Bill Clinton admitted that his ban on so-called assault weapons boomeranged against Democrats in the 1994 elections and […]

At the risk of oversimplifying, there are two major challenges to overcome when you’re a pro-freedom policy wonk in Washington. The first challenge is getting people to connect the dots. They may understand that the job market is weak and they may understand that redistribution programs are overly generous, but can you help them understand […]

Based on the dismal data from the Minneapolis Federal Reserve (as well as our own experiences), we know Obamanomics doesn’t work in the United States. But we also know bigger government doesn’t work in France. And we know it doesn’t work in Japan. We know it doesn’t work in Spain. We know it doesn’t work […]

Most Western nations have huge long-run fiscal problems because of unfavorable demographics and misguided entitlement programs. That’s the bad news. The good news is that dozens of nations have fully or partially shifted to mandatory private savings as a pro-growth way of modernizing bankrupt tax-and-transfer Social Security systems. But good news in the short run […]

I’ve written before that Obama’s Solyndra-style handouts have been a grotesque waste of tax dollars. I’ve argued that they destroy jobs rather than create jobs. I’ve gone on TV to explain why government intervention in energy creates a cesspool of cronyism. I’ve even shared a column from Obama’s hometown newspaper that criticizes the rank corruption […]

I’m very worried about America’s fiscal future. Simply stated, data from several sources (BIS, OECD, and IMF) indicates that we face a future Greek-style fiscal crisis unless policy makers implement genuine entitlement reform. Unfortunately, politicians have little incentive to control spending and reform programs if they think that higher taxes are an option. So how […]

I recently speculated whether Detroit’s fiscal problems should be a warning sign for the crowd in Washington. The answer, of course, is yes, though it’s not a perfect analogy. The federal government is in deep trouble because of unsustainable entitlement programs while Detroit got in trouble because of a combination of too much compensation for […]

School choice should be a slam-dunk issue. There’s very powerful evidence that we can provide superior education for lower cost if we shift away from monopoly government schools to a system based on parental choice. Yet some leftists oppose this reform, even though poor and minority kids would be the biggest beneficiaries. Here’s some of […]