There certainly are logical reasons to think that Obama’s policies are dampening economic growth. Investors and entrepreneurs have little reason to produce and take risks, after all, when they know the burden of government is going to climb. Especially when you add uncertainty to the mix. Here’s a chart showing Federal Reserve data on the […]

Congress wants to reduce tax evasion, but politicians are unwilling to address the underlying problem of low tax rates, so they continuously give the IRS more power and make it more difficult for law-abiding people to engage in commerce. A good example is the FATCA legislation, which is directly harming honest expatriates and also Americans with foreign investment. I recently returned from […]

The fight for financial freedom and limited government is global. The Center for Freedom and Prosperity recognizes Eduardo Morgan Jr., an individual whose work for his native Panama echoes much of our own efforts to defend fiscal sovereignty from the onslaught of anti-growth taxation and regulation. As Panama’s Ambassador to Washington from 1996 to 1998, […]

I cross swords with my long-time nemesis, Christian Weller. I suspect the most interesting part of the debate, however, is when I jump on one of the hosts for asserting that the Bush years were some sort of laissez-faire episode. How often do you get to ask for drugs on national TV?

Deroy Murdock explains in National Review how politicians in Washington have imposed legislation – which most Americans still don’t know about – to ban traditional light bulbs. As American as the grand slam, the Mustang convertible, and the constitutional republic, Thomas Alva Edison’s incandescent light bulb is among this nation’s most enduring gifts to mankind. […]

Forget the Magna Carta and the Constitution. Finland is now on the cutting edge of protecting, promoting, and guaranteeing fundamental rights. As the BBC story excerpted below reports, Finland has announced that broadband access is now a legal right! Yes, you’re reading it here first. But not just the right to broadband. Apparently one megabit […]

To preserve domestic tranquility, men should always shout “NO” when their wives ask “Does this make me look fat?” Well, Frenchmen now also have a legal reason to give that answer. In a nation where everything seemingly requires a role for government, there is a new law with penalties of “…up to three years in […]

Europe’s economy is stagnant, the euro currency is in danger of collapse, and many nations are on the verge of bankruptcy. But one thing you can count on in this time of crisis is for prompt, thoughtful, and intelligent action by the super-bureaucrats of the European Commission. Right? Well, maybe not. You can be confident, however, […]

John Derbyshire of National Review has an interesting article on bureaucratic harassment of private business. He begins with a personal story of something that happened when he first came to the United States and was working at a food-preparation company: The first federal regulator I ever knew was a fellow named Ernie. …Ernie was a power […]

There’s an article  in the Wall Street Journal showing how already-established companies and their union allies will use the coercive power of government to thwart competition. The article specifically discusses efforts by less competitive supermarkets to block new Wal-Mart stores. Not that Wal-Mart can complain too vociferously. After all, this is the company that endorsed a […]