I periodically try to explain that there’s a big difference between being pro-market and pro-business. Simply stated, policy makers shouldn’t try to penalize businesses with taxes,mandates, and regulations. But neither should politicians seek to subsidize businesses. That’s why I’m against bailouts, subsidies, and other distortions that provide special favors for politically connected companies. I have nothing against companies earning money, to be sure, but […]

I hate to sound like a broken record, but the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is once again pushing for bigger and more intrusive in the United States. The international bureaucracy’s “Economic Survey” of the United States reads like it was produced by some interns at the Democratic National Committee. Since the OECD […]

I very rarely feel sorry for statists. After all, these are the people who think that their feelings of envy and inadequacy justify bigger and more coercive government. And I get especially irked when I think about how their authoritarian policies will hurt the most vulnerablein society. But I nonetheless feel sorry for statists when I […]

Remember when Paul Krugman warned that there was a plot against France? He asserted that critics wanted to undermine the great success of France’s social model. I agreed with Krugman, at least in the limited sense that there is a plot against France. But I explained that the conspiracy to hurt the nation was being led […]

I’ve shared horror stories about government thuggery and I’ve shared horror stories about government stupidity. Thanks to Mark Steyn, we have a story that exemplifies both the brain-dead nature of the public sector and the nasty nature of our bureaucratic overlords. You may have read about the federal milk police. Well, here’s some of what Mark wrote about the Kafkaesque legal […]

I’ve written many times about America’s looming fiscal collapse, and I’ve also pontificated about America’s costly and failed welfare state. I even have speculated about when America reaches a tipping point, with too many people riding in the wagon of government dependency (as illustrated bythese famous cartoons, which even have a Danish equivalent). If you read all my posts on these issues, I […]

I’m currently in Asia, where I just finished a series of speeches about economic policy in China and Hong Kong. These two jurisdictions offer very powerful lessons about the importance of economic policy. Hong Kong is supposed to be Nirvana for libertarians. It holds the top spot in the Economic Freedom of the World rankings. It has […]

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 in this video), but there’s also a very important moral component […]

Over the past several years, I’ve repeatedly argued that you get more unemployment when the government pays people to be unemployed. But I’m not just relying on theory. I’ve cited both anecdotes and empirical research to bolster my case. You won’t be surprised to learn that many politicians have a different perspective. They say it is compassionate to provide unemployment insurance […]

Back in 2010, I shared a remarkable chart showing how quickly economic output doubles in a fast-growth economy, but it also showed how long it takes for GDP to expand if an economy only grows 1 percent or 2 percent per year. My main message was that nations should follow good policy because: …even modest differences in […]