No Bailout for Detroit, Obama Puts Bankruptcy on the Table
Congressional leaders didn't even vote on an auto bailout this week, in what is, at least temporarily, a victory for free market proponents. After what limited support there was for a Big Three...
View ArticleThe Democratsí Dour Approach to Media Content
Say what you want about their redistributionist agenda, at least there was a time once when you could count on liberals to be fun. These were the guys who celebrated the profanity of Lenny Bruce and...
View ArticleDo Obamaís Telecom Advisers Lean Toward Net Neutrality?
President-elect Barack Obama has appointed two reportedly "network neutrality" advocates to his transition team, The Industry Standard reports. The report says that the appointees, Susan Crawford, a...
View ArticleLondon's congestion charge: Much ado about nothing?
London implemented it's congestion charging scheme in February 2003 with two goals: 1) reduce congestion in Central London and 2) raise money to fund public transport. The first years seemed to...
View ArticleWelcome to bailout heaven
The pick of Timothy F. Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, as head of the Treasury Department does not bode well for those hoping President-elect Obama would be steering a...
View ArticleFDR policies doubled the length of the Great Depression
Many saw Franklin Delano Roosevelt's (FDR) presidency and the New Deal as the salvation of the American economy. In fact, recent empirical evidence by UCLA economists Harold Cole and Lee Ohanian...
View ArticleObamaudacity
One thing is evident today: President-elect Barrack Obama is demonstrating about every quality necessary to show the world he has the hutzpah, skills, and political savvy to lead the United States. He...
View ArticleFeds take ownership stake in Citigroup
Bailout heaven continues as Citigroup agrees to letting the government become a major equity stakeholder in exchange for loan guarantees. See this article in the New York Times for more information....
View ArticleRoad pricing with privacy protection
Comprehensive road pricing requires charging users based on the amount of roadway they use. Conceptually, this implies a mileage-based charge for road users. Economists have long favored this approach...
View ArticleSchool District Asset Sales: Charter Edition
This seems like such an obvious win-win situation. Creating new revenue for a school district and giving charter schools desperately needed facilities. The St. Paul, Minnesota Star Tribunereports on...
View ArticleBig, Bad Public School Monopoly: Charter Edition
The Sacramento Unified school district is unwilling to share the school enrollment process with Sacramento charter schools. Even though Sacramento charters are legally public schools, the district...
View ArticleCitigroup Struggles Show Government Can't Pick Winners and Losers
The principal argument of the free market is that government can not effectively pick winners and losers in the marketplace. There simply is not enough centralized knowledge to make these decisions....
View ArticleReality TV: Bailout
The too big to fail faux-doctrine may seem to make sense to some people, but only if they have blinders on. The more pundits insist that firms like Citigroup are too intertwined in our financial...
View ArticleCongestion Pricing Study Was a Team Effort
The Wall Street Journal Your editorial "Airport Solutions" (Nov. 23) makes the case for using runway pricing to allocate capacity at the congested New York airports. You refer to a recent Reason...
View ArticleNew Loan Programs are Short-Sighted Stimulus
The spending continues in Washington, and while concerns about moral hazard or quasi-nationalism have all but been thrown aside, a more troubling reality is emerging: not only has the country not...
View ArticleThe End Of Broadcasting As We Know It?
The Variety link Anthony Randazzo provides below is worth checking out for reasons other than it being yet another prospective bailout case. In the article, author Michael Schneider puts forth a number...
View Article"Socialism" is Not the Problem
Something about Barack Obama has a way of driving some conservatives completely batty. John McCain detected something "a lot like socialism" in his tax plan. Veteran conservative media critic L. Brent...
View ArticleAre You Better off Than You Were 40 Years Ago?
In the November 1968 Mechanix Illustrated, James Berry gave an eerily prescient glimpse of life in the typical American household today: “The single most important item in 2008 households is the...
View ArticleìLocalism:î or The Fairness Doctrine By Another Name
Apparently talk about reviving the Fairness Doctrine is out. The call for "localism" is in. Democratic leaders in Congress, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid...
View ArticleThe First Thanksgivings: A Lesson in Socialism and Private Property Rights
My friend and colleague Ben Powell, who works with the Independent Institute and the Beacon Hill Institute and teaches economics at Suffolk University, has written an illuminating column on the...
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