Perspectives

Bootleggers and Baptists are the classic example of an unholy alliance formed in support of government regulation.   In the famous article titled "Bootleggers and Baptists regulatory economist Bruce Yandle explains why these morally opposed parties historically worked together to pass Sunday closing laws for local bars and liquor stores. Bootleggers, who illegally … [Read more...] about Fight corrupt greed legalize weed

Doing something is not necessarily better than doing nothing. Flu-like symptoms are never improved by drinking Drano.  And invading Russia in 1812 was a poor choice for Napoleon's geo-political strategy. Unfortunately economic policy-making is still dominated by the illogical "do-something" mentality. The U.S. federal government has committed an estimated $11 trillion into … [Read more...] about The case for inaction

One of these things is not like the other: the Al-Qaeda terrorists who bombed the World Trade Center on 9/11 and the moderate Muslims who want to build a community center in Manhattan.  Conflating the two isn't just bigoted— it's dangerous.  As tensions escalate between supporters and opponents of the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque a wave of anti-Muslim … [Read more...] about Disagreeing over the "Ground Zero Mosque"

Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. But don't tell a man to open a restaurant— or he will be eaten alive by self-serving politicians and bureaucrats. A new series of studies by the Institute for Justice "The Power of One Entrepreneur describes how economies benefit when entrepreneurs are free to pursue their dreams. The series also documents political … [Read more...] about The power of one bagel shop owner

 A September 2009 Associated Press (AP) investigation showed that the federal government rarely assesses or attempts to rectify the problem of mercury pollution in California's major waterways caused by long-abandoned mercury mines.The mines have been around for more than a century ever since they were constructed en masse during the mercury mining era that saw California … [Read more...] about Mercury pollution strikes impoverished