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Minneapolis’ Block E: The Failure Continues
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New Jersey’s Not-So-Palatial Xanadu
The retail and entertainment development formerly known as Xanadu Meadowlands—recently renamed The Meadowlands—has been plagued with problems since the planning stage. The East…
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In Defense of Urban Beekeeping
Beekeeping is an ancient human practice, with some anthropological evidence suggesting that primitive forms of honey bee domestication go back more than 4,000 years. Apiarists…
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Five Years After Kelo
Today–this June 23–marks the fifth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s wrongheaded ruling in Kelo v. New London. Here’s my piece on Kelo+5 in…
Daily Caller
Five Years After Kelo
Today marks the five-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s notorious Kelo v. New London decision. In a 5-4 ruling, the Court held that seizing…
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Concessions Can Bridge Budget Gaps
In 1958, Chicago opened the 7.8-mile Chicago Skyway, an elevated tollway linking the downtown Chicago Loop with the Indiana Toll Road. Due to poor…
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California: Leading the Way in Failure
As one might expect of California, successful transportation public-private partnerships (P3s) face many government hurdles. In the early 1990s, the California Department of Transportation…
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The Increasing Role of Road Concessions
Increasing private sector involvement in transportation should be seen as a positive development. However, there are right ways to involve private firms, and…
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D.C. Rail Fetishists Propose “Free” Trolleys
If you believe the “city of northern charm and southern efficiency” is geared solely toward imposing stupid, expensive directives on the rest of the country,…
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ObamaRail: Great for Railfans, Bad for Transportation
In 2000, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment (the “Monorail Initiative“) authorizing the creation of a high-speed intercity rail network. However, as the economy…
Opposing Views
What’s With Obama and His Obsession With Trains?
In 2000, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment (the “Monorail Initiative“) authorizing the creation of a high-speed intercity rail network. However, as the economy slowed…
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“A lie told often enough becomes the truth.”
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The Private Provision of Surface Transportation Infrastructure in the United States
Private sector involvement in surface transportation infrastructure is not new. Public and private turnpikes—roads that require the payment of a toll for passage—have existed for…
Washington Times
Tolls, More Freeways Would Improve Transport (Letter to the Editor)
The editorial "Freeways are the solution to congestion" (Comment & Analysis, April 12) got it half-right. Widening roads to support more cars is far less…
Syracuse - Opinion
Property Rights: Eminent domain law gives developers unfair leverage
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The Case Against Subsidized High-Speed Rail
President Obama’s stimulus package set aside $8 billion in subsidies for high-speed rail projects in the United States (known as the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail…
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The Social Evolution of Markets
Socialists and other collectivists frequently argue that markets are inherently “inhumane” and “unjust,” among other things. Free-market advocates generally dismiss these claims on their face…
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Property Rights Under Siege
Since the Supreme Court’s poorly-reasoned majority opinion in 2005’s Kelo case, Americans have been aware of the grave threats facing their homes, businesses, and…
Detroit News
Avoid Land Grabs while Downsizing Detroit
If history is any guide, Mayor Dave Bing’s recent announcement that he intends to pursue aggressive central planning to shrink Detroit is bad news. For…
California Eminent Domain Report
An Interesting Argument Concerning Whether Eminent Domain for Economic Development Makes Economic Sense
Study
This Land Ain’t your Land; this Land Is my Land
A Primer on Eminent Domain, Redevelopment, and Entrepreneurship…
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How I Was Not Al Gored Into Submission
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Why Can’t We Have a “Three Strikes” Policy for Public Financing?
Minneapolis Star Tribune
LETTER: The Minimum Wage: It’s a Job Killer and a Job Repressor
A Dec. 30 letter by a former career Labor Department bureaucrat claimed the haves have had it in for the have-nots for decades because the…
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Anti-Takings Abuse Bill Introduced in the House
The Strengthening the Ownership of Private Property Act of 2009, introduced by Rep. Stephanie Sandlin (D-SD), would prevent any federal economic development funding from being…
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Property Owner Fights Nashville Land Grab
Yesterday, Tower Investments filed a motion to dismiss the Nashville-chartered Metropolitan Housing and Development Agency’s Petition for Condemnation of the company’s 5.6-acre downtown property.
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Pfizer to Close Facility Behind Kelo Case
Yesterday, Pfizer announced it was closing its research and development facility in New London, Connecticut. This is the same complex that was at the…
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Greider: $1.4 Trillion Deficit Isn’t Enough!
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Fighting Eminent Domain Abuse
Popular outrage over eminent domain abuse may have waned a bit since the Supreme Court’s poorly-reasoned Kelo ruling in 2005, but economic development takings remain…
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Eminent Domain Abuse in New York (Upstate Edition)
The court found that the mall was not liable because the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency condemned the property through eminent domain, which stripped all rights…
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It’s Complicated
Journalists have a tendency to present overly-simple explanations of current events that often turn out to be false. Part of it is due to the…
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ACORN Tied to Brooklyn Land-grabber
The multi-billion dollar Atlantic Yards development project in Brooklyn, New York--subsidized to the tune of $1.6 billion by New York taxpayers--is facing new scrutiny after…
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Matt Taibbi versus Sensible Health Care
In a blog post at Rolling Stone, Journalist In Name Only Matt Taibbi accuses the media of “help[ing] sandbag health care reform.” In the…
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Land Grabbers Attack Free Speech
In this morning’s Washington Post, columnist George Will brings to light a particularly egregious example of politically-connected developers abusing the legal system to silence…
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A Not-So-Surprising “Clunklusion”
CEI Editorial Director Ivan Osorio discussed the true economic costs of the Obama administration’s “Cash for Clunkers” program, calling it “a costly boondoggle that…
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The Truth About Town Hall Meetings
Yesterday, the Obama administration distanced itself from some of the more outrageous comments made by congressional Democrats, including one made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi…
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“Millions of jobs are at stake on both sides of the border”
So says British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell. At a meeting of Canada’s provincial premiers held in Regina, Saskatchewan, last week, slapping retaliatory tariffs on…
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Brooklyn Land Grab Opponents Allege Government Corruption
Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB), a group opposed to the taxpayer-financed development project Atlantic Yards, filed a motion with the New York Court of…
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Union Bosses Say the Darndest Things
As described in an OpenMarket post by CEI’s Ivan Osorio a couple weeks ago, the Teamsters union and UPS are currently lobbying Congress to…
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Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing!
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Stimulus Surrealism
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Obama’s Anti-Science Czar
Last week, Michelle Malkin posted on the disturbing past of Obama’s Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the White House…
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Documentary Highlights Jersey Shore Eminent Domain Abuse
While the public outrage over eminent domain abuse following the 2005 Kelo ruling has waned to some degree, the controversy surrounding private property takings for…
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Congress Vehemently Opposed to Reading the Legislation It Votes On
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Obama Administration’s Anti-Travel Policies Hit New Low
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the new passport requirements implemented at the U.S.-Canada border. As I noted at the time, most Americans–including…
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Earmarks By Another Name
During the 2008 presidential campaign and even in the months following President Barack Obama’s election, Democrats in Congress and the administration have said…
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Going on 20: The Big Dig Disaster Continues
Remember Boston’s “Big Dig?” If not, here’s a brief recap: It’s the highway project/death trap originally budgeted for $2.6 billion that ended up…
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Greider: Democrats Not Stalinist Enough
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Public Utility Land Grab Hits a Snag
In Springfield, Missouri, the city-owned utility provider–City Utilities–recently attempted to seize a parcel of downtown property in order to build a bus terminal. The owner,…
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Stupid Border Tricks
Beginning today, American and Canadian citizens will now be required to carry new forms of government identification in order to cross the shared border. Former…
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Against Freedom, Against Art, Against Reality
The crusade against film depictions of tobacco smoking is once again gaining momentum. The American Medical Association Alliance, in coalition with several other well-funded special…
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Anti-GMO Zealots vs. Starving Zimbabweans
In Zimbabwe, the most food aid-dependent country in the world, officials and self-styled “consumer activists” have begun raiding shops suspected of selling genetically-modified food,…
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Laffer Curve No Laughing Matter
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Horse Racing As A Public Good?
Maryland politicians really have their hands full as the legislative session draws to a close. Instead of focusing on their state’s looming long-term budget…
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Prediction 2009: No Net Neutrality Regulation
Perhaps this is just wishful thinking, but I think that 2009 may see the death of calls for net neutrality regulation and may even see…