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A Letter to the Editor about Natural Rights and the Cuban Economy
In an editorial last week Mary Anastasia O’Grady wrote about a supposed “economic revolution” happening in Cuba. It seems the Cuban government has just liberated…
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Martha Stewart’s Posh Tribeca Penthouse Finally Off the Market
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Atlas Producer Shrugs and Refuses to Make Sequel
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Supreme Court Refuses the Speedier Route for Health Care Appeal
Monday morning the Supreme Court rejected Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's request to speed up the process for a ruling on Virginia's health care appeal.
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Happy Tax Freedom Day
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China Bans Time Travel
In further proof that communists never won the culture war in China, they merely shut down culture altogether, the Chinese government decided this week to…
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Entrepreneurship Dips: The New York Times Admits Small Business is Important
Yesterday's NYT cautions that "jobs are scarce" in small business as American entrepreneurship declines: Here's the explanation the NYT includes from the pessimistic chart's…
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Food Inflation is Here!
Next time someone tells you that only the left side of the aisle cares about feeding hungry Americans, remind them that it's green special interests…
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Virginia Sells Naming Rights to Highway Rest Stops
Faced with budget shortfalls and a steep $20 million annual operating cost, this week Virginia decided to sell naming rights to its 42 highway…
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Subway Surpasses McDonald’s
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Taxpayers Absorb Berkshire’s Dumped Bank of America Shares
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Mubarak’s Exit Lifts U.S. Stocks
As Egypt settles into a cautious detente, stock markets around the world recover from their Jan 25 dip. As Mubarak ceded the presidency Friday,…
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Politics is a Country Club: Mubarak/Clinton Edition
Hillary Clinton, March 10, 2009: “I really consider [Egyptian] President and Mrs. Mubarak to be friends of my family. So I…
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Transparency Bill Proposed Solution to Public Employee Pension Problems
At a House subcommittee meeting discussing one proposed solution for public employee pensions, a transparency bill designed to trace federal and state funds set aside…
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World Food Prices at an All-Time High Because of Subsidies
World food prices are at an all-time high, announced the FAO this week. Many experts are jumping to conclusions that this indicates a global…
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iPhone 4 is All About Verizon, Not Apple
Design loyalists know it all begins and ends with Apple, the little tech company whose mission statement is “to change the world.” When it comes…
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American Apparel Almost Bankrupt; Supply and Demand Alive and Well
American Apparel has started dumping shares, so stock up on your leggings and Ts now. Explanations are below, if you’ll try for a moment to…
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FCIC Report Perhaps Too Communicative
Because I so often write letters — which are not always published — I thought I’d share them here. Here’s one to the WSJ regarding…
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U.S. Government: Too Big to Fail?
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Democratic Process: Not How the Future is Won
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Thundersnow and the Nightmare Commute
Last night’s Surprise Snowpocalypse froze traffic in place for upwards of 13 hours. Check out this visual above for where the traffic accumulated, from…
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Marketing and Transit Shelters
Here’s a great example of private entrepreneurship making public life a little sweeter. Caribou Coffee has launched a new campaign in Minnesota, touting warmed…
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Why Cell Phones are Banned on Airplanes
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D.C. Installs Private Car Charging Station
Remember when the Prius first hit the market, and the D.C. Beltway authorities opened the HOV lanes to electric cars as an incentive to switch?…
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Secret of Lawmaking: It’s All in the Enforcement
Lawmakers are quick to DEMAND ACTION when circumstances change. But when it comes to encouraging citizens’ good behavior, sometimes the secret is in simply enforcing…
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Kids These Days Are More Financially Responsible Than You
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Quick Comparison: Financial Advice from Two Sides of an Age Gap
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Benefits of Cutting White Pages Distribution
After asking why so many states get involved in TelCo activity (requiring that phone books get distributed in hard copy, even over phone companies’ vigorous…
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Tab Rally 1/12/11
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Why Do States Still Require Phone Books to Be Delivered?
Did you know that some states require companies to deliver phone books to state residents? Never mind the fact that most people don’t use phone…
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D.C. Bag Tax Falls Short of Stated Revenue Goals
Last New Year’s saw the beginning of D.C.’s infamous bag tax, a 5-cent tax on each plastic shopping bag consumers take away from stores. In…
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New Hayekian Anthem
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Wikileaks’ Assange to Australian Times: “I’m Not Sorry”
Julian Assange wrote an op-ed in the Australian Times today essentially saying, “I’m not sorry”: I grew up in a Queensland country…
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People Do What You Pay Them to Do
This seems like an obvious statement. But Big Government is shocked — shocked! — when it pays doctors to perform surgeries instead of taking time for…
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Why D.C. Metro Escalators Are Always Broken: Incentives Matter
For Washingtonians wondering why Metro is always on the fritz, check out my piece over at The Examiner about how WMATA unions pay employees…
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Allure of the Seas: A Nation of “Why Not?”
The newest, largest cruise ship in the world set sail on its maiden voyage this week. Crewmembers tout the Allure’s motto: “A Nation of Why…
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Federal Pay Freeze Discussion: Pointlessly Partisan
This week the White House announced its brave new plan to fix the economy: Freezing the salaries of federal employees. But wait! This is…
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A Little Holiday Gothic to Start Your Holiday
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Taxpayers Pay Three Times for Special Interest Litigation
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Chicago Coyotes Control Mice and Rats
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TSA Officers Are Not Screened for Psychological Problems
“I want to do patdowns on airplane passengers. What would TSA need from me before I have authority to do whatever is required to check…
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TSA Screening: What are the Limits?
Top security officers claim these invasive scans are necessary for our safety. In a news conference at Reagan National Airport, Department of Homeland Security Secretary…
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Honeycomb House: A Fresh Foreclosure Horror
Problems with empty, foreclosed, or otherwise house-poor homes no longer stop at suburban sprawl; now mosquito and wildcat infestations threaten to lower real estate values…
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Towards a Goal of Smaller Government
After Republicans swept the House in last Tuesday’s elections, President Obama took “full responsibility” for Democrats’ losses, saying: I’ve got to do a better…
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Tea Partiers’ Winning “Contract from America”
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New York Bans Smoking in Central Park
…and all other public outdoor spaces. Soon there will be no smoking in any car-banned area of New York City, including Times Square, Central Park,…
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Ron Paul to Head Federal Reserve Oversight Subcommittee?
In a bizarre turn of events following Tuesday’s elections, Rep. Ron Paul, the government’s #1 “end or audit the Fed” guy, will likely be in…
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Jobs Saved or Created: Armed Security to Guard Unemployment Offices
Here is a must-read for naysayers ready to indict current regulatory policies’ ability to create or save jobs! With December looms the deadline for folks…
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Art Market Resurgence: A Lesson in Market Rebound
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D.C. Minimum Wage Contributes to Decade of Heightened Unemployment
In a daring new approach to employment analysis, a report out today from the DC Fiscal Policy Institute advises implementing a higher minimum…
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Great Letter in Today’s Wall Street Journal
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Most Important Brands for Women: Marketing Works!
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Starbucks Slowdown
Proof that inefficiency is not only for government: Starbucks ordered baristas to slow down this month, capping coffee production at 2 drinks at a time.
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“Rent Is Too Damn High” Candidate’s Rent is Actually Quite Low
Oh look, a politician building a campaign on the premise that he understands his constituents’ plight is actually…very far removed from the issues that are…
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Rent Control: Why Is It So Bad?
When rent is “too damn high,” people move. Yet many cities still impose rotating rent controls, in a misguided attempt to make housing more…
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Rent Is Too Damn High
Not much to add to this brilliant insight: The rent is too damn high! Jimmy McMillan doesn’t get into details about what he intends…
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Video Killed the Radio Star: 2010 Telephony Edition
One hundred and twenty-six years after Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone, AT&T, America’s largest provider of fixed telephony (and third largest non-oil company in…
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A Moment on the Lips; A Lifetime on Pay Slips
New studies suggest that very thin women earn proportionately more money than do average-sized women. Comprising only women within 25lbs of doctor-recommended weight, the…
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Banksy on the Sweatshop of Western Civilization via The Simpsons
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Jobs: Created, Not Made
Welcome to October, the start of a new government fiscal year. 2010 was the year of “jobs created or saved.” Bank and business bailouts may…
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Betancourt: Revolutions Not So Nice
After six years in FARC captivity deep in Colombia’s jungle, Ingrid Betancourt is over revolution and ready for cake. From the NPR story…