The Open Market Blog

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 04/26/2010

Michael Specter, a journalist who’s also an excellent speaker, appeared at the last TED conference.  Specter is technologically optimistic but has accepted many…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 04/22/2010

 Brett Snyder, editor of the web site, crankyflier.com, wrote a revealing column this weekend, “Don’t let bag fees make you nostalgic. Airlines’…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 04/22/2010

Affirmative action proponents face a battle this Monday when the Supreme Court hears Christian Legal Society vs. Martinez. The challenger argues that a…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 04/19/2010

Americans tend to forget the value of institutional specialization. A private for-profit firm has a straightforward metric – maximizing shareholder profit-a complex goal, requiring managers…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 04/13/2010

With the passage of ObamaCare, we’ve taken another giant step towards Europeanizing America. Tragically, our history shows a steady trend in that direction, with government…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 01/26/2010

Seeking to recast himself as a fiscal conservative, Obama is projected to propose a freeze on discretionary spending – NPR, NEA, “green” jobs, “disaster” relief,…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 01/07/2010

The Washington Post editorial, “In the wake of Flight 253, the TSA must get more anti-terrorist tools” makes a short-sighted argument for increasing resources for…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 11/19/2009

This morning I read with interest – and amazement – the above headline.  Does our president live in the same world that I inhabit?  He’s…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 11/19/2009

The National Federation of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind are seeking a preliminary injunction in federal court to stop…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 11/19/2009

As John Lott has so effectively demonstrated time and time again, widespread citizen gun possession is an effective way of increasing public safety.

Consumer Freedom

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 11/09/2009

The Washington Times, “Greedy Autoworkers,” editorializes the overwhelming rejection of the UAW’s proposed labor agreement.  Unlike GM and Chrysler, Ford elected to reject the…

Labor and Employment

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 11/09/2009

“The Man Who Predicted the Depression,” in Saturday’s WSJ explains von Mises’s interpretation of the business cycle.  To Mises, volatility was inevitable with a…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 11/09/2009

On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall came crashing down. Today marks the twentieth anniversary of that great day – one of the greatest in…

Trade and International

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 07/29/2009

“Network” industries such as electricity, air transport, telecommunication, freight rail, and internet services face a challenge with their competing flow and grid components.  Flows are…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 07/29/2009

Many industries in the modern economy are ridiculed for the financing strategies they employ.  Only marginal cost pricing is defended as a legitimate practice.  Yet…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 07/28/2009

Zachary Goldfarb, a Washington Post staff writer, discusses (p. A10, “SEC Moves to Limit Short Sales of Stocks”) this SEC proposal – sympathetically.  The article…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 04/21/2009

Many of the federal regulatory and tax laws include a “small business exemption” – politicians displaying an aversion to crippling a…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 04/21/2009

“Mars Sets Goal for Sustainable Cocoa Sources” Another Washington Post story suggests that “sustainability” –whatever it may mean — still can…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 04/07/2009

When it comes to things such as environmental policy, the Progressives have been rather successful at promoting their world view.  They realized that it would…

Consumer Freedom

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 02/10/2009

From CEI’s Agenda for Congress: Fred Smith, President and Founder of CEI on the economic crisis, the threat of bad policies, and the real change…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 01/20/2009

President Obama faces the immediate challenge of getting funds again flowing through the financial system.  And, apparently, his advisors are relying on “pump priming”—pouring…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 01/08/2009

In the House Financial Services Committee hearing Monday on Bernard Madoff’s $50 billion alleged Ponzi scheme, some good points were raised by Congress members…

Regulatory Reform

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 05/23/2007

The London Museum is planning a special exhibit to mark the centennial of a material that was long denigrated–plastics. It will cover the massive importance…

Consumer Freedom