The Open Market Blog

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/20/2009

$1,562,568 of stimulus money went to subsidize mozzarella cheese in Rep. Marcia Fudge's district.

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/16/2009

In 1975, the Senate voted on “A motion to table a motion to reconsider a vote to table an appeal of a ruling that a…

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/16/2009

Regulations.gov is the federal government’s main outlet for making regulations public. It is also less than user-friendly. Finding what you’re looking for is next to…

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/15/2009

My jaw nearly hit the floor when I saw that I had paid more in taxes and fees than for actual airfare to book an…

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/19/2009

Some politicians in North Carolina want Amazon.com to collect and pay North Carolina state sales taxes. Amazon’s Washington state headquarters are three time zones away.

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/26/2009

The Onion reports that "Government advisers are developing menus to combat climate change by cutting out 'high carbon' food such as meat from sheep, whose…

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/20/2009

Mill made important contributions to economics, political science, and philosophy.

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/30/2009

Conservatives are supposed to be the opposition to progressives. But opposing something requires philosophical disagreement. Left and right are variations on the same theme.

• By: Ryan Young
• 04/21/2009

President Obama asked federal departments to find $100 million dollars in cuts. Does that mean that a $1.75 trillion budget deficit is too much, but…

• By: Ryan Young
• 01/20/2009

President-elect Obama became President Obama today. It is worth taking a minute to reflect on the nature of his office. Exactly what has he gotten…

• By: Ryan Young
• 01/06/2009

Our world is going through slow but profound changes that a soundbite couldn't possibly capture. If you really want to learn about our world or…

• By: Ryan Young
• 12/16/2008

My colleague Drew Tidwell and I just sent this letter to Time: To the editor: Michael Kinsley’s latest missive in Time falls prey to…

• By: Ryan Young
• 12/06/2008

President-elect Obama has a plan to create 2.5 million jobs over the next two years. One of his ideas is to install energy-efficient light…

• By: Ryan Young
• 10/28/2008

Following the economy, especially lately, can be confusing. Reporters are not helping matters. A CNN.com article, for example, blames yesterday’s stock market plunge on…

• By: Ryan Young
• 10/21/2008

If goods do not cross borders, then soldiers will. It’s an old saying. Maybe even a cliché. But there is some truth to it. What…

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/31/2008

The New York Times ominously reports that “G.D.P. Grows at Tepid 1.9% Pace Despite Stimulus” A more accurate wording would be “G.D.P. Grows at…

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/31/2008

Number of farms in the U.S. — about 2.1 million. Cost of the 2008 farm bill — $300 billion over…

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/29/2008

Disagreements over farm subsidies have caused the current round of WTO negotiations to collapse.  Developing countries are upset that subsidized farmers from rich countries…

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/23/2008

On Thursday, the federal minimum wage will increase to $6.55 per hour. Next July it is scheduled to go up to $7.25 per hour. CNN…

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/22/2008

The U.S. government transfers about $17 billion from taxpayers to farmers in an average year. Every man, woman, and child in the country gives more…

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/15/2008

The Washington Post has a story today about the difficulty young people are having finding summer jobs. Their unemployment rate is over 18%, compared…

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/14/2008

The UK has quietly become one of the most-surveilled societies on earth. The isle sports an eye-popping one surveillance camera for every fourteen people.

• By: Ryan Young
• 07/10/2008

Dairy farmers in the EU are upset that milk prices are lower than they prefer. Production quotas were raised by two percent in…

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/27/2008

I had the pleasure of seeing distinguished trade economist Jagdish Bhagwati speak yesterday. He is promoting his new book, Termites in the…

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/24/2008

Who knew bananas could be controversial? The U.S. and the EU are locked in a heated dispute over banana tariffs. Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras,…

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/18/2008

Now that the primaries are over, Sen. Barack Obama has come out in favor of NAFTA.  He told Fortune in an interview that “Sometimes…

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/17/2008

Harvard economist Larry Summers has some ideas for a new regulatory order in the Financial Times. In typical Summers fashion, his…

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/11/2008

My colleague Alex Harris is drooling over the latest version of Apple‘s iPhone. In…

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/10/2008

There were more street protests in Seoul on Sunday over U.S. beef. The public is scared out of their minds that they’ll get mad…

• By: Ryan Young
• 06/02/2008

It looks like the impasse on the U.S.-South Korea trade agreement will get worse before it gets better. A mad cow disease scare…

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/30/2008

Contrary to popular belief, regulators tend to be very clever people. They know the rules of the game, and they know to how to use…

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/28/2008

Barack Obama says he would keep in place the 47-year old Cuban trade embargo if elected President. CNN says Obama views the trade restrictions…

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/22/2008

Right now South Korea is working toward a free trade agreement with the U.S. It could increase trade between the two nations by…

• By: Ryan Young
• 05/20/2008

All data are not treated equally on the Internet. There is only so much bandwidth to go around, so service providers…