The Open Market Blog

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/13/2008

In the Wall Street Journal, Philip Howard explains how kids are getting fat (and thus at risk for obesity-related diseases and death) by staying indoors rather than playing outside.  …

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/13/2008

“Just hours after Russia agreed to a French-brokered ceasefire, Russian troops followed by irregular Ossetian militias pushed deep into Georgia, seizing the strategic city…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/13/2008

AEI Scholar Charles Murray explains that “For Most People, College Is a Waste of Time.”  His commentary, in today’s Wall Street Journal, is exactly…

• By: Gregory Conko
• 08/13/2008

CEI has just published a new OnPoint, which I co-wrote with West Virginia physician Jerry Arnett. The paper, “FDA’s Bad Medicine: How the Dispersed…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/12/2008

Following on the heels of Dardenne Prairie, Missouri, the state of California is considering passing a law harshly punishing “cyberbullies” with expulsion, up to…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/12/2008

CNET and the Consumer Electronics Association have just released a new index of consumer confidence in the technology sector. Consumer confidence in…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/12/2008

Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee began an unnecessary investigation into behavioral advertising practices. As I reported yesterday, Yahoo responded by…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 08/12/2008

There are trade-offs every where, we all know, including for health care.  How much do you spend to provide how much treatment to which payments? …

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/12/2008

It's that time again. Time for another (and perhaps the last!) Philosopher's Corner, the recurring feature where I explore questions of justice that pose…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/12/2008

CNET reports on the increasing number of states that are taxing internet downloads. This comes just months after the controversy surrounding New…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/12/2008

Back in June, I reported on a bandwidth scare – a report suggesting that the US is lagging in broadband deployment. In the…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/12/2008

The Washington Post today has an editorial debunking arguments against allowing offshore oil drilling.  Texas Governor Rick Perry criticizes ethanol mandates and subsidies, which…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/12/2008

Last month, I wrote a post entitled “Congressmen Oppose Boneheaded National Wireless Plan.” The post detailed how Republican Congressmen who were initially in favor…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/11/2008

I reported last week on the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s superfluous investigation into behavioral advertising. It looks like Yahoo is a little scared…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/11/2008

It’s not just their looser drug and prostitution laws. The Dutch are also ahead of the US in some free speech areas. Last month, I…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/11/2008

The California Supreme Court just upheld an 1872 law banning non-compete clauses – agreements that after a manager leaves a company, she won’t…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/11/2008

The 9th Circuit is hearing a Wiretap Act case that could have broad implications for online privacy. The MPAA hired a hacker who intercepted…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/11/2008

We’ve previously reported on government-coerced censorship of websites in France, New York, and California. Now Italy is doing it too. This…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/11/2008

Last month, I reported that the Electronic Frontier Foundation and American Civil Liberties Union had submitted a Freedom of Information Act request…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/11/2008

Doug Bandow's post on the weak economy hurting the environmental movement got me thinking. Specifically, it got me thinking about Stuff White People…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/10/2008

Russia has invaded the neighboring country of Georgia, seeking to overthrow its government.  Initially, it claimed its troops were merely seeking to occupy an enclave in…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 08/08/2008

There are drugs to treat the disease, and they are available in America.  But the National Health Service won’t pay for them.  Writes Jonathan…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/08/2008

The California  Court of Appeal has reversed its earlier decision that home-schooling is generally illegal in California.  I criticized the decision banning home-schooling…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/08/2008

Yesterday, I reported on the conclusion of the XM-Sirius merger and what it says about the fate of the potential Dish-DirecTV merger. Now, there…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/07/2008

The always hilarious online comic Toothpastefordinner does a send-off of tax policy.

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/07/2008

Why is it that when a second-rate televangelist you’ve never heard of cheats on his wife, the media give it tons of coverage — but the media…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/07/2008

Several weeks ago, I reported on Bell Canada’s attempt to resolve congestion issues on its network by throttling heavy P2P users. Some doubted…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/07/2008

Apparently, positive portrayals of marital sex are just not super-interesting to TV viewers. So finds a study by the Parents Television Council. The PTC…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/07/2008

The Wall Street Journal has an editorial explaining how the Financial Accounting Standards Board “wants to require companies to account for the potential…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/07/2008

It looks like Dish Network and DirecTV are once again considering a merger. The companies must believe the deal would be greatly mutually-beneficial, if…

• By: John Berlau
• 08/07/2008

Ain’t it something! Congress just got through with passing a multi-billion dollar bailout to the government-sponsored housing enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which…

• By: Richard Morrison
• 08/07/2008

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/06/2008

The House of Representatives recently passed a bill called the Paycheck Fairness Act, which is being sold to the public on false pretenses.  Its supporters claim they…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 08/06/2008

In his current column, The Wall Street Journal‘s Thomas Frank blames “conservatism” for horrid conditions at an Iowa meatpacking plant, specifically the Labor Department…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/06/2008

For the first time ever, the Committee on Presidential Debates has partnered with a website. MySpace, the social networking site that has come under…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 08/05/2008

Explains Peter Pitts of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest: Experimental cures are often the last hope for dying patients in the…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/05/2008

Yesterday, I posted on a new technology, called Selectable Output Control, that will allow customers to get movies on their TVs only a…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/05/2008

Banks and mortgage companies have long been under pressure from lawmakers and regulators to give loans to people with bad credit, in order to provide “affordable…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/05/2008

A group of artists called the Center for Creative Voices in Media has filed an amicus brief in the case now before the Supreme…

• By: Hans Bader
• 08/05/2008

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has invalidated Temple University’s sexual harassment policy, which was challenged by a veteran who wished to defend in class…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/05/2008

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals just handed a victory to Cablevision, a provider of remote DVRs. Unlike regular DVRs, which store your recordings…

• By: Alex Harris
• 08/04/2008

It's time for another Philosopher's Corner, an exploration of libertarian issues from a perspective of justice, not consequences. Libertarian political philosophers agree about…