The Open Market Blog

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/29/2008

The “stimulus” plan devised by House leaders and the White House at a price tag of nearly $150 billion is now being rejected as too…

• By: Richard Morrison
• 01/28/2008

Well, President Bush has given his final State of the Union address and the news stories analyzing it are soon to be legion. Among…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 01/28/2008

The guest list for the First Lady’s Box for tonight’s State of the Union speech provides a preview of individuals to whom the…

• By: Eli Lehrer
• 01/28/2008

In the last few days, I’ve been following the saga of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick with the same fascination I often reserve for car…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/28/2008

Earlier this month, House leaders reached a deal with the White House on a $150 billion “stimulus” plan that would increase the deficit to give…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 01/27/2008

Thus responds Homer Simpson to Marge when she complains about his not paying the gas heating bill, on tonight’s new episode of “The Simpsons,”…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/27/2008

Earlier, I wrote about the Abigail Alliance case, in which a federal appeals court first rightly held that the Constitution likely prevents the FDA…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/27/2008

Late last year, the Treasury Secretary orchestrated a bailout of some subprime borrowers with adjustable-rate mortgages. Under it, their interest rates, which are slated…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 01/27/2008

There are no easy answers to some problems. Such as failed and quasi-failed states around the world. But one thing that we know is that…

• By: Lene Johansen
• 01/27/2008

Stimulus package or more deficit spending? I tend to agree with Prof. Samwick in his commentary on “Marketplace” last Friday: It is deficit spending.

• By: Lene Johansen
• 01/27/2008

It seems the anti-biotechnology lobby is bringing out the big guns to prevent the new Roundup Ready sugar beet to have its first commercial growing…

• By: Lene Johansen
• 01/27/2008

The global temperature has been stable since 1998 according to Ole Humlum at the University of Oslo. In the largest paper in Norway, he…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 01/27/2008

Former Indonesian dictator Suharto passed away today. I’m not going to comment on his legacy here, but simply note that for a dictator, he…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 01/25/2008

At Cafe Hayek, Don Boudreaux links to a comedy video that illustrates very effectively just how far we’ve come technologically over the past…

• By: Lene Johansen
• 01/25/2008

Germany is opening the door for a corn variety bred with molecular plant breeding methods, and neither activists nor Monsanto is happy about the…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/25/2008

Economist David Friedman sums up the flaws of the ridiculous “stimulus” plan that House leaders and the White House have proposed, which will…

• By: Cord Blomquist
• 01/25/2008

Thanks to Google, I am now addicted to the game Rock Band. I don’t own the game, but I do alternate between playing the demo…

• By: Christine Hall
• 01/25/2008

Yesterday, Senate Democrats held a hearing to, basically air grievances against EPA’s December decision to deny California the ability to regulate CO2 emissions. Looking at…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/25/2008

Under the "stimulus" plan proposed by House leaders and the White House, you get a "rebate" -- even if you work so little that…

• By: John Berlau
• 01/25/2008

Iain, you're so right that it's not just bad policy, but bad politics, for Republican candidates not to challenge costly regulations aimed at fending…

• By: Richard Morrison
• 01/24/2008

It appears that there is finally some scientific evidence that a warmer Atlantic ocean could have an effect on future hurricane activity. Unfortunately for the…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 01/24/2008

Today, former Bush economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey has a good, concise Washington Post op ed on the cognitive dissonance now affecting some Democrats. The…

• By: Cord Blomquist
• 01/24/2008

This Tuesday, CNet’s Anne Broache reported that FCC Commissioner Copps was NOT ready to support “new rules requiring wireless carriers to open…

• By: Iain Murray
• 01/24/2008

Jim Geraghty stirred up a minor hornet's nest yesterday with this post on Republican tactics on global warming. After coming in for some pretty…

• By: Marlo Lewis, Jr.
• 01/24/2008

Today, as I write, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is holding a hearing on the Environmental Protection Agency's denial of a…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/24/2008

The White House and Congressional leaders have reached an outrageous agreement to increase the deficit to pay for rebates that discriminate against married people,…

• By: Iain Murray
• 01/24/2008

Here’s an interesting case. In California, a solar panel owner found his access to sunlight blocked. Not by some man-made obstruction, but by California…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 01/23/2008

In today’s Wall Street Journal, former Department of Labor general counsel Eugene Scalia highlights a recent DOL effort to ensure that pension funds are…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/23/2008

Earlier, I wrote about how the multi-billion-dollar 1998 tobacco settlement between 46 states and the tobacco companies has inspired more lawsuits, and threatened lawsuits, against…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 01/23/2008

San Francisco’s Golden Gate Restaurant Association has sued to stop implementation of the city’s new health care mandate, which would require employers who hire more…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/23/2008

Congress is currently in the process of rewriting the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to make it even more costly for employers to employ people…

• By: Marlo Lewis, Jr.
• 01/23/2008

Rumors are flying that President Bush may propose to cap CO2 emissions from electric power plants in the upcoming state of the union speech (see…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 01/23/2008

Jimmy Carter regulated the temperature of public buildings. The state of California is preparing to regulate the temperature of private homes. Really. Explains columnist…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 01/23/2008

Most people understand the role of incentives. Pay me to stop working and I will happily quit my job and take the check. Penalize me…

• By: Richard Morrison
• 01/23/2008

Our good friend Jim Blasingame of the Small Business Advocate radio show recently had our very own Myron Ebell on to talk about global…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/23/2008

The Congress and the president are planning to give rebates to taxpayers in an effort to pump up consumer spending and avert a recession.

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/22/2008

Nervous about the possibility of a recession, the Federal Reserve has just cut short-term interest rates (the federal funds rate). But how much good,…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/22/2008

The Supreme Court recently ruled that while those who engage in securities fraud can be sued, third parties who allegedly aided and abetted them…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/22/2008

The Vice Chairman of the Prince William County Human Rights Commission, Carlos Labiosa, is investigating the local school board's decision to drop affirmative-action hiring…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/22/2008

For mysterious reasons, municipal governments that have never defaulted on anything (and can, unfortunately, tax the living daylights out of their citizens to pay for…

• By: Lene Johansen
• 01/22/2008

Some legislators, including Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD) are now hollowing out an age old principle of FDA marketing regulations by promoting mandatory labeling…

• By: Lene Johansen
• 01/22/2008

Percy Schmeiser, the Canadian farmer who was convicted of contract breach in the Canadian Supreme Court because he was brown bagging Monsanto seed against the…

• By: Lene Johansen
• 01/22/2008

The US is gearing up for another showdown with the EU over protectionist trade barriers based on environmental concerns. French president Sarkozy suggested a…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/21/2008

Earlier, I wrote about how diversity training backfires: It harms employers and employees alike, triggers lawsuits by both white and minority employees, causes racial…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/21/2008

Federal financial aid and subsidies to colleges and universities are fueling soaring college costs, and making universities more expensive, more bureaucratic, and more politicized. That’s…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/21/2008

Congress and the President are working on a multi-billion-dollar ($140 billion plus) “stimulus package” in an effort to ward off a recession. One proposal that…

• By: Lene Johansen
• 01/21/2008

Pennsylvania is backing down from its labeling ban after pressure from consumer groups. Diaries can now label products as being produced without artificial growth…