The Open Market Blog

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/17/2008

A 2007 Virginia transportation law allowed the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority to levy a big new tax to finance transportation projects not on those who…

• By: Eli Lehrer
• 01/17/2008

Today’s Washington Post carries an interesting, dirt-filed piece about a the Veterans’ charity Help Hospitalized Veterans. The group spends only 31 percent of…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 01/17/2008

Surprise, surprise! The Europeans don’t like market economics. That’s hardly startling news. But it turns out that the educational system works overtime to demonize free…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/16/2008

Clayton Cramer points out that most people classified as poor by the federal government are actually not poor at all. Most people below the…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/16/2008

The ACLU insists that sex in public restroom stalls is protected by "privacy", even though such activity creates a very uncomfortable environment for those…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/16/2008

If you live in Northern Virginia or Hampton Roads, you are now subject to a big tax increase if you sell your home. The 2007…

• By: Clyde Wayne Crews
• 01/16/2008

Too little in today’s environmentalism is about bringing environmental amenities into the realm of wealth creation and private stewardship required to actually protect them. “…

• By: Angela Logomasini
• 01/15/2008

If you are not on Junkscience.com’s, daily email, you might want to sign up. This daily dispatch sends along nuggets of good information and…

• By: Eli Lehrer
• 01/15/2008

Thor Halvorssen's wonderful Human Rights Foundation has published an important new report on Bolivian president Evo Morales' efforts to introduce a system of…

• By: Richard Morrison
• 01/15/2008

Have you ever had a steak so excellent, you wish you could eat it more than once? How about a milkshake to good, you wish…

• By: Lene Johansen
• 01/15/2008

EU is giving itself permission to set price floors according to EU Trade Comissioner Peter Mandelson. Norway recently complained to World Trade Organization that…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/15/2008

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is great at getting publicity for its animal liberation activities.

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/15/2008

Over the past decade, property taxes in Northern Virginia have skyrocketed along with assessments. Taxes have increased to the point that taxes in Northern…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 01/15/2008

What will the world look like in a century? Imagine asking that question in 1900. And in 1800. The world would have changed in so…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 01/15/2008

Access to health care has become a big political issue in the U.S. And it’s a legitimate issue. The American system is a bizarre mish-mash…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 01/15/2008

One of the most reprehensible hours in TV history occurred on March 18, 2001 -- the airing of the fourth episode of "The Lone…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 01/15/2008

Monday’s episode of The History Channel’s “Modern Marvels” focuses on that most essential of elements, without which not even life is possible: carbon. The show kicks off…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 01/14/2008

The Toronto Star recently summarized the Top 10 false health scares outlined by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH). Many such…

• By: John Berlau
• 01/14/2008

For the past few political seasons, diehard political buffs will frequently visit one site to get the latest info on various races and campaigns:…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 01/14/2008

Andrew Walker for “Asking for pet care advice from Michael Vick.” A signed copy of The Big Ripoff will soon be making its…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/14/2008

The American Bar Association has never been reluctant to urge the Supreme Court to overturn existing precedent, if the precedent at issue offends politically correct…

• By: Lene Johansen
• 01/14/2008

Norwegians have been shooked to their core as the queen of the Labor movement and former Norwegian prime minister has been caught receiving free…

• By: Angela Logomasini
• 01/14/2008

A recent article on a garbage crisis in Naples Italy confirms what I’ve always believed—such trash crises all have roots in government planning. Nations…

• By: Angela Logomasini
• 01/14/2008

I never knew there were so many shades to a light bulb! But since Congress has basically banned incandescent light bulbs in favor of “energy-efficient”…

• By: Lene Johansen
• 01/14/2008

The Netherlands is officially on my list of countries with cool research and development of alternative energy sources. I have previously written about nightclubs…

• By: Lene Johansen
• 01/14/2008

I doubt eco-terrorist Jose Bove’s decision to hunger strike earlier this month actually had an impact, but the French have now imposed a…

• By: Lene Johansen
• 01/14/2008

Climate change is used to justify the most insane political decisions, but for once it is used for a sensible decision. Although there is no…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/14/2008

State legislatures recently banned the slaughter of horses for human consumption. The net result, according to The New York Times, is that rather than…

• By: Angela Logomasini
• 01/13/2008

A recent New York Times article reads:  “If you’re one of the many New Yorkers who worry about throwing away plastic bags but seem…

• By: Cord Blomquist
• 01/11/2008

Yesterday's Washington Post featured a great piece, "Human Dignity Also Needs to Be Preserved," from columnist Marc…

• By: Eli Lehrer
• 01/11/2008

Christine, I agree with the intentions of Rep. John Boehner and company in issuing the Little Book of Big Government that you wrote about.

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/11/2008

A highly-publicized gun lawsuit has bitten the dust. Earlier, the D.C. Court of Appeals allowed Washington, D.C. residents to sue out-of-state businesses under D.C. law…

• By: Hans Bader
• 01/11/2008

USA Today hammers state governments for using money from the 1998 multistate tobacco settlement on everything but tobacco-related illnesses and smoking prevention: “With news…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 01/11/2008

Early this morning, I became aware of something called “The Lou Dobbs Financial Report,” which is syndicated on radio across the nation. My immediate…

• By: Eli Lehrer
• 01/11/2008

I couldn’t resist posting this gem from a Radar magazine article speculating that Ron Paul has Asperger’s syndrome (a mild form of autism):…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/11/2008

The New York Times yesterday carried an article on the reopening of the Mu$eum of American Finance, the only public museum in…

• By: William Yeatman
• 01/11/2008

I see a silver lining to Angela’s post about the ambiguous environmental benefits of banning plastic bags in China. The news story she references…

• By: William Yeatman
• 01/11/2008

Indian automaker Tata today unveiled the “People’s Car,” an inexpensive, compact designed to bring automotive travel to the masses in the developing world. The…

• By: Richard Morrison
• 01/10/2008

School officials in Greenwich, Connecticut have decided that the kids under their charge are in danger, and they’ve moved to ban the offending substances that…

• By: Angela Logomasini
• 01/10/2008

The Chinese have allegedly decided to “clean up their act” environmentally speaking. Their solution: ban plastic bags at supermarkets and make shopping less convenient.

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/10/2008

Lene— I know a bit about another of the Guardian‘s 50 People Who Could Save the Planet. That’s Tewolde Egziabher, who runs Ethiopia’s environmental…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 01/10/2008

Let’s see. The U.S. Constitution gives the Congress the power to raise armies, regulate interstate commerce, and … control snack machines in local schools. Apparently…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 01/10/2008

It’s terrible. We all know that global warming threatens the planet’s future. Everything is getting worse. More people are dying. Or they are supposed to…

• By: Christine Hall
• 01/09/2008

House Repubican leaders, led by Rep. John Boehner (Ohio), have penned a little book on all the ways the federal government squanders the hard-earned money…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 01/08/2008

Lene — Paul Watson’s thuggish antics are well known and documented, so the Guardian‘s decision to honor him is beyond inexcusable. For more,…

• By: Lene Johansen
• 01/08/2008

Norwegian author Onar Ã…m, took IPCC chairman Rajendra Kumar Pachauri to task at a debate at the University of Stavanger, Norway on Monday this…

• By: Lene Johansen
• 01/08/2008

My dear sister is of the worried sort, but there is usually not much to worry about down in the idyllic little corner of her…

• By: Fran Smith
• 01/08/2008

A Reuters article today quoted a range of investment officials who expressed concern over the protectionist and pro-tax rhetoric of many of the Presidential…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 01/08/2008

Government always has been pretty good in handling blunt, simple tasks: bombing cities into ruins, for instance. But if any nuance or sophistication is required,…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 01/08/2008

Americans like to believe that they are a free people, certainly freer than the Europeans. And the U.S. economy has been much more vibrant than…