The Open Market Blog

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/30/2008

Wired reports that: In their eagerness to visit justice on a 49-year-old woman involved in the Megan Meier MySpace suicide tragedy, federal prosecutors in…

• By: Hans Bader
• 06/30/2008

Congress is now pushing for the creation of a taxpayer-subsidized “affordable housing trust” in mortgage bailout legislation nearing passage.  The Boston Globe has a story…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/30/2008

Broadband Reports has news: The FCC made changes to cable franchise rules last year which prevent “local franchising authorities from unreasonably refusing to award…

• By: Hans Bader
• 06/30/2008

Taxpayer-funded AIDS subsidies are being used to subvert successful anti-AIDS programs in African countries like Uganda that succeed by instilling a politically-incorrect truth: fidelity saves lives.  That’s what Sam…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 06/29/2008

I just criticized the ditzy Europeans for banning the sale of undersize kiwifruit. But now as I go through accumulated emails I come across…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 06/29/2008

Because you’ll get treatment sooner as a dog!  Reports Macleans magazine: Dr. Danny Joffe is only half joking when he says that if he’d…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 06/28/2008

The line “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you” has long been a comic favorite. As well it should. The Daily…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 06/28/2008

The U.S. is still the largest and most productive economy, but the warning signs are there. The latest is that America is losing its lead…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 06/28/2008

All you have to do is read British publications to see what the mess otherwise called the National Health Service.  Yet the NHS is a…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 06/27/2008

American politicians are busy talking about how to socialize the U.S. health care system.  But in Canada the father of the nationalized system is prepared…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/27/2008

Today, Bill Gates left Microsoft. As Cord Blomquist pointed out, Bill Gates has created more value for the world in his time at…

• By: Hans Bader
• 06/27/2008

Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, the crooked trial lawyer who helped orchestrate multibillion dollar settlements between the States and the big tobacco companies, was sentenced today to…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 06/27/2008

Airplanes emit greenhouse gases, so airlines–and ultimately passengers–are about to pay for the privilege of flight. Reports the New York Times: The…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 06/27/2008

You’d better close your trash bin tightly, or else.  At least if you live in England.  Reports the New York Times: But when Gareth…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/27/2008

Ars reports that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is giving out grants as part of its new Games for Health program. Performing modern electronic…

• 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: Alex Harris
• 06/27/2008

Last week, I reported on public safety agencies holding up lots of spectrum, preventing Sprint Nextel from getting access to the company’s new electromagnetic…

• By: Hans Bader
• 06/27/2008

Yesterday, the Supreme Court struck down the District of Columbia’s gun ban in a 5-to-4 vote in District of Columbia v. Heller.  What was most…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/27/2008

The San Jose Mercury News reports that ICANN, the internet’s main governing body, relaxed its rules to allow hundreds or thousands more domain extensions…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/26/2008

Chrysler annouced that it will begin offering an optional wireless internet service in its vehicles for about $500, plus $29 a month. The network…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/26/2008

The Washington Post reports on a voluntary agreement between Microsoft, Google, WebMD, the Consumers’ Union, and others regarding electronic health record privacy. Fear of…

• By: Hans Bader
• 06/26/2008

The Supreme Court voted 5-to-4 to strike down Washington, D.C.’s municipal ban on handguns, ruling that the ban violated the Second Amendment, as…

• By: Lene Johansen
• 06/26/2008

I seem to remember from statistics class that anything less than 95 percent probability is junk science. This is an editorial from the most recent…

• By: Fran Smith
• 06/26/2008

American Express will be $4 billion richer, thanks to the U.S. Department of Justice and a 2004 antitrust suit against Visa and MasterCard. According…

• By: Hans Bader
• 06/25/2008

The Wall Street Journal explains how federal and state regulations block competition with the rating agencies that fueled the mortgage crisis by giving ridiculously rosey ratings…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/25/2008

For a while now, the UK has had a fairly extensive network of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras recording its citizens’ movements in the…

• By: Fran Smith
• 06/25/2008

Environmentalists are ecstatic over the state of Florida’s announced purchase from United States Sugar of a vast tract of land —…

• By: Alex Harris
• 06/25/2008

Major ISP Charter Communications is indefinitely suspending its use of NebuAd, a tool that would use customers’ browsing habits to send them better-targeted…

• By: Hans Bader
• 06/25/2008

The Supreme Court today struck down Louisiana’s law allowing courts to sentence convicted child-rapists to death.  The facts of the case are horrific: the…