The Open Market Blog

• By: Hans Bader
• 03/25/2008

In order to isolate Colombia’s pro-American, democratically-elected government, Massachusetts Congressman James McGovern sent what commentators have likened to “love letters” to a bloodthirsty Colombian terrorist group, FARC, that smuggles…

• By: Hans Bader
• 03/25/2008

It’s hard for educated people with valuable skills, like doctors and scientists, to immigrate because Congress won’t lift the unrealistically low cap on H-1B…

• By: Marlo Lewis, Jr.
• 03/25/2008

When the European Union (EU) officials negotiated the climate treaty that became the Kyoto Protocol, they did three clever things. First, in the…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 03/25/2008

Everyone likes generic drugs.  So do I.  Who wants to pay those shocking prices–you know, a couple bucks or even a few bucks a pill for…

• By: Lene Johansen
• 03/25/2008

This is an amazing story of science success, and of consumer loss. Phillip Larkin got funding from Tasmanian Alkaloids to create a more potent poppy…

• By: Lene Johansen
• 03/25/2008

If you think that picking up the phone book sized federal budget is a bit daunting, you might want to get the graphic version.

• By: Lene Johansen
• 03/25/2008

Just an interesting FYI.

• By: Michelle Minton
• 03/24/2008

Today the LA Times published an interesting opinion article that opposes health care mandates in a way I hadn’t yet heard. The authors claim…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/24/2008

Eli— Here’s another theory — fluoridation of water is very widespread in the U.S. but is very limited in England. (About 10 percent of…

• By: Iain Murray
• 03/24/2008

Fran’s post raises an important point about trade-offs and the ossifying effects of mandates (why on earth don’t we have a much better system…

• By: Hans Bader
• 03/24/2008

U.S. immigration authorities have denied Saman Ahmad permission to stay permanently in the U.S.  He put his life on the line for four years as…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 03/24/2008

To believe Democratic politicians, the U.S. has entered an era of near-laissez faire economics.  Regulatory agencies have faded away.  Uncle Sam has gone on vacation. …

• By: Lene Johansen
• 03/24/2008

The suppliers, producers, and retailers in the industrial organic food chain have long lamented about the possibility of grains from plants bred with molecular plant…

• By: Lene Johansen
• 03/24/2008

Kate Ackley wrote a great story about the most recent attempt to create a regulatory approval process for generic biotechnology medications on the Hill.

• By: Lene Johansen
• 03/24/2008

I have lost the count on the number of stories I have seen about coral reefs dying out because of global warming.  A recent…

• By: Eli Lehrer
• 03/24/2008

Fark.com, the world’s best workplace time-waster, links to a story in the Sun about a British couple that will use a 5 million…

• By: Ivan Osorio
• 03/22/2008

In his latest Examiner column, Tim Carney looks at hedge fund manager Julian Robertson’s lobbying for cap-and-trade legislation and bet on a U.S. economic…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 03/21/2008

Certainly not the UN!  The debate, such as it is, over global warming has been increasingly driven by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.  The…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/21/2008

I am disappointed that the X Prize did not note that there may be trade offs involved — that a zillion mph vehicle may well…

• By: Hans Bader
• 03/21/2008

The Wall Street Journal comments on House leaders’ pandering to trial lawyers by blocking “liability protection for phone companies that assisted the government…

• By: Fred L. Smith, Jr.
• 03/21/2008

The X Prize is apparently underwritten in part by the Progressive Insurance company – a firm that, I believe, is active in auto insurance. I…

• By: Doug Bandow
• 03/21/2008

The British may love babies, but they sure don’t show it.  Maternity wards often are full and have to be closed to new mothers. …

• By: Eli Lehrer
• 03/21/2008

Fran, I think the Progressive Automotive X Prize is a great idea. It may work where the government has failed. Existing government programs…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/21/2008

The X Prize Foundation has announced a $10 million automotive prize: The newly renamed Progressive Automotive X PRIZE is an international competition designed…

• By: Hans Bader
• 03/21/2008

“Inflation is walloping Americans with low and moderate incomes as the prices of staples have soared far faster than those of luxuries,” reports…

• By: John Berlau
• 03/21/2008

I've been withholding comment about the Federal Reserve Bank's Bear Stearns intervention until I've had a chance to appraise the deal, including the extent of…

• By: Hans Bader
• 03/20/2008

The politically-correct National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) has brought a disturbing lawsuit against an insurance company for an product aimed at church-goers, which provides…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/20/2008

Commodity prices plunge is the big news in the markets today. According to Bloomberg today, commodities are– . . . heading for the biggest…

• By: Iain Murray
• 03/20/2008

CEI’s friends at the Liberty Institute in New Delhi have launched a new website, InDefenceofLiberty.org. Of particular interest to openmarket readers might be the…

• By: Fran Smith
• 03/20/2008

I was checking around for international census information at the U.S. Census Department site (useful for a lot of issues) and thought some of…