The state governments have intervened haphazardly in the health-care insurance business so pervasively and for so long that the whole setup now dictates a host of requirements that make no sense except as answers to the prayers of special-interest groups and rent seekers.
There is something off about this center-left tendency. Commentators are driven to wild apoplexy by Trump, but not for the reasons I would normally cite. They seem to object to the very existence of Trump, his every utterance, his actions no matter what they are, and everything related to this new administration. It finally struck me why.
“Protectionism” – with the sweet sound of the verb “to protect” – is far too kind and inaccurate a word for a policy that attacks consumers for the benefit of domestic producers. It should really be called “scarcityism,” which better exposes the true nature of government-erected obstacles to people’s access to goods and services.
The patterns of human interactions that emerge in the absense of state intervention are unpredictable in their details, but history and theory both teach that such patterns do indeed emerge spontaneously.
We all did our taxes painfully recently, and we're all still reeling from the numbers, thinking, "There has got to be a way to make this better." If you're single, there is: get married.
Senator Sessions assured us that he would respect the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches. So why is he threatening to overturn a 2011 opinion by the Department of Justice that restored federal gambling law to Congress’s original intent?
New Drug War appointees Chris Christie and Tom Marino have passed and signed well-intentioned laws intended to help curb opioid use and abuse. But similar initiatives have made the situation worse in the past, and the renewed energy being put into the anti-drug task force will surely do the same.
Why does government hate the gold standard … or any real standard for that matter? At the heart of government’s attack on gold, silver, bitcoin, and other commodity standards is an outright hatred for accountability and private property, and a real love for theft.
Distracted driving is undeniably a real problem, but what should government do? To prevent accidents, states could end up criminalizing behavior that all drivers engage in.
I was talking with a non-coffee-drinking friend recently about having to bring caffeine with me when I travel. "Addict," he said. "Nuh uh," I responded brilliantly. But it turns out that caffeine is surprisingly healthy, definitely a drug, and truly potentially addictive.
Which makes you wonder: if caffeine is an enhancing drug, and it’s legal, why aren’t the others?
