[A selection from “Toward a Reconstruction of Utility and Welfare Economics“]

Today would have been Joey Rothbard’s 91st birthday. She was Murray Rothbard’s “indispensable framework.” She was a scholar in her own right, but she devoted her life to helping Murray. She was a wonderful friend, and I miss her very much.

Housing is one of the main drivers in the cost of living. Government increases this cost through zoning regulations, complicated impact fees, and permitting delays. This is a fact that was even acknowledged by the Obama administration when it stated:

“Barriers to housing development are exacerbating the housing affordability crisis, particularly in regions with high job growth and few rental vacancies.”

Advocates of aggressive government intervention in the name of fighting climate change have posed as the defenders of “consensus science,” labeling any who dissent from their agenda as “deniers” with all of the baggage that term entails. And yet, as I’ve been pointing out for years, the peer-reviewed economics literature does not support the popular United Nations’ policy goals, of limiting global warming to either 2.0°C or the even more stringent ceiling of 1.5°C.

[Adapted from Man, Economy and State with Power and Market, pp. 851–55.]