CREEKSTONE FARMS’ BEEF WITH THE USDA (scroll about 80% of the way down from the top of the page) tells the story of a Kansas beef farmer whose access to the lucrative Japanese beef market was cut off when Japan banned US beef until every animal was tested for mad cow disease (this all part of the tit for tat of protectionism). Rather than wait for USDA testing that was delayed indefinitely by political roadblocks, the farmer decided to test their own cows, at their own expense.

The stakes are high, the public is divided, and extreme rhetoric is flying. So it always is the month before the presidential election. Why? Because of the power of the office, the very existence of which is contrary to any robust notion of freedom.

Review of In Defense of Globalization by Jagdish Bhagwati (Oxford University Press, 2004) and Free Trade Todayby Jagdish Bhagwati (Princeton University Press, 2002).

With its successful venture into Earth’s orbit, SpaceShipOne has clinched the privately funded $10 million “X Prize” and has excited everyone from potential investors to serious scientists to Star Trek geeks. (I consider myself a member of all three categories.) Beyond the obvious implications, the episode illustrates several lessons from political economy. [Full article]

Report: Iraq War Keeping Thousands Out Of Unemployment Line

Tyler Cowen breaks with the pack (or pact) and explains the implausible and potentially disastrous economics of Social Security privatization—a subject the Mises Institute has been publishing for at least 7 years.