Bureaucracy and Regulation

Josiah Neeley and Bob Murphy have a lively discussion, arguing on some of Bob’s previously articulated points regarding the recent Texas freeze and blackouts.

Rob Bradley explains the role of Sam Insull (co-founder of General Electric) in showing what a free market in electricity would look like, and criticizes Texas’ ERCOT as a central planning agency.

When Georgia and Florida scaled back covid restrictions, the experts predicted far more death in the "open states" than in the locked down states like New York and California. The numbers tell a different story.

Wage hike advocates effectively seek to force entrepreneurs to raise the costs of production after many of them have barely survived what became a catastrophic 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Channeling Hayek, Devine argues that markets are critical but not sufficient. Free and equal individualism requires a mythos and a logos, a moral order rooted in God, morality, law, or tradition—otherwise we devolve into warring factions

Wage hike advocates effectively seek to force entrepreneurs to raise the costs of production after many of them have barely survived what became a catastrophic 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Rising unemployment is just one outcome of minimum wage mandates. Capital accumulation and labor productivity will also be hurt. 

Medical doctor Keith Smith returns to the show to explain how government intervention allows insurance companies to distort health care prices. 

Much of the harm is disguised by focusing on forecasts of higher aggregate income for the poor. Individuals, on the other hand, are another story. 

Rising unemployment is just one outcome of minimum wage mandates. Capital accumulation and labor productivity will also be hurt.