Bureaucracy and Regulation
We Need More Housing, Not More Rent Control
Blinded by their zeal to save the masses from the "excesses" of greedy landlords, politicians are ignoring the regulatory state that keeps housing prices on the rise.
South Korea’s Neo-Mercantilist Growth Engine Has Stalled
After very quickly becoming an advanced economy, South Korea is experiencing declining growth and labor productivity. The culprit, as usual, is government intervention in the market to favor certain interests.
Brexit: Predictions of Economic Doom Show Why People Ignore “Experts”
Experts who predicted economic doom as Brexit approached obsessed over the problem of "transaction costs" in trade. But the EU was imposing countless new transaction costs of its own.
Markets Provide Guns Despite Government Restrictions
In spite of all kinds of restrictions and red tape, consumer demand for firearms remains high, and the industry has found a way to meet that demand—through "80 percent lower receivers."
“Surveillance Capitalism”: A Summary of Critics
There's a new kind of capitalism on the scene: "surveillance capitalism." It's drawn attention from across the political spectrum, but Left, Right, and center offer very different solutions to similar concerns.
The Majority of Virginia Homicides Come from Only Two Metro Areas
Just two metro areas in Virginia reported more homicides than all the rest of the state combined.
California’s Anti-Self-Employment Law Is Already Crushing Freelancers
State lawmakers possess an infinite source of good intentions. Wielding the power of this limitless benevolence and munificence, politicians are regulating the lives of citizens while eviscerating their existence in the process.
The Deception behind Government Licensing Laws
How much licensing requirements are designed to “protect” the health of the public, and how much to restrict competition, may be gauged from the fact that giving medical advice free without a license is rarely a legal offense. Only the sale of medical advice requires a license.
The Many Ways Governments Create Monopolies
Since outright grants of monopoly or quasi-monopoly would usually be considered baldly injurious to the public, governments have discovered a variety of methods of granting such privileges indirectly, as well as a variety of arguments to justify these measures.