Health scare stories rarely add up
Health scare stories rarely add up
If you read enough news stories about public health issues, they all start to sound the same. The headline warns us about a threat to our health. Public health officials attest that the threat is very real and advise us to be very careful, because it could happen to you or someone you love. They...
By Michael Van Beek
Food Delivery Apps Should Be Celebrated, Not Regulated
Food Delivery Apps Should Be Celebrated, Not Regulated
Enjoying massive popularity since the Covid-19 pandemic, food delivery apps will likely remain a customer favorite and part of the restaurant market for the foreseeable future. But like many other gig-economy apps, these food delivery services have recently come under scrutiny. This has led cities to propose new regulations such as delivery service fee caps...
By Trey Price
Why Product Safety Regulations Should Be Scrapped
Why Product Safety Regulations Should Be Scrapped
A common objection to unfettered capitalism is that, left to their own devices, greedy industrialists would cut corners with product safety, resulting in tremendous harm to consumers. Dangerous products would flood the market, leading to a dystopia of preventable death and destruction. Extreme hypotheticals are brought up the moment someone suggests a hands-off approach. Drugs...
By Patrick Carroll
Do Americans Lose If U.S. Steel Gets Sold? Far From It
Do Americans Lose If U.S. Steel Gets Sold? Far From It
Nippon Steel — Japan’s largest steelmaker — has offered to buy U.S. Steel for $14.1 billion, and all the people who count are frothing at the mouth. For example, President Biden has stated: “U.S. Steel has been an iconic American steel company for more than a century, and it is vital for it to remain...
By Walter Edward Block
Free Market Road Show heads to Northwood April 2
Free Market Road Show heads to Northwood April 2
The Free Market Road Show is heading to Northwood University April 2 as part of the 2024 Freedom Seminar. “The Austrian Economics Center facilitates the Free Market Road Show to provide high-quality analyses and engaging events that highlight the importance of individual liberty, free markets and constitutionally limited government — all values shared by Northwood...
Grading the Grid: Natural Gas and Nuclear Top List of Reliable and Affordable Energy Sources
Grading the Grid: Natural Gas and Nuclear Top List of Reliable and Affordable Energy Sources
Natural gas and nuclear power lead the rest of the class in generating clean and affordable energy, according to a new national energy report card created by Northwood University in partnership with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. “We ranked eight key energy industry sectors based on their ability to meet growing demand for affordable,...
Young People Aren’t Nearly Angry Enough About Government Debt
Young People Aren’t Nearly Angry Enough About Government Debt
Young people sometimes seem to wake up in the morning in search of something to be outraged about. We are among the wealthiest and most educated humans in history. But we’re increasingly convinced that we’re worse off than our parents were, that the planet is in crisis, and that it’s probably not worth having kids....
By Laura Williams
A Robust Education Marketplace Means Some Schools Will Fail
A Robust Education Marketplace Means Some Schools Will Fail
A couple of years ago, I was presenting at a small education conference in New York when someone asked what a success indicator might be for a dynamic, decentralized education marketplace. “When we see some schools shutting down,” I responded. In an education free market, parents are the customers. If they are not satisfied with...
By Kerry McDonald
Why Julian Assange Must Be Freed
Why Julian Assange Must Be Freed
John Joseph Mearsheimer recently summed up in a single sentence why Julian Assange should go free. “Journalists don’t go to jail for publishing classified information in the United States,” Mr. Mearsheimer, a political scientist at the University of Chicago, said in a recent video. There has been endless ink spilled on Mr. Assange, whose lawyers...
By Jonathan Miltimore
Nash, Hop and Lang: Do the rich pay their fair share in taxes?
Nash, Hop and Lang: Do the rich pay their fair share in taxes?
The distribution of the income tax burden in America is a surprising study, to say the least. Two recent studies produced by the National Taxpayers Union Foundation analyzes who pays the federal income tax burden and what the burden and cost of preparing income taxes really is. The short version? Rich people do pay their...
By Dr. Timothy Nash
Should the US Congress Audit the Federal Reserve?
Should the US Congress Audit the Federal Reserve?
The Federal Reserve system, including its twelve regional district banks that issue our US currency, is a creature of Congress, which passed the Federal Reserve Act in 1913 to create our central bank. The Fed is neither part of the executive branch of the federal government, nor is it an independent federal agency within the...
By Jane Johnson
Separating Information from Disinformation: Threats from the AI Revolution
Separating Information from Disinformation: Threats from the AI Revolution
Artificial intelligence (AI) cannot distinguish fact from fiction. It also isn’t creative or can create novel content but repeats, repackages, and reformulates what has already been said (but perhaps in new ways). I am sure someone will disagree with the latter, perhaps pointing to the fact that AI can clearly generate, for example, new songs...
By Per Bylund
Inflation Remains Elevated. Is Money Actually Tight?
Inflation Remains Elevated. Is Money Actually Tight?
There’s been another bump in the disinflationary road. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 0.4 percent in February and 3.2 percent year-over-year, exceeding many economists’ predictions. That’s up slightly from January’s 0.3-percent monthly and 3.1-percent annualized increases. Much of the increase is due to shelter and gasoline prices, which...
By Alexander William Salter
The Great Ponzi Scheme
The Great Ponzi Scheme
The United States is in fiscal trouble. The burden of government spending has increased by nearly $3 trillion over the past 10 years—nearly doubling in just one decade! And that means more resources diverted from the economy’s productive sector, which is bad news whether the spending is financed by taxes, borrowing, or money printing. To...
By Daniel J. Mitchell