Perspective

Paternalist Nudges

Harvard law professor Cass Sunstein and University of Chicago economics professor Richard Thaler are self-proclaimed “libertarian paternalists” (http://tinyurl.com/6xy6l4). Contradiction in terms? They think not. According to their approach, “[G]overnments try to move people in good directions without imposing penalties, mandates or bans.” The part about “moving people in good directions” is the paternalism. The part [...]

1Nov2008 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | Continued

Hubris in the First Degree

“I will commit two billion dollars each year on clean-coal research and development. We will build the demonstration plants, refine the techniques and equipment, and make clean coal a reality.” That’s what John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, said back on June 18 in Springfield, Missouri. My first reaction was this: “That’s mighty generous of [...]

1Oct2008 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | Continued

The “Stable Bulwark of Our Liberties”

The U.S. Supreme Court in June struck a blow for the separation of powers and dealt the Bush administration a big setback by ruling that suspects held without charge at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have the right to contest their imprisonment under the doctrine of habeas corpus. Simply put, the Court held that the government may [...]

1Sep2008 | Sheldon Richman | 5 comments | Continued

Government Schools and the Housing Mess

The Law of Unintended Consequences is a fascinating thing. You can never be entirely sure what the second-, third-, etc.- order effects of any action will be. This is especially so with government policy because centralized decision-making can do so much damage to so many people. That ought to humble the politicians and bureaucrats, but [...]

1Jun2008 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | Continued

The State Is Morally Hazardous To Your Health

It’s never been more important for advocates of individual liberty to emphasize that what is failing today is not the free market but the state. To claim otherwise is to ignore generations of pervasive and deep-seated privilege through government interference with the marketplace. Intentions are irrelevant. The laws of economics proceed whether those who interfere [...]

1May2008 | Sheldon Richman | 1 comment | Continued

Are the Voters Qualified to Pick a President?

The big political buzz is over whether John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama are qualified to be president. The voters are expected to decide, but are they qualified to do that? How would voters know who is up to this job? They might try to make a judgment on the basis of character. But [...]

1Apr2008 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | Continued

An Unstimulating Idea

“It’s like taking a bucket of water from the deep end of a pool and dumping it into the shallow end.” That’s how George Mason University economist Russell Roberts describes the logic—rather, illogic—of the economic “stimulus” proposals that everyone and his uncle have been proposing. If we needed further demonstration of the folly that is [...]

1Mar2008 | Sheldon Richman | 1 comment | Continued

A Matter of Priorities

‘Tis the political season, which means the season to bash immigrants. This goes especially for so-called “illegal aliens,” that is, residents without government papers. (As if that’s a big deal.) Candidates and others who are set on securing the Mexican border—the Canadian border seems of less concern—and expelling those who had the audacity to come [...]

1Jan2008 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | Continued

Last Taxpayer Standing

You’d think that if the people are the masters and government is the servant, taxpayers could sue when their money was spent in ways that violate their rights. But that’s not how the courts see the matter. Last summer the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, once again, that mere taxpayer status confers no standing to sue [...]

1Oct2007 | Sheldon Richman | 1 comment | Continued

We Win One (So Far)

May the government declare a U.S. resident an “enemy combatant,” throw him in a military prison indefinitely, and never charge him with a crime—all without judicial review? The Bush administration says yes. But in a key ruling in June, the same week as the 792nd anniversary of Magna Carta, a three-judge panel of the U.S. [...]

1Sep2007 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | Continued

Made Everywhere

In June I suggested that since exports and imports are defined with reference to economically irrelevant political boundaries, the very concepts are invidious: “There is only what I make and what everyone else makes.” Here’s another way to illustrate the point, compliments of economist Sudha Shenoy of the University of Newcastle, Australia. Shenoy shows that in [...]

1Jul2007 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | Continued

Imports, Exports, and Nonsense

The Commerce Department (whose idea was that?) said recently that 2006 was another record year for the U.S. “trade deficit.” The value of imports beat the value of exports by $764 billion. That makes five record years in a row. China’s trade surplus with us hit $233 billion. Ordinarily, I would ignore this nonstory because, [...]

1Jun2007 | Sheldon Richman | 2 comments | Continued

Inequality Matters

In the controversy raging over whether income inequality in America is growing a lot or a little, some pro-market people say it doesn’t much matter. This attitude is unjustified, not to mention harmful to the cause of individual freedom because it misses the bigger picture. How could growing economic inequality not matter? I’d understand that [...]

1May2007 | Sheldon Richman | 3 comments | Continued

Fiscal Force

“I know ev’rybody’s income and what ev’rybody earns; And I carefully compare it with the income-tax returns.” —W.S. Gilbert, Princess Ida April is the cruelest month, for reasons other than what T.S. Eliot had in mind. This is the month in which you must account for yourself to Caesar. The authorities, having relieved you of [...]

1Apr2007 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | Continued

Extortion in Port Chester

The least appreciated form of tyranny in the United States goes by the names “redevelopment” and “government-business partnership.” While everyone knows about the threat of development-oriented eminent domain, thanks to the 2005 Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. New London, local tyranny goes much deeper than the “mere” taking of property in order to give [...]

1Mar2007 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | Continued

Trans-Fattened Government

So people dining out in New York City will be protected from unwittingly—or even wittingly—consuming foods containing trans fats. Trans fats are what you get with partially hydrogenated oils and shortenings, which keep foods like French fries from getting soggy and margarine solid at room temperature.  Trans fats will be banned in the city’s restaurants [...]

1Jan2007 | Sheldon Richman | 2 comments | Continued

Economists Against Economics

Five economists who either won the Nobel Prize in economics or who served as president of the American Economic Association—and three who did both—recently joined over 600 other economists in urging the federal government to increase the minimum wage. The signatures were gathered by the union-backed Economic Policy Institute (EPI), which unsurprisingly supports substantial government [...]

1Dec2006 | Sheldon Richman | 1 comment | Continued
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