“Contrary to the Bitcoin apostles I met at the conference all those years ago, contemporary owners of cryptocurrency seem to be more interested in its speculative properties than its potential as an alternate currency or stable store of value.”
“20 years of RCV in San Francisco has neither moderated the city’s politics nor produced any novel outcomes worth replicating.”
“Although they are run down, many still boast high local taxes. Sadly, this forms a vicious cycle of adverse selection, spiraling tax rates, and underfunding. “
“Finally, the mere expectation of inflation can actually bring it to pass.”
“As President Joe Biden unveils his own ambitious spending plans, it is worth asking if the national debt is finally going to have its moment.”
“Soave’s new book, Tech Panic: Why We Shouldn’t Fear Facebook and the Future, will be published on September 28th…”
“Thus, corporate policy at Google, Apple, Amazon, et al. becomes a second set of laws by which Americans must live.”
“The Economist’s less-than-ringing endorsement of the former Vice President—resignedly titled, ‘Why it has to be Biden’—typifies the sentiment.”
“With 14 million Americans suddenly plunged into indefinite unemployment, has UBI become more popular? It seems like the answer is yes and no.”
“But it feels myopic to interpret this as a larger victory or cheer for more of the same, especially if the ultimate goal is to restore some sense of ideological pluralism to mainstream institutions.”
“In the meantime, perhaps given their impressive track record, free-to-consumer vaccines are something we can all get behind.”
“Our commitment to the rights of others to express themselves, even if they hold heinous beliefs, is something uniquely American, and it is perhaps the finest piece of our cultural heritage.”
“My two cents is that respect for authority is neither a particularly conservative nor liberal trait. Rather, conservatives and liberals hold reverence for different categories of authority and the actors that operate within those spheres.”
“The pandemic, while it has undeniably worsened the outlook for many institutions, has only exacerbated and brought into sharper relief some of the extant forces threatening to pop the higher education bubble.”
“For those of us who don’t want to go fully off-grid but concern ourselves with the expansion of the state, what might a pandemic response look like?”
“Today, we tend to hear more about how ‘health care is a human right’ with comparatively less talk about the economic or health impact universal health care might have on the nation.”
“For those of us nerdy enough to frequent the annals of the U.S. Census, it was a jarring thing to hear that Puerto Rico is 70 percent white, according to its own inhabitants!”
“There won’t always be a happy marriage between impactful environmentalism and progressive values. For environmental groups to weather the political storm, they’ll have to be able to tap sources of support from outside the left.”
Milton Friedman’s argument that corporations refrain from engaging themselves in social and political issues is compelling. But his argument likely doesn’t apply in today’s world, a world where “social consciousness” actually drives business.
Thinking about opening a barber shop, what do you do? If your answer was something other than, “Find out how to obtain the state’s permission,” you’re in for a surprise.
Professor Caplan thinks students are wise to the true value of a degree, which could help to explain why almost no student ever audits a class and why students spend only about 14 hours per week studying, down from 24 hours per week in 1961.
The HUD Secretary’s outrageous spending on tableware is causing an uproar because of how relatable it is — not its cost.
In many ways, libertarians can rest happily knowing that their ideas are winning, even if their candidates are not.
A final positive consequence of polarization is that it slows down the government.
While the idea has attracted fervent support from across the political spectrum, practical constraints keep it from being anything other than a utopian pipe dream.
Some enthusiasts speculate that eliminating immigration restrictions could double global GDP.
