Bad News From Survey of Economic Literacy
My friend Dan Klein did an interesting analysis of how different ideological groups do on a series of simple economic questions. He wrote up the results for the WSJ and it is interesting stuff.Who is...
View ArticleConservatives v. Libertarians
It’s hard to imagine a greater victory for the conservative legal movement than the Supreme Court’s 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, which overturned D.C.’s ban on handguns. Not only...
View ArticleThe Cost of Slow Travel
Steven Polzin, director of the urban transportation research center at the University of South Florida, has spurred an interesting debate on Planetizen.com with his recent column noting that slow...
View ArticleSummers Talks California Public Pension Reform on John and Ken Show
I recently got to talk with John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou of "The John and Ken Show" on KFI AM 640 (Los Angeles), the most listened to local radio talk show in the nation, about my new California public...
View ArticleLicense to Kill
Nearly a decade after the September 11 attacks, we still have not settled the question of how to deal with terrorism suspects. Should they be in military or civilian custody? Should they receive...
View ArticleWhy the Helen Thomas Case Makes Me Nervous
A few months ago, a picture appeared in The Denver Post. On a local college campus—an alleged stronghold of free inquiry and debate—a leftist student, protesting some perceived injustice, was holding a...
View ArticleMedia Matters (To Itself)
When award-winning 89-year-old Hearst columnist Helen Thomas, who occupied the front-row center seat in the White House press room since sometime during the Stone Age, declared last week that Jews...
View ArticleThe Economic Argument to Resume Gulf Drilling
Every day, more and more oil is leaking from the Gulf seabed into the ocean. It is astounding on many levels that BP has taken this long to get the situation under control. And even now, control is a...
View ArticleReport Released on International Experience with Road Pricing Schemes
Transportation Research Board and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released a report entitled: International Scan: Reducing Congestion & Funding Transportation Using Road Pricing. The...
View ArticleA Rotten Bunch
Running for Congress in 2000, Mark Kirk told a Chicago Tribune reporter he had almost drowned in Lake Michigan as a teenager. "I should be at the bottom of that lake, but I was given a rare gift of a...
View ArticleFree to Choose
America's current struggles notwithstanding, life here is pretty good. We have a standard of living that's the envy of most of the world.Why did that happen? Prosperity isn't the norm. Throughout...
View ArticleCows, Copy, and Cash
What do a Kenyan woman who wants to become a dairy farmer and a journalist interested in reporting on unprocessed rape kits in Los Angeles have in common? Until recently, both would have had trouble...
View ArticleWhat is the Right Question about Electric Cars?
A very interesting article in the Washington Post entitled: “Do More Electric Cars Mean R.I.P. for mpg?” The article is actually about the wringing of the hands concerning how to categorize the new...
View ArticleMichael Barone, Tea Parties, and Rick Santelli's Rant
Michael Barone has a great article in the Washington Examiner that places CNBC economic analyst Rick Santelli's live "rant" against the Stimulus Package in its rightful place as a key trigger to the...
View ArticleTaken By Regulation
According to the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment, “private property [shall not] be taken for public use without just compensation.” The classic example of this is eminent domain, where the...
View ArticleFederal Transit Funding Rules Breed Inefficiency
For decades, federal transit funding has focused all its efforts on capital projects. Like the Interestate Highway System, the feds will build it, or fund its construction, but will not pay for the...
View ArticleInfrastructure Investor Southeast: Public-Private Partnerships Alive and Well
I had the privilege of being the Chair of the PEI Media conference on June 3, 2010 entitled Infrastructure Southeast. The conference focused on Florida, Georgia and Puerto Rico. Senior officials from...
View ArticleLegal System Problems and Solutions Discussed in New Book
I am pleased to announce the publication of a book to which I contributed called The Pursuit of Justice: Law and Economics of Legal Institutions. Here is a synopsis of the book from the Independent...
View ArticleLawyer Licensing Laws Lead to Higher Prices, Less Consumer Choice and Access...
In a previous post I noted the publication of a new book that I contributed to that discusses problems with the U.S. legal system and how to resolve them. The Pursuit of Justice: Law and Economics of...
View ArticleThe Growth of the Public Sector: New York City Education Department Edition
As the Obama administration pleads for billions to bail out public education keep in mind stories like this from the New York Post :The number of employees in the school system earning $150,000 or more...
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