How crony capitalism is hurting my neighborhood—and probably yours
My neighborhood got hit pretty hard by the financial crisis of 2008. Many of the homes had been purchased with subprime mortgages, and as the housing bubble burst, values plummeted while foreclosures...
View ArticleElizabeth Warren sets the government loose on Airbnb, despite its...
Three Democratic senators have signed a letter asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the popular home-sharing service Airbnb. The three Democrats — Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Dianne Feinstein...
View ArticleHow crony capitalism is making this crucial medical device unbelievably...
The EpiPen is a device that delivers the hormone epinephrine directly into the body during a crisis allergy attack. It can be the difference between life and death, and many people with severe...
View ArticleSo now Donald Trump says he wants a $10 minimum wage
Donald Trump went on Fox News (where else?) and proved at long last that he’s no fiscal conservative. Host Bill O’Reilly asked Trump about the minimum wage, which Bernie Sanders had accused him of...
View ArticleWhat the left gets wrong about the gig economy
Earlier this month, Berkeley professor and former secretary of labor Robert Reich told BuzzFeed that the gig economy is a “nightmare.” Work in this emerging jobs sector — Uber, Airbnb, etc. — doesn’t...
View ArticleIn Idaho, it’s harder to become a barber than a bounty hunter
In Washington, D.C., shoe-shiners have to wade through four layers of bureaucracy and pay at least $337 in fees to get city permission to clean shoes for money. In Florida, it takes about six years and...
View ArticleBlame government for Ford’s decision to move small car production to Mexico
Ford CEO Mark Fields angered some politicians when he recently announced the company would be moving all small car production to Mexico. But companies don’t typically take such major steps lightly....
View ArticleA Missouri court decided people can’t braid hair without a license out of...
To be able to professionally offer African-style hair braiding in Missouri, you have to be a licensed cosmetologist. To be a licensed cosmetologist, you have to complete 1,500 hours of expensive...
View ArticleLocal land use regulations have seriously damaged our economy — but maybe...
This week, the White House released a “Housing Development Toolkit,” a policy paper in which the Obama Administration actually takes a stand for greater freedom in the housing market. At issue are...
View ArticleBarack Obama has imposed more regulations than any other president in history
President Barack Obama is on track to impose more regulations than any other American president. Yesterday, the Federal Register, which publishes the official rules and regulations of the federal...
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These food truck regulations are onerous, unfair, and outright stupid
If you want to operate a food truck in Chicago, you’d better like getting up early. Really early. That’s not because the breakfast scene is so hot, but because the city’s ridiculous regulations mean...
View ArticleDonald Trump’s economic nationalism will make Americans poorer
In the wake of the deal reached with Carrier last week to keep 800 jobs in Indiana, the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump has been expanding its message of economic nationalism....
View ArticleOpposing occupational licensing laws doesn’t mean you want incompetent...
“Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society,” wrote economist Frédéric Bastiat in one of the best-known passages of his most famous...
View ArticleCarrier is keeping jobs in the U.S.—they’re also taking this harmful and...
President-elect Donald Trump wants to rebuild domestic manufacturing. The United States has actually doubled its manufacturing output in the past three decades, though it’s also shed 5 million...
View ArticleIn proposing tariffs, Donald Trump goes full George W. Bush
Donald Trump is a blank slate, a Rorschach test, or, if you prefer something less trite, a creature of deep caprice willing to change his mind on the basis of who was last whispering in his ear. That’s...
View ArticleHigher taxes: Donald Trump’s Christmas present to American consumers
President-elect Donald Trump appears to be making good on his threats to impose protectionist measures on American trade. CNN reported Wednesday that the Trump administration will impose a 5 percent...
View ArticleThis distiller is being forced to stop selling his most popular liquor for no...
There are a lot of great breweries in the Twin Cities, where I live, but more exciting to me — as someone who enjoys a good beer but really prefers a cocktail — is the growing distillery scene. One new...
View ArticleDonald Trump just took a huge step toward helping small businesses
For all of Donald Trump’s faults, he seems to be genuinely interested in boosting small businesses. His pick of former WWE CEO Linda McMahon for head of the Small Business Administration is excellent....
View ArticleFederal bureaucrats moan as Donald Trump begins to roll back regulations
Spare some tears this morning for the besieged men and women of the federal regulatory behemoth. Donald Trump has made it known he intends to hack through more red tape than any president since Ronald...
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Donald Trump and Congress have already saved Americans almost $3 billion
One promise made by Donald Trump and Republicans running for Congress is that they would address overregulation. Now, with a unified Republican federal government, both Trump and Congress have moved...
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