An Advocate of Protectionism Defends Herself
I was surprised to find that Ms. Anita Dungey, a manufacturer of pet collars in Auburn, New York (whom I criticized in an earlier post for her demands for protection…
Economic Insights
Lowering Taxes Costs the Taxpayers Money?
I was a bit shocked to find a top-of-front-page banner article in the Washington Post on “A Quiet Break for Corporations.” It turns out that Anita Dungey, the owner of…
Technological Alternatives to Patents and Copyrights
I’ve just downloaded the new iTunes 7. Wow….it is beautiful. It also led me to think a bit about issues on which I worked quite a few years ago, in…
Some Insights from Mercatus/GMU Economists
Tyler Cowen had an interesting essay in the New York Times on the “trade imbalance” between the U.S. and China (insightful, but I don’t follow his argument about whether the…
Economic Freedom of the World Study Released
The Economic Freedom of the World: 2006 Annual Report was released today (well, it’s 12:20 am, so technically yesterday). It’s well worth a careful read. The charts relating economic freedom…
The Causes of (Arabic) Economic Growth
My colleagues have been working hard to promote rational discussion of issues of institutional reform in the Arab world. Most recently, they just got Reuven Brenner’s essay “The Causes of…
Those Awful Syrian Taxi Drivers!
David M. Brown at Laissez Faire Books has a good discusion on the LFB.com Blog of “price gouging” by Syrian taxi drivers who charge more than the usual fee —…
Thank God for Governmental Safety Regulations!
Toyota: Less Safe, Thanks to Uncle Sam My old friend Dan Garrett just sent me a great link to an article on CNN, “Toyota’s totally bizarre recall: Why would Toyota…
Crisis, Government, and History
I finally managed to upload a PDF version of the Powerpoint presentation I made at the Freedom School before departing for Vienna. Naturally, it’s just the broad outline of my…
History Repeats Itself, Itself, Itself, Itself….
My colleague David Boaz came across a startling little news item about a certain Senator from New York and the “Syracuse Candle Industry” and had some smart things to say…