Lynne Kiesling I wasn’t around KP a lot last week because I was spending a lot of time following the Patriot Act extension debacle and contacting my Congressional representatives to urge them to vote against it (of my so-called representatives, only Senator Durbin did so; I think this is the first time he and I …
Civil Liberties and Economics: More Than Just Free Markets Read More »
Michael Giberson From The Hill’s Energy & Environment blog, “House Dems: Koch brothers could benefit from oil pipeline approval“: Top Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee want to know whether the Koch brothers stand to benefit from the approval of a controversial oil sands pipeline. Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the committee’s ranking Democrat, and …
Waxman to Koch Industries: “Are You Now or Have You Ever Been a Capitalist?” Read More »
Michael Giberson Francis Fukuyama’s review of the new edition of F. A. Hayek’s “The Constitution of Liberty” has prompted a small eruption of commentary in the econoblogosphere. (See here and here, for example.) I thought there might be some interest in Sidney Hook’s review of the original edition of “The Constitution of Liberty,” published in the …
Sidney Hook’s 1960 Review of Hayek’s “The Constitution of Liberty” Read More »
Lynne Kiesling Over the past six months the TSA has started using whole-body imaging scanners as primary screening devices without explicit Congressional authorization. Congress has only authorized the TSA’s privacy officer to solicit public comment and publish a privacy impact statement (according to EPIC’s lawsuit), and their authorization of TSA practices is implicit in their …
Homeland Security: Eroding Your Human Rights Without Any Benefit-cost Analysis Read More »
Michael Giberson From the memo of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force: Based upon our work and research to date, it is evident that there are regional differences in gasoline prices, as well as differences in the statutory and other legal tools at the government ‘ s disposal. I don’t …
Lynne Kiesling I’ve been enjoying the new videos available at LearnLiberty, all of which give clear, insightful discussions of fundamental concepts of classical liberalism (including economics). My highlight of the day is Tom Bell’s “Can order be unplanned?” [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPICY2SXgn0] The answer is yes. Here Tom explores the rich intellectual history of the concept of spontaneous …
Michael Giberson The Spring 2011 issue of Regulation magazine carries my article, “The Problem with Price Gouging Laws.” One bit: Economists and policy analysts opposed to price gouging laws have relied on the simple logic of price controls: if you cap price increases during an emergency, you discourage conservation of needed goods at exactly the time they are in …
Michael Giberson A new blog explores the world of Bleeding Heart Libertarians. Matt Zwolinski created the blog as “a forum for academic philosophers who are attracted both to libertarianism and to ideals of social or distributive justice.” He has attracted a top-notch group of collaborators, and the first two weeks of operation has produced a …
Lynne Kiesling A concise public choice analysis of the distortionary economic rents created by the ever-increasing “layers” of TSA security theater, as reported today on the Wired gadget blog: Airport “security” theater may be sickeningly pointless, but this stealthy introduction to a police state brings certain commercial advantages to those willing to cash in. First, …
Intrusive Tsa Searches Create Profit Opportunity for Adidas Read More »
Michael Giberson What do we owe the status quo? Uwe Reinhardt, Economix, asks “How convincing is the case for free trade?” In his column, Reinhardt takes note of a few discussions of free trade without taking a stand himself. But he ends with a provocative quote from Alan Blinder: “If we economists stubbornly insist on chanting ‘free trade …
If Truth is What Your Freshmen Students Let You Get Away With, Then… Read More »
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