Some people use drugs. Deal with it.

Stopping overdoses means having an open, educated, honest discussion about drugs and how to use them safely. This horrifies many people who seem to think that the only thing one can say about crack or meth or heroin is “EVIL SUPERDRUG! Never, ever touch it!” The people receptive to this scaremongering are not the users. This … Continued

CBO finds Affordable Care Act cuts employment by equivalent of 2 million workers

Appendix C of the Congressional Budget Office’s ten-year economic outlook, regarding the labor market effects of the Affordable Care Act, explains in devastating detail just how much the Act will hurt the already weak labor market. It’s pretty straightforward price theory, gauging the effects of the various taxes imposed and subsidies offered by the ACA. Below … Continued

By the Numbers: Is the US “The Freest Country In the World”?

“The United States is the freest country on earth.” It is a comforting story Americans tell ourselves when we feel our position in the world challenged, or when chest-thumping nationalists mount the platform to brag about “American exceptionalism”, or when we need to excuse our behavior internationally. But is it true? How does the United States stack … Continued

Watergate: America’s Finest Hour

Many people think of the 1970s and Watergate as low-water marks in America’s political history, but personally, I think of it as one of our finest hours. For once, the system worked. The president and vice president were forced to resign in disgrace for their crimes. The attorney general and deputy attorney general resigned on principle, … Continued

“Questions Libertarians Can’t Answer”? Let Me Google That For You.

There’s become something of a cottage industry recently of blogs listing “questions libertarians can’t answer” or “knockdown arguments” against libertarianism (see Salon, The New York Times, Psychology Today, Bloomberg, et al). Having read an impressive fraction of these articles, I’ve concluded that most of their authors do not have a clue what libertarianism actually is. … Continued

Small Government Is Popular–The GOP Isn’t

Everybody Hates John Boehner The other day, two seemingly contradictory stories appeared in my inbox almost simultaneously. The first was yet another story on how unpopular the Republican Party is right now, thanks to their doomed, incoherent budget strategy: “NBC/WSJ poll: Shutdown debate damages GOP.” The short of it is that only 24% of Americans … Continued

The War’s Over—Free Tanks for Everyone!

Recently, police departments all over the country have gotten their hands on vehicles that most Americans haven’t seen outside of war coverage. From Yreka, California to Dallas, Texas to Ohio State University, police are acquiring mine-resistant armored personnel carriers (MRAPs)–heavily armored vehicles that are designed to stand up against insurgent attacks. What’s going on here? … Continued

5 Questions For a Skeptical Libertarian: Drugs, Climate, and Utopia

I recently got an email from a student from Norway with five questions about libertarianism that I thought were worth a response. They cover a broad range of subjects, so I’ll try to be brief. My answers are not intended be definitive of “the” libertarian position, but they represent my current thinking on a number … Continued