President Barack Obama has tried to prop up the housing market by helping people stay in their homes, even though they’re still overwhelmed with mortgage debt. This is the latest in a long series of government interventions intended to promote homeownership. But propping up the housing market has only prolonged the housing slump — a depressing fact …
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Housing Crisis? Look to Canada for Answers by Jim Powell
Will a lame duck Congress pass cap-and-trade? Judging from recent news, it might try. But, more likely, all the sound and fury will end up signifying its usual nothing. And it leaves the preferred option, where Congress punts the problem to the EPA, very much alive. On Aug. 10, the House of Representatives blocked a resolution from Tom Price, R-Ga., that would have prohibited the House from convening…
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Bad Climate Bill Belongs in Limbo by Patrick J. Michaels
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 This article is Jim Harper’s closing remarks in a larger debate on The …
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Online Privacy (Part 3) by Jim Harper
In his prime-time address last night, President Obama wisely avoided many of the pitfalls that tripped up his predecessor. He did not declare victory under a “mission accomplished” banner or claim that a fully-flowered democracy had been created in Iraq. Rather, he expressed his hope that violence…
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The Iraq Mission Shifts to the Iraqis by Christopher Preble
At first glance, it seemed a silly headline even by the standards of MSNBC: “Can the GOP Survive a Tea Party Takeover?” Of course, the story was yet another in the narrative that has been eagerly embraced by both the mainstream media and desperate Democrats: “Extreme” candidates who are associated with the tea-party movement are dooming Republicans to defeat this fall. If only the Republicans had nominated more moderate, “go along to get along” candidates, who supported tax…
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Welcome to the Party by Michael D. Tanner
When we think of human-rights problems, most of us imagine arbitrary arrests, political repression, religious persecution, torture, show trials, censorship, and the like. In America, we don’t often have those kinds of problems. Even the current …
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Wrong about Human Rights by Roger Pilon
President Barack Obama is continuing to reorient U.S. foreign policy in general, and in the Middle East in particular, along the lines of the internationalist/neo-realist approach pursued in the pre-9/11 years of Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Obama’s Tuesday’s televised address marking the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq — coupled with his earlier decision to escalate U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan — and this week’s start of a…
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Obama’s Mideast Policy: An Unpromising Drive towards a Cost-Effective Pax Americana by Leon T. Hadar
In the run-up to Glenn Beck’s religious-themed rally at the Lincoln Memorial Saturday…
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Was It a "Church Picnic" or a Freedom Rally? by Gene Healy
Today we will look at a perfect example of sack of gutlessness that goes by the name of William Kristol. But he…
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William Kristol: Dulce Bellum Inexpertis by David Isenberg
Have you noticed that many in the political class are absolutely shameless in trying to protect themselves and their colleagues from legitimate inquiry into their activities? For instance…
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Vulture or Watchdog? by Richard W. Rahn
Drums are beating in Washington for a value-added tax in addition to the “stimulus” taxes, health care taxes, energy taxes and other taxes President Obama has imposed and wants to impose on hard-pressed taxpayers. Supposedly a value-added tax is a magic elixir for curing budget deficits and excessive debt. Quack remedy would be more like it. If it worked, you’d observe that countries with a VAT had budget surpluses and no debt…
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If VAT Is Rx for Deficits and Debt, Why Are VAT Users on the Brink? by Jim Powell
Part 1 | Part 2 This article is Jim Harper’s rebuttal in a larger debate on The Economist’s website. If privacy protection is the goal, we might want governments to do quite a bit less, not more. Marc Rotenberg’s opening statement catalogues many things governments could stop doing if they want to aid our privacy protection. His organisation, EPIC, indeed fought the American National Security Agency’s “clipper chip” proposal, which would have given authorities a back door …
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Online Privacy (Part 2) by Jim Harper
Despite occasional…
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The Pentagon’s Worried View of China by Ted Galen Carpenter
On August 5th, Social Security trustees released their report showing that permanent annual Social Security deficits will begin in 2015, when …
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A Flash Point for Social Security by Jim Powell
The attempted attacks by would-be airline bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and would-be Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad opened …
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Miranda Doesn’t Need Fixing by David Rittgers
The Consumer Financial Protection Agency is the new kid on the block, a stranger among many agencies regulating financial institutions. The new kid has an agreeable …
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Along the Flaming Paper Trail of Crusader Elizabeth Warren by Alan Reynolds
Why is it that one government report after another “unexpectedly” bears more bad news about jobs? Last week, according to Bloomberg, “The number of unemployment claims unexpectedly shot up.” Before that, Reuters reported, “Employers unexpectedly cut jobs.” This “unexpectedly” bit has been going on for quite a while, suggesting that journalists continue to be surprised that President Obama’s progressive agenda has failed to revive private…
Why is it that one government report after another “unexpectedly” bears more bad news about jobs? Last week, according to Bloomberg, “The number of unemployment claims unexpectedly shot up.” Before that, Reuters reported, “Employers unexpectedly cut jobs.” This “unexpectedly” bit has been going on for quite a while, suggesting that journalists…
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The Cost of Progressivist Worship by Jim Powell
The Consumer Financial Protection Agency is the new kid on the block, …
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Along the Flaming Paper Trail of Crusader Elizabeth Warren by Alan Reynolds
Why is it that one government report after another “unexpectedly” bears more bad news about jobs? Last week, according to Bloomberg, “The number of …
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The Cost of Progressivist Worship by Jim Powell
