Regulation Policy & Welfare

Three Jeers for Government Regulation

by Richard M. Ebeling November 1, 2018

The appeal of and the rationales for government intervention and regulation of private enterprise never seem to disappear. Time and time again, as soon as some theoretical argument for or historical instance of interventionism has been challenged and demonstrated to be false and a failure, another one soon arises to replace it. Truly, the price of economic liberty is eternal ...

The Libertarian Angle: Insider Trading

by Future of Freedom Foundation August 14, 2018

Insider trading is a felony. Should it be? Is insider trading wrong at all? FFF president Jacob G. Hornberger and Richard Ebeling discuss. Go to the podcast https://libertarianangle.libsyn.com/.

The Libertarian Angle: The Licensure Racket (video)

by Future of Freedom Foundation June 19, 2018

FFF president Jacob G. Hornberger and Richard M. Ebeling discuss how government licensing violates the non-aggression principle and distorts the market. Go to the podcast.

Gambling Madness

by Laurence M. Vance April 4, 2018

March Madness has finally ended, albeit in April. However, the federal prohibition against gambling on the basketball games continues. On March 11 — Selection Sunday — the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced which 68 teams qualified for the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. Thirty-two teams get automatic spots to play because they are conference tournament ...

Of Course It’s Welfare

by Laurence M. Vance January 29, 2018

Welfare by any other name is still welfare, even when it is not given to the poor, and even when it is called vouchers or subsidies. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal, “Denver Has a Plan for Its Many Luxury Apartments: Housing Subsidies” (abridged from the January 9, 2018, print edition article “Denver’s Fix ...

Why Not End Both Programs?

by Laurence M. Vance January 4, 2018

Wisconsin’s governor, Scott Walker, wants to make Wisconsin the first state to mandate drug testing for able-bodied adults who apply for food stamps. Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled legislature approved the idea more than two years ago, but nothing came of it because of concerns about its constitutionality and its conflict with federal rules that prohibit states from imposing ...

The Trillion Dollar Welfare Program

by Laurence M. Vance December 22, 2017

It wasn’t that long ago (1987) that the entire budget of the federal government was “only” a trillion dollars. Now just one of the government’s programs has reached that milestone. On the eighth business day of each month, the Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service issues The Monthly Treasury Statement of Receipts and Outlays ...

Ten Years On: Recession, Recovery and the Regulatory State

by Richard M. Ebeling August 14, 2017

What we now know to have been one of the worst economic and financial crises of the post-World War II period began about ten years ago in 2007. Various retrospective commentaries have focused on the severity of the economic downturn, its impact on different markets and segments of the population, and the lessons from it. An especially important lesson ...

How Not to Cut Welfare Spending

by Laurence M. Vance July 1, 2017

The U.S. federal budget is now in the neighborhood of $4 trillion. Just ten years ago it wasn’t even $3 trillion. It was “only” $2 trillion in 2002, and didn’t reach the trillion dollar mark until 1987. The greatest component of the federal budget is spending on the welfare state. Welfare programs There are in the United States about 80 means-tested ...

Who Should Conduct Background Checks?

by Laurence M. Vance May 22, 2017

Taxi companies are not happy about having to compete with ride-share services such as Uber and Lyft. Taxi companies and taxi drivers are collectively “resisting an industry that they say threatens their livelihoods and the well-being of consumers.” In Los Angeles, the number of taxi trips arranged in advance has fallen by ...

How Food Stamps Subverted Democracy, Part 1

by James Bovard December 1, 2016

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 The federal government is now feeding more than 100 million Americans. The vast increase in dependency fundamentally changes the relationship of Washington to the citizenry. The more Americans rely on handouts, the more difficult it becomes to roll back politicians’ power over those who do not. There was no ...

The Absurdity of Laws against Prostitution

by Laurence M. Vance November 15, 2016

Aside from voting for candidates for federal, state, and local offices, residents of California recently had the option of voting on a most unusual measure on their election ballots. There were seventeen initiatives on the general election ballot in California this year. Proposition 60, the Condoms in Pornographic Films Initiative, would have required “adult film producers to ...