It is a riot seeing Obama call on an extended payroll tax holiday and the celebrated fiscal conservative Paul Ryan reject it as an economic “sugar high.” Liberals have never been consistent in opposing regressive taxes, of course, but conservatives have likewise been weak on the question of payroll taxes. I recall Rush Limbaugh...
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Greece is reportedly putting into practice Independent Institute Senior Fellow William Shughart’s recommended course of action to insolvent governments: sell off government-held assets, pay off your debts, and get your fiscal house in order for the future. And Greek’s government owns vast swathes of highly desirable property: An umbrella company for most of Greece’s...
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Someone must have imagined that my hopes for improved economic understanding might be excessively optimistic today and thus needed to be curbed to restore my normal emotional balance, because that person undertook to smash any such hopes to dust by e-mailing me a link to a Huffington Post article by Paul Abrams, “Economically, World War II Was Stimulus...
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The provision of justice and security has long been linked in most people’s minds to the state. But are the state’s monopolies on lawmaking and law enforcement really necessary? Those who say “yes” typically assume that any alternative arrangement for law and order would favor the rich at the expense of the poor—or would...
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If want to add your name to this distinguished list, which includes many people well known to libertarians (see below for the names), you have until Wednesday (5:00 PM Pacific, 8:00 PM Eastern). Just send an email to Kevin Zeese at KBZeese@gmail.com and provide a brief descriptor of what you would like next to...
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In further support of Sen. Rand Paul’s challenge to TSA head John Pistole that the TSA is “clueless,” TSA agents have recently added humiliating a 29-year-old “special needs” adult (pictured at right) and a 95-year-old cancer patient to their less-than-stellar record of profiling. Yesterday, the TSA defended its patdown of 95-year-old cancer patient forced...
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The Supreme Court has just overturned a California ban on violent video game sales to minors in a decision penned by conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, saying the First Amendment was never meant to apply absolutely to distribution of ideas to children. I have a big problem with his reasoning. Certainly,...
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In the new hit album by pop-singer “Weird Al” Yankovic, Alpocalypse, he includes the song, “Party in the C.I.A.”, which is a parody of the hit song by Miley Cyrus, “Party in the U.S.A.”

As more and more people have taken an interest in monetary affairs — especially in the Fed and its various operations — in recent years, many people have joined the discussions related to these matters, especially on the World Wide Web. In reading these posts over the years, in particular in reading the comments...
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John Pistole, head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), thinks flying is a privilege, and therefore, apparently, those of us “privileged” to be doing it ought to be subjected to whatever humiliations his agents can dish out. Sen. Rand Paul, during his questioning of Pistole in Senate hearings this week, quoted the Supreme Court’s...
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