The Spring 2013 issue of The Independent Review—the Independent Institute’s flagship scholarly journal, edited by Robert Higgs—is hot off the press. Below you’ll find links to articles and book reviews that address a host of intriguing questions: Why have domestic police agencies across the United States resorted increasingly to “no-knock” raids and other military-type...
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Sixteen year-old Olympian gold medalist Gabby Douglas—a model of sweet humility, giving “all the glory to God”—had her well-deserved turn in the spotlight with Jay Leno last night, and was treated to a dose of humiliation from our self-appointed nutrition czarina, Mrs. Obama. Asked what she did to celebrate her stunning performance in London,...
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Mayor Bloomberg wants to ban sugary drinks that exceed 16oz in New York. Large colas, root beers, sweet teas, sports drinks—none would be safe. Restaurants, delis, sports arenas, street hot dog carts—all would be captured territory in the Mayor’s war on obesity. No longer could you wash down a monster pastrami on rye with...
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We might define our time in economic history by the prices of various fast food items. When I was growing up, $5 could get you a feast at McDonald’s or any similar establishment—deluxe burger, fries, soda, maybe an apple pie or some fried chicken bits. I saw $5 as the upper limit of what...
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Are human beings better suited for individualism or collectivism? The question seems highly relevant to issues of political economy, but it’s one that very few advocates of individual liberty have sought to answer by looking at the anthropological record. This neglect is unfortunate, economist Thomas Mayor suggests, because the evidence indicates that for millennia...
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A U.S. District Judge has struck down the Food and Drug Administration’s new graphic cigarette labels on the grounds that they violate the First Amendment. The labels, depicting visibly horrendous health problems, such as cancerous mouths, obstruct the tobacco company’s freedom of expression, the decision argues. These labels “were neither designed to protect the...
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Here is some reading to celebrate Martin Luther King Day: Michelle Alexander’s book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. I confess up front I have not read the book. I’ve just read some things about it. Here is a short write-up from the author’s interview on NPR. The book...
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In the escalating P.C. wars waged by the secular theocracy‘s Nanny State, an elementary public school this fall ordered a ten-year-old boy to spend the rest of the semester eating lunch alone at the school’s “silence table,” with a dire warning of suspension if he dared to threaten others again. We certainly need to...
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How are the big-hair rock band’s contractual prohibitions against brown M&M’s similar to the Third Amendment’s limitations on the quartering of soldiers? Professor Tom W. Bell of Chapman University School of Law explains: In the grand struggle to protect individual rights against government trespass, the Third Amendment plays a role akin to the provision,...
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Welcome to the next chapter in our continuing coverage of Police State USA. In a JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) opinion piece, the authors argue for taking “super-obese” children from parents and putting them in foster care. Having just researched the dark side of well-intentioned “Progressivism” (early 20th century), I find this...
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