By Ryan McMaken When the Soviet Union began its collapse in 1989, the world witnessed decentralization and secession on a scale not seen in Europe since the nineteenth century. Over the next several years, puppet regimes and states-in-name-only broke away from Soviet domination and formed sovereign states. Some states which had completely ceased to exist—such as the … [Read more...] about Why Governments Hate Secession
Government
The Adverse Impact of Government Bureaucracy on Private Employment
By Daniel J. Mitchell When I did this video about public-sector compensation almost 10 years ago, I focused on why it is unfair that bureaucrats get much higher levels of compensation than people working the private sector. Today, let’s consider the economic consequences of excessive bureaucracy. And what will make this column particularly interesting is that I’ll … [Read more...] about The Adverse Impact of Government Bureaucracy on Private Employment
Unnecessary Evil: How Government Regulations Kill Crypto Startups and Encourage Crime
By Graham Smith Thanks to the EU’s most recent money laundering directive, a small business called Post-a-coin, which sold cute postcards pre-loaded with tiny amounts of bitcoin, is being forced to shut down. Meanwhile, the most heinous criminals in history are continuing to facilitate violence, trafficking and laundering of cash with impunity. Also Read: Why the Counter … [Read more...] about Unnecessary Evil: How Government Regulations Kill Crypto Startups and Encourage Crime
The Year in Bad Ideas
By Max Gulker At first glance 2019 was a rough year for anyone in favor of an economy and society guided from the bottom up by people with the freedom to exchange, cooperate, and think as they choose. The highly visible left flank of the Democratic Party, fully embracing socialism in name and approach, erupted with proposals that would drastically change the country in ways … [Read more...] about The Year in Bad Ideas
Sin Taxes & Other Orwellian Methods of Compliance That Feed the Government’s Greed
By John W. Whitehead “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for … [Read more...] about Sin Taxes & Other Orwellian Methods of Compliance That Feed the Government’s Greed
6 Things We Learned from Prohibition
By John Phelan Just over 100 years ago (October 28, 1919), the National Prohibition Act became law. Better known as the Volstead Act, it outlawed the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States. Prohibition failed to end alcohol consumption and was repealed on December 5, 1933. In a book on prohibitions, John Meadowcroft of King’s … [Read more...] about 6 Things We Learned from Prohibition
Actually, We Could Just Flip the Switch
By Robert E. Wright Our good friends at the Mercatus Center recently published another report on America’s morbidly obese regulatory code, which still contains over 100 million words despite President Trump’s attempt to “drain the swamp” with his Executive Order 13771. The report correctly points out that “regulatory accumulation,” as the authors call it (a malady … [Read more...] about Actually, We Could Just Flip the Switch
Why the State Can’t Claim Our “Implied Consent”
By Andrew Kern One of the ways states are said to gain the rightful authority to rule is through implied consent. There are no explicit contracts signed with the government which grant it all of the power it exercises. Thus, it is claimed that in some way or another, the citizenry implicitly agrees to follow laws. Do we implicitly consent to be ruled? Is there some action … [Read more...] about Why the State Can’t Claim Our “Implied Consent”
Proposed Federal Vaping Ban Is Bigger Than Vaping
By John Michaels The Trump administration is aggressively pushing an unconstitutional ban on all flavored vape products after reports that over 1,000 people have become ill and roughly two-dozen people have died, supposedly from “vaping.” Vaping has been called an “epidemic” even though vaping has been around for over 10 years with no prior reports of anything like this … [Read more...] about Proposed Federal Vaping Ban Is Bigger Than Vaping
The Evolution of Governance in 9 Stages
By Max Borders Every day we’re inundated with news and issues competing for our attention. But sometimes we have to step back and take a look at the grand sweep of the past. Maybe, then, we can get a better idea about our emerging future. You see, humanity is on the cusp of another great transition. And we can learn a lot by taking a look at the ones we’ve already been … [Read more...] about The Evolution of Governance in 9 Stages
Why the Government Can’t Measure Income, Happiness, or Well-Being
By Ryan McMaken One of the central problems of aggregate measures of national income and well-being is the fact so much of it relies on incomes, wealth, production, and consumption measured in terms of dollars. This means only activities that can be tracked, counted, and ranked based on dollar values and production totals will be among those activities reported as having … [Read more...] about Why the Government Can’t Measure Income, Happiness, or Well-Being
Like Most Government Central-Planning Schemes, Zoning Laws Raise the Cost of Living
By Chris Calton In the classic video game Sim City, players acting as the mayor of a simulated city begin by allocating space by industrial, residential, and commercial zones. There is no option in the game to have overlapping districts, where a department store might sit next to a middle-class home. The very idea would seem absurd to modern minds, which typically accept … [Read more...] about Like Most Government Central-Planning Schemes, Zoning Laws Raise the Cost of Living