By Peter C. Earle News over the last several days of a rise in Covid-19 infections raised concerns regarding a “second wave” of coronavirus infections; and in turn about new rounds of lockdowns and other restrictive measures. One could be forgiven for wondering why if stay-in-place orders, interstate movement restrictions, and other such tyranny didn’t scare off or confuse … [Read more...] about An Inalienable Human Right to Commerce
Peter Earle
Computer Models Can’t Substitute for Real Life
By Peter C. Earle On the 31st of July — just a few short days away — the six month anniversary of the WHO Declaration of a Global Health Emergency will arrive. And while there are many dates which could serve as the starting point for the start of the crisis, this one seems particularly appropriate: it is shortly thereafter that epidemiologists began plying the quantitative … [Read more...] about Computer Models Can’t Substitute for Real Life
Don’t Defund Police, Make them Part of the Market
By Peter C. Earle A few years back I took my kids to an amusement park on Coney Island. Under the early afternoon July sun, already sticky with sweat, I turned upon hearing a shouting match near the ticket booths. After a brief but coarse exchange — I’m glad my kids were on the ride and didn’t hear some of the choicer expletives — two security guards walked over and stood … [Read more...] about Don’t Defund Police, Make them Part of the Market
Tariffs Accelerate Trucking and Shipping Slide
By Peter C. Earle Trucking and transportation firms more broadly are both seasonal and cyclical businesses, and some of the earliest signs of damage from the current administration’s trade war with China are beginning to reveal themselves. Traditionally a leading indicator, transportation and shipping data often take two to three quarters to show up in broader national … [Read more...] about Tariffs Accelerate Trucking and Shipping Slide
Stateless in the Walled City of Kowloon
By Peter C. Earle Twenty-five years ago, the most successful 20th-century experiment in liberty — begun inadvertently, as always — came to an end. In April 1994, demolition of the taxless, unregulated, autonomous capitalist enclave known as the Walled City of Kowloon was completed, ending nine decades of an unparalleled experiment in utter statelessness. Similar to the … [Read more...] about Stateless in the Walled City of Kowloon
What if Government Suddenly Disappeared?
By Peter C. Earle If the strange and little-known case of the condominium of Moresnet — a wedge of disputed territory in Northwestern Europe, and arguably Europe's counterpart to America's so-called Wild West — acts as our guide, we must conclude that there is an inverse relationship between the size and scope of government and the potential for both peace and … [Read more...] about What if Government Suddenly Disappeared?