This commentary appeared in the Los Angeles Times, February 17, 2007. LABOR UNIONS’ importance in the workplace has fallen steadily since 1950, when roughly a third of American workers were unionized. Today, that number is well below 10% in the private sector. The Employee Free Choice Act, now before Congress,…
Read MoreThis commentary was published in the Boston Globe on February 7, 2007 WE CALL FOOTBALL a game. But Super Bowl Sunday reminds us that the National Football League is big business. A minute of advertising time goes for more than $4 million. Winning the game means big dollars and enormously…
Read MoreI last saw Milton Friedman a few days shy of his 94th birthday, just a few months ago. I was interviewing Milton for my podcast series, EconTalk. I hadn’t seen him in over a year and I worried whether the finest economic communicator of our era would still be Milton…
Read MoreThis commentary was published in the Boston Globe on November 6, 2006 THE SAGAMORE ROTARY is gone, and the rejoicing is near universal. Killing a bottleneck that delayed traffic to and from the beaches of Cape Cod certainly seems worthwhile, even if the execution required $33 million. The engineers have…
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Read MoreTowards the end of the 18th century, England began sending convicts to Australia. The transportation was privately provided but publicly funded. A lot of convicts died along the way, from disease due to overcrowding, poor nutrition and little or no medical treatment. Between 1790 and 1792, 12% of the convicts…
Read MoreAs much as commentator Russell Roberts loves the idea of space exploration, he doesn’t want to have to pay for it. Audio (listen/download)
Read MoreWhen our children got old enough, we’d play Monopoly, a game that was an important part of my childhood. The vivid orange of Tennessee Avenue. The royal blues of Boardwalk and Park Place. The little man with the mustache being hauled off to jail. And all that pastel colored money.…
Read MoreFrom National Public Radio’s Morning Edition Click here for audio edition. Those Senate hearings on the cause of high gasoline prices should be really brief. Three words. Supply and demand. When hurricanes destroy refining capacity, pipelines and drilling platforms there’s less gasoline to go around and prices rise. Everybody knows…
Read MoreYou’re sitting in your house and it seems unusually chilly for a hot summer day. The air conditioning is roaring away. You get up and check the thermostat. When your suspicions are confirmed—someone has turned the thermostat way down—you know what to do. You adjust the dial to a more…
Read MoreThe other day I had to get some important tax receipts to my accountant. He’s in St. Louis, it was getting close to April 15, and it was very important that the papers didn’t get lost. To give my accountant plenty of time, I wanted the papers to arrive the…
Read MoreTESTIMONY U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCESUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, TRADE, AND CONSUMER PROTECTION APRIL 28, 2005 BY DR. RUSSELL ROBERTS PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS SMITH DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR, MERCATUS CENTER GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY Mr. Chairman. Representative Schakowsky. Members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to appear…
Read MoreOne of the great virtues of economics is how it illuminates the unseen and the hidden. Frederic Bastiat, in his classic essay, What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen, analyzed the economic consequences of a simple act of vandalism, the broken window. We see the broken window. We see…
Read MoreFrom National Public Radio’s Morning Edition The truth is, there’s no such thing as a safe drug. Every drug has side effects. It’s only a matter of degree. And there’s usually a tradeoff between safety and effectiveness. Powerful drugs are more likely to have side effects. Everyone who undergoes chemotherapy…
Read MoreFrom Ideas on Liberty, Vol. 50, No. 12, at FEE.org At current tax rates, barring a recession, the federal government will run large and growing surpluses during the next decade and beyond. Yet, regardless of the identity of the new President or the character of the new Congress, we are…
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