A Case Study in Local News Futility
The Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism recently surveyed 490 hours of local news reports in the Los Angeles area and found...
View ArticleNew Book on Eminent Domain and Property Rights Available
The infamous Kelo decision in June 2005 sparked renewed interest in eminent domain use and abuse. Dozens of state initiated reform efforts, most focused on reining in the power of government to...
View ArticleThe FBI Closes a Window to the Truth
Modern recording devices are a boon to law enforcement. Wiretaps betray crooks plotting their crimes. Surveillance cameras on city streets identify muggers and drug dealers. Video gear in patrol cars...
View ArticleParasitic Tort Lawyers
Tort lawyers lie. They say their product liability suits are good for us. But their lawsuits rarely make our lives better. They make lawyers and a few of their clients better off—but for the majority...
View ArticleWine Snobs and Suds Swillers Unite!
The life of a wine snob is a hard one. Every bottle holds peril and promise—the thrill of a buttery finish, the agony of harsh tannins. But life may get harder still, thanks to a new bill to restrict...
View ArticlePrivate Prisons a Smart Strategy for Kentucky
The Courier-Journal painted a one-sided view of prison privatization ("Experts question benefits of private prisons," July 5, 2010) that ignored abundant research demonstrating cost savings and quality...
View ArticleDebating Public-Private Partnerships in Parks
The dialogue on public-private partnerships (PPPs) in parks is starting to take hold. States and cities around the country are faced with difficult budget cuts, and when ranking spending priorities,...
View ArticleDouble-Dip Recession Talk
Earlier this week I appeared on RT to discuss all the talk of a coming double-dip recession (video below). As I've said on this blog a number of times, there certainly is a chance for a double-dip, or...
View ArticlePublic Pension Reform: Free the Teachers
In the New York Daily News, charter school Biology teacher, Emmanuel George, makes the case for teacher pension reform.The good news is that charter schools like Democracy Prep have shown there is a...
View ArticleTen Principles of Privatization
Privatization means shifting some or all aspects of service delivery from government to private-sector providers. It is a strategy to lower the costs of government and achieve higher performance and...
View ArticleMinimum Wage Still Hurts the Poor More Than It Helps
In the January 2010 issue of the Southern Economics Journal (Vol. 76, no. 3), Joseph Sabia (American University) and Richard Burkhauser (Cornell University) find that the effects of raising the minimum...
View ArticleNJ Privatization Task Force Report Offers Reform Roadmap, Over $210 Million...
Taxpayers in the Garden State have reason to cheer today. As the Star-Ledger reports, the New Jersey Privatization Task Forceâ??established by Gov. Chris Christie under Executive Order #17 in...
View ArticleThe Government's Catastrophic Response to the Oil Disaster
Incompetence has turned the Gulf oil tragedy into “Obama’s Katrina.” As more and more startling facts emerge we are finding almost criminal ineptness by Washington compounded by BP’s almost criminal...
View ArticleCivil Rights and Armed Self-Defense
On December 11, 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Virginia v. Black. At issue was the constitutionality of a Virginia statute that prohibited the act of cross burning, a...
View ArticleThe Defector
Hitch-22: A Memoir, by Christopher Hitchens, New York: Twelve, 448 pages, $26.99In 1990, Commentary magazine warned its readers that Christopher Hitchens, then a bomb-throwing columnist at The Nation,...
View ArticleMisrepresenting the Benefits of High-Speed Rail
National Journal's Transportation blog asks:Does a recent report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors touting the economic benefits of high-speed passenger rail put to rest questions about HSR's value as a...
View ArticleUnemployment is a Structural Problem, But That Doesn't Mean Government is the...
Surveys are showing that if you have a college degree you are more likely to find work in today's employment climate than those who don't have a high school diploma. This isn't necessarily always true...
View ArticleReason.tv's School Choice Extravaganza
Check out Reason.tv's week long school choice extravaganza including a piece about the school choice revolution in New Orleans; an interview with Louisiana State Superintendent Paul Pastorek about how...
View ArticleCA Local Governments Looking to Cut Pension Benefits
The Sacramento Bee reports"Local governments across California are poised to roll back pension benefits for public employees."The movement comes a decade after retirement systems made huge gains in the...
View ArticleLeBron James, Loyalty and the Economic Future of Cleveland
I don't follow follow professional basketball, but it was virtually impossible not to avoid the media frenzy around LeBron James' decision to move to Miami and leave Cleveland. The outcry from loyal...
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