Sep 16
Socialists and government trusters are seeing all of their proposed policy ideas implemented in Venezuela. And the results are predictable. The South American socialist regime has driven out most productive industries. Inflation is way above 200 percent. Starvation and disease are rampant. Basic commodities cannot be found. Millions have fled. Men die in brutal fights …
Aug 19
The medical profession is probably the world’s most overregulated profession. Compliance paperwork is now a major component of being a medical doctor. And recently, the industry’s authorities have pushed for all medical records to be digitized and electronic–so that such records can be easily transferred to other doctors (and the government). Many older physicians are …
Apr 02
Baltimore–once one of America’s greatest cities–has collapsed under the weight of government, cops, taxes, and murder. As thousands flee, the City’s population is now lower than at any time in a century. The Baltimore Sun newspaper recently reported that “The city’s outrageous property tax of $2.248 per $100 of a property’s assessed value is more …
Mar 05
High taxes, cops and other government “workers” everywhere, and life-choking regulations have made California the most miserable place to live in the U.S. See here. California has America’s largest and most powerful “environmental protection” agencies yet has the worst environment. Drinking water quality, air quality and total toxic chemical pollution per square mile are the …
Jan 16
Years of high taxes, overregulation, and cops everywhere have taken their toll on California. The state now leads the U.S. in rates and numbers of people living in poverty. See here. (This is true even though the State has the most social workers, biggest welfare programs and biggest wealth-redistribution operations.) The State also has the …
Nov 18
For years Brazil has been the leader of South American tourism and commerce. But yesterday’s New York Times featured a story on Brazil’s descent into violence over the past couple years. Last year, there were 61,619 people killed across Brazil. At least 800 of those killings were by police. The Times story suggests that government …
Nov 16
Government regulations are essentially a wealth redistribution program from the poor to the rich. Those in poverty increasingly find themselves trapped by licensing and other regulatory barriers. In the 1950s, only one in 20 U.S. workers needed the government’s permission to pursue their chosen occupation. Today, that figure stands at almost one in three. See …
Nov 12
Michael DiFrancesco, a 22-year-old man from Bozeman, Montana, never had a chance. In 2009, DiFrancesco was convicted of being a minor in possession of alcohol and fined $185. He was ordered to pay for and complete a substance abuse course, neither of which he could afford. DiFrancesco’s driver license was later suspended due to the …
Oct 23
by Roger Roots, founder of Lysander Spooner University Governments want their subjects sick, weak, scared and dependent. Every generation of Americans has seen its life expectancy improve. Until now. A new Bloomberg News report finds that Today’s Americans are retiring later, dying sooner and sicker in-between. Social Security alone has incentivized millions of Americans to …
Aug 27
To put numbers in perspective, the entire state budget of Montana is less than $5 billion annually. Many other states operate on annual budgets of less than $5 or $10 annually. A study by the Mercatus Center has recently found that Americans spend $67 billion to $378 billion in annual accounting costs in the process of …
