When confronting the typical proponents of “green” government policies, the free-market economist must make a strategic decision: Since most of these recommended (and often, actually implemented) State measures make no sense even on their own terms, one course of action
Environment 
My letter to the NY Times re: Why laid off American workers can’t find jobs
Re: The Perils of Globalization Dear Sirs: I believe that Binyamin Appelbaum may have unwittingly answered his own question about why American workers who lose their jobs-as illustrated by the former Maytag employees in Galesburg, Illinois-have such a difficult time
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Earth Day: 22 Ways to Think about the Climate-Change Debate
Reprinted from the Freeman Reasonable people can disagree about the nature and extent of climate change. But no one should sally forth into this hostile territory without reason and reflection. “Some scientists make ‘period, end of story’ claims,” writes biologist
Drought and the Failure of Big Government in California
Reprinted from Mises.org California Governor Jerry Brown has announced that private citizens and small businesses — among others — will have their water usage restricted, monitored, and subject to heavy fines if state agents determine that too much water has
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The Costs of Hysteria
Reprinted from the Freeman Suppose the scientific consensus on climate change is right. Let’s also stipulate, for the sake of argument, that the computer projections used by the United Nations and the US government are correct, and that economists are able
Who Owns the North Pole?
Reprinted from Mises.org The battle for the North Pole is snowballing between national governments along the Arctic Circle, as they all have their eyes set on the vast natural resources residing in the Arctic region. Indeed, it’s estimated the Arctic
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CA Drought Fault of Capitalism, If We Ignore Economics and Math
Once again, the popularity of the Facebook page “US Uncut” should make everybody consider moving to Canada. Regarding Governor Jerry Brown’s mandatory water restrictions in the state of California, the US Uncut page posted the following graphic (and accompanying text)
Oil Boom and Government Glut
Reprinted from the Freeman It’s a sweet thing when Uncle Sam becomes a mega-buyer of your product. While the price of oil continues to plunge to record lows, drivers are celebrating, and oil executives are sweating it out. But never
Earth Hour: A Dissent
In 2009 I was asked by a journalist for my thoughts on the importance of Earth Hour. Here is my response. I abhor Earth Hour. Abundant, cheap electricity has been the greatest source of human liberation in the 20th century.
Fossil Fuels Will Save the World (Really)
Reprinted from the Wall Street Journal The environmental movement has advanced three arguments in recent years for giving up fossil fuels: (1) that we will soon run out of them anyway; (2) that alternative sources of energy will price them
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All Hail the Tumbling Price of Gas
Reprinted from the Freeman American consumers begin the new year with a beautiful gift: low gas prices. These days, you pay twice or three times as much for fancy bottled water from the convenience store as you pay for gasoline,
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Nuclear Distortions
When scientists of the early 20th century realized the possibility of producing electricity from radioactive elements, such as radium and, in later years, uranium, research for harvesting energy from the atom grew stronger. With the discovery of the neutron, which
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Preston Manning’s Honesty On Carbon Tax Shows Why It’s Dangerous
Last month Preston Manning had an interesting piece in The Globe and Mail in which he outlined a strategy for getting the public to support government measures of “harnessing markets and fiscal policy” in order to correct negative externalities, especially
Education and the Racist Road to Barbarism
A Demonstration of the Objective Superiority of Western Civilization and Slap in the Face of Cultural Relativism and Political Correctness CONTENTS Introduction The Nature of Western Civilization The Universalizability of Western Civilization The Standard for Judging a Civilization: the Objective
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Modified: GMO Labels that Work
Originally posted in edited form at Law & Liberty Fascism is the political triumph of fashion-sense; etymologically, the words even share a distant ancestor. The reason is this: when the “in” crowd wrests the levers of power from the “out” crowd,
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Who Cares for Toronto’s Sidewalks?
In Toronto an important debate is starting to stir about who controls the sidewalks - the city or the owners of the adjacent properties. Sparking this debate is a bicycle owner, Lisa Ferguson, who thought her bike was stolen when
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Bird Lovers of the World, Unite!
Environmentalists think there are some free lunches out there, at least when it comes to energy production. Over the past decade green alternatives, such as solar and wind, have become popular alternatives to the older providers of energy, such as
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Does “Uncertainty” Bolster the Case for Restrictions on Emissions?
It is really incredible to comprehend the degree of hubris underlying the case for aggressive government intervention in the name of fighting climate change. For example, when the Obama Administration created a task force to estimate the “social cost of
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Reparations for US Slavery?
A recent essay by Ta-Nehisi Coates makes the case for reparations to be paid to black Americans. The subtitle of the essay provides a good summary of its main points: “Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of
