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The Warehouse: Beauty and Solemnity
The great recession continues in so many ways but online commerce is booming as never before, increasing in the last quarter of 2011 at …
A Way to Soak the Rich
You might have noticed that lots of people are really down on the so-called 1%. It drives many people, especially politicians, absolutely bonkers that …
Are You the Next Prisoner?
The United States is home to a gigantic socialist sector, larger and with a greater reach than any in the world, and it is …
History of the Club, Part 2
Dreamers and accountants — they say that both types of people are necessary for a great business. One without the other is a dead …
The Non-Crime of Knowing
Let’s say that Rajat Gupta, former director at Goldman Sachs on trial for insider trading, is toss in the slammer for passing on information …
My Government Is Worse than Yours
Now that hysteria over my original Brazil column has died down, let me add some comments and reflections about it and what gave rise …
A Century of Cosmetics: Is the End Near?
The organization Campaign for Safe Cosmetics doesn’t just want you to be able to have new choices about the makeup or other products you …
Five Pillars of Economic Freedom
The great debate between capitalism and socialism suffers from a lack of clarity about definitions. This is why when Walter Block lectured in Brazil …
Brazil and the Spirit of Liberty
My most surprising findings in Brazil, aside from the amazing fruits that I didn’t know existed because the U.S. government doesn’t think I need …
Heat and Light in a TSA Line
Time was tight and people were rushing to catch flights. This particular terminal in Miami was usually fast, everyone knew, but for some reason, …
Government’s Idle Hands: Underwear Bomber 2.0
Government has a serious problem. It’s got nothing worthwhile to do. All the cool things in life come from the private sector, and this …
It’s Fun to Resist the State
Libertarianism is, obviously, an idea whose time has come. Or maybe you don’t like that term. There are plenty of others. My preference is …
What Makes Twitter Great
“I’ve got better things to do than broadcast a message to the world about my lunch.” An uncountable number of people have said this …
The Case for Live Blogging a Book
The buzz on the next big thing: products and services that claim to make you smarter. Forbes says it is the next trillion-dollar industry. …
How Government Wrecked the Gas Can
The gas gauge broke. There was no smartphone app to tell me how much was left, so I ran out. I had to call …
Material Progress and the American Spirit
The 1968 epic Planet of the Apes ends with Taylor the astronaut, played by Charlton Heston, coming upon the Statue of Liberty, except that …
The Case of the Missing Low-Mileage Car
How would you like to drive from New York to Los Angeles with just one stop for gas? It seems incredible and wonderful, but …
If Government Spends Less, Are We Sunk?
Easy prediction: Congress will not cut spending. The hysteria in Washington is for naught, as usual. There will be no “austerity,” at least not …
Greedy Governments and the Double Irish
Beginning last year, mainstream reporters began kvetching about a rather brilliant tax strategy used by Google, Apple and hundreds of other technology firms. It’s …
Economics By and For Human Beings
“Economics puts parameters on people’s utopias.” Yes. That’s exactly it. That’s why the politicians hate economics. That’s why the media are so… selective in …
How to Ruin a Kid’s Life
I was just down at the “feed and seed” buying two baby chicks to replace my female duck that was carried off by a …
What Is or Should Be the Law?
It seems that the president is frustrated with Congress. What kind of legislature is this, he asks, that fails to immediately enact the will …
Throwing Out the Old
Two years ago, I was the soul of generosity. I had culled through my sizeable collection of CDs and found 30 discs that I …
The Economy Is Us: A Tribute to John Papola
For many people around the world, the first they had ever heard of the great economist Friedrich A. Hayek came from a rap video. …