Ronald Bailey: The Promised Land Of Fracking

Environmental and economic benefits outweigh the costs. Matt Damon’s new film Promised Land is stoking the controversy over fracking, the shorthand for natural gas production using hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. The film pits a big natural gas production company against economically stressed farmers in a Pennsylvania ... MORE

VIDEO: Why Is the U.S. Prison Population So Large?


The war on drugs is a war on us. 

3 Troubling Ways TSA Punishes Passengers Who Opt Out

Intimidation, harassment and retaliatory wait time.   If you don't want to walk through a poorly tested full-body scanner or have a TSA agent belittle your anatomy before your next flight, then you still have the right to opt out and submit to an "enhanced" pat-down. That's exactly what I did on a recent trip from Orlando to Atlanta.   ... MORE

Barry Farber: American Exceptionalism? Off The Charts!

Why hide from the facts?  More than half of the American population believes the best days of this country are behind us. That might be depressing if America’s best days were less than they truly were. As it stands, it’s about as depressing as Bill Gates crying “Poverty!” if his fortune were to dip from 100 billion dollars down to around, say   ... MORE

Sally Pipes: ObamaCare Guarantees Higher Premiums

Health insurance to go up $3,000 + higher. President Obama will deliver a second inaugural address later this month. He’ll no doubt reflect on what he’s done during his first four years in office — and on his signature healthcare law in particular. Let’s reflect with him. During his first campaign for the presidency in 2008, the president promised ... MORE

Richard Fausset: Mexico Considers Legalizing Pot

Bolstered by U.S. ballot wins. Forgive the Mexicans for trying to get this straight: So now the United States, which has spent decades battling Mexican marijuana, is on a legalization bender? The same United States that long viewed cannabis as a menace, funding crop-poisoning programs, tearing up auto bodies at the border, and deploying sniffer dogs,       ... MORE

VIDEO: Milton Friedman - Abolish The Fed

Amy Payne: Uproar Over Bloated Sandy Aid Package

Bloated governor decries selfishness.   Leaders from New Jersey and New York blew up yesterday after House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) postponed a vote on an aid package related to Hurricane Sandy. But the bill is so loaded with pork projects that these officials should consider directing their anger at the Obama Administration, which is    ... MORE

Ira Stoll: Obama's Crony Capitalism

Granting favor to the few. On the Friday before Christmas, President Obama announced that he was appointing Mohamed A. El-Erian, the CEO of Pacific Investment Management Company, as the chairman of his Global Development Council. The announcement didn’t get much attention, but it should. It exemplifies what’s wrong with Obama’s approach to   ... MORE

VIDEO: The Indispensable Milton Friedman

Thomas Sowell - The Role Of 'Educators'

Indoctrination skills on parade.  Many years ago, as a young man, I read a very interesting book about the rise of the Communists to power in China. In the last chapter, the author tried to explain why and how this had happened. Among the factors he cited were the country's educators. That struck me as odd, and not very plausible, at the time.       ... MORE