Stories

Writing for Cato at Liberty, Ted Galen Carpenter urges U.S. leaders to cut close ties with Turkey, a U.S. ally and NATO partner that is becoming increasingly unsavory as it transitions ever closer to authoritarianism. In the aftermath of the recent failed coup in Turkey, NATO leaders were relieved to avoid an alliance with a […]

The Mercatus Center recently released a report on one of the most regulated businesses in the United States: taxi companies. Looking at the comparatively open taxi industry in Washington, DC, the study still unveils a host of obstacles that new entrants must bob and weave. As authors Michael Farren, Christopher Koopman, and Matthew Mitchell write, […]

July 29 marks the birthday of French historian and political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859), who is most well-known for providing a compelling analysis of American society in Democracy in America (1835). His observations and predictions have stood the test of time, allowing people of all generations to better understand the social, economic, and political […]

Afghan National Security Forces have wasted millions of dollars’ worth of U.S.-supplied ammunition, as Mirwais Harooni and James Mackenzie report for Reuters. According to one Afghan army officer’s estimate, up to 80 percent of low-paid Afghan soldiers have lined their pockets by aimlessly discharging their weapons and selling the casings to scrap metal dealers. Additionally, another […]

Writing for Reason, Alex Thomas describes the recent decision by North Carolina State University to amend their campus speech code. In the past, the code “require members to get permission before handing out information about their organization. As detailed by Thomas, the student group Grace Christian Life argued the policy was “not only unconstitutional but […]

According to Innovation and Its Enemies: Why People Resist New Technologies by Harvard University professor Calestous Juma, there are eight major reasons why society rejects new technologies—even technologies like coffee and refrigeration. Writing for The Washington Post, Steven Overly explores these eight reasons, among which there are several important lessons for regulators and innovators. For […]

Luddites and taxicab protectionists alike lament the fact that ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft face lower taxes and fewer regulatory burdens. However, such complaints cannot be levied against car-sharing firms like Zipcar and Car2Go. As Josh Zumbrun reports for The Wall Street Journal, “Local governments around the country are tipping the scales and helping […]

The auto-industry “cannot wait for perfect” when it comes to self-driving technology, according to Mark Rosekind, the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Writing for The Wall Street Journal, John D. Stoll explains that despite recent criticism of Tesla following a fatal accident involving the company’s Autopilot feature, the NHTSA’s main objective […]

Writing for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Charles Mitchell and J.C. Watts, two self-styled tough on crime conservatives, say that years of pro-incarceration policies and sentences have created a “bloated, hugely expensive criminal-justice system” that “has produced disappointing results.” The authors argue that the time is right for Pennsylvania to adopt reform measures in its criminal justice […]

A new paper from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University examines coming advances in medical technology and how they will likely disrupt the current regulatory structure of the Food and Drug Administration. According to Adam Thierer, senior research fellow with the Technology Policy Program at the Mercatus Center and author of the paper, the […]