Downsizing Blog
Mr. President, Increasing the Minimum Wage Is Wrong Medicine for Ailing Economy
Flooding: Do Governments Make it Worse?
Governor Christie Scandal: Let's Privatize the Port Authority
New Study on Air Traffic Control Reform
Minimum Wage, Economics, and Ethics
Seventy-five economists, including seven Nobel winners, have signed a letter advocating an increase in the minimum wage. The letter was preceded by a New York Times editorial on January 2 making the same argument. I assume that there will be an opposing letter shortly, probably also including some Nobel signers.
Wasteful Federal Aid to the States
In my testimony last week to the House Oversight Committee, I focused on aid-to-state programs as a major source of waste in the federal budget.
Hearings on Wasteful Federal Spending
Downsize the Department of Energy
The Department of Energy spends $29 billion per year on various schemes with a disastrous track record, often with bipartisan support. From regulations that destabilize markets, decrease domestic output and harm consumers, to subsidies that pick and choose winners and losers, this department is a perfect example of a white elephant – an expensive project of little to no useful purpose.
Education Guns Fire Blanks in War on Poverty
A lot of federal weapons were created to fight President Lyndon Johnson’s ”War on Poverty,” and some of the biggest were in education. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Higher Education Act, and Head Start are all parts of Johnson’s overall effort to end poverty and create a “Great Society.” They also share two other things in common: pretty damning evidence that they are failures, and Cato videos laying out the bad news.