The hot new virtue-signaling trend of “fly shaming” might not be enough to persuade people to fly less, but steep tax hikes might just do the trick. That’s what Germany is cooking up, with the ruling coalition’s new proposed budget featuring higher federal taxes on […]
Author: Erik Sass
Tories get in touch with their spendy side
While Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson isn’t afraid to utter the c-word — that’s “capitalism” — in pleasant contrast to his immediate predecessors, his government seems to be steering away from other longstanding Tory principles, namely those of fiscal responsibility and small government. So […]
Hey Congress, drug price controls are still a bad idea
Bad ideas have a way of sticking around , but fortunately there’s a home for them called Congress. The recently proposed legislation on drug prices is firmly in this category, relying on what are in effect government-imposed price controls, backed by the threat of […]
Protecting IP is critical to the fight against disease
With the world confronting daunting new health challenges, the UN is emphasizing the need to achieve true universal healthcare. That’s a laudable goal worth supporting — but the same can’t be said for the UN and other global organizations frequent support for measures that jeopardize […]
Tackle climate change with tax cuts for innovation (not new taxes on carbon)
As with so many other important and controversial subjects, the left has laid claim to climate change lock, stock and barrel, claiming that only massive government intervention in the form of new taxes, profligate spending and rampant regulation can address the underlying causes […]
No-deal Brexit will hit global economy hard, UK hardest of all
With Brexit negotiations going down to the wire (again) it looks increasingly likely that the UK will “crash out” of the European Union without a deal if the EU refuses to grant another extension. This would be very damaging to the British economy and […]
Europe prepares to hit back on tariffs
The Trump administration’s decision to levy $7.5 billion in tariffs on European goods, officially sanctioned by the WTO following its judgment in favor of Boeing in a trade dispute over European subsidies to Airbus, will not go unanswered, according to German foreign affairs minister […]
Russia muscling into Middle Eastern energy production
It’s widely acknowledged that Russia uses its vast supplies of oil and gas, along with its position athwart transit routes from Central Asia, as economic and diplomatic weapons, intimidating opponents in Western Europe and subordinating client states in Eastern Europe with the threat of cutting […]
With All Eyes On Crypto, Let’s Get Smart On Regulation
By George Nethercutt, Jr., former U.S. Representative (WA 5th) One of the biggest names in tech could be on a path toward entering the cryptocurrency space. At a recent event, Apple Pay vice president Jennifer Bailey related, “We’re watching cryptocurrency. [. . .] We think it […]
Electronic Health Records: A Good Idea, Poorly Executed
By Davis Warnell and Sloane Shearman, courtesy of the Mercatus Center The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (popularly known as the “stimulus”) required all healthcare providers to adopt the use of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in their daily practice in order to sustain their Medicaid and […]