By Dr. Rainer Zitelmann In his Lectures on the Philosophy of History, the German philosopher Hegel observed: “But what experience and history teach is this – that peoples and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it.” It could well be that Hegel’s verdict is too harsh. Nevertheless, […]
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The COVID Crisis Shows How the Postal Service Can Be Saved from Collapse
By Steve Pociask, American Consumer Institute As businesses nationwide start to map out reopening for the near-term and the post-pandemic world, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is also facing its own experience in hitting the reset button. New Postmaster General (PMG) Louis DeJoy recently took the reins of the organization following the departure of PMG […]
Competitive Spectrum Policies Keep America Online
By Oliver McPherson-Smith, American Consumer Institute Video conferences, online classrooms, and telehealth have all become mainstream in 2020. This huge change has been made feasible by federal policies that focus on getting the most value out of America’s telecommunications resources. To replicate this success and avoid future waste, access to American spectrum needs to […]
Washington Beyond the Headlines: Raising Taxes During a Disaster Is A Very Bad Idea
By Andy Blom, TES Washington Editor Here’s some great public mental health advice: stay home, wear a mask, and definitely wear earplugs and blinders when you watch TV news. Or you can just read about free market policy people who are working through the storm, offering perspective and policy options to lead us to […]
Mexican governors have array of policy tools for reopening
“COVID-19: What Are State Governments Doing In the Face of the Crisis?” Courtesy of IMCO Since the start of the emergency, state governments announced actions to help mitigate the negative economic impact of COVID-19, and local authorities are implementing emerging plans to support families, workers and small businesses. These local economic revival […]
Populist governments faring better in COVID crisis
“Populist governments hedge power in Corona crisis” Courtesy of IFW Kiel On average, populist governments record significantly lower increases in popularity in the coronavirus crisis than non-populist ones, even though they usually introduced similar policies to contain the pandemic. At the same time, however, populists are making greater use of emergency laws to weaken […]
EU should sell “safe” and “junior” bonds based on risk
“An option for the EU: blow up debt inside a bunker” By Sergio Baggiani, courtesy of IREF Debt mutualisation is an option to manage the expected rise of sovereign debt and the need for a greater supply of low-risk bonds. Yet, this option could run into political difficulties. European Bonds (details here, 2016) are […]
Washington Beyond the Headlines: Real Ideas for Police Reform
By Andy Blom, TES Washington Editor We all know the bad news – you can take your pick! So here’s the good news: free market policy people keep right on working through the storm, offering perspective and policy options to lead us to better times. This week’s news … “Fixing” the Police. Some […]
What would a smart lockdown look like?
“What Would an ‘Intelligent Lockdown’ Look Like in Canada?” Courtesy of IEDM Because COVID-19 is far less dangerous to the young than it is to the elderly or immune-comprised,[1] and because generalized lockdowns are economically devastating, many countries have implemented targeted policies instead. These policies either specifically focus on senior centres, which […]
What is “Global Britain” exactly, or even inexactly?
“‘Global Britain’: still waiting for the big reveal” By Nick Witney, courtesy of UK In a Change Europe Mystery shrouded the Prime Minister’s advertised parliamentary statement on ‘Global Britain’ yesterday. His first shot at giving substance to this favourite Brexit slogan, his Greenwich speech of 3 February, got about as far as […]