“If you look at all the data, it’s clear there’s never been a better time to be alive.” So declares the subtitle of this wonderful essay by Johan Norberg. A slice:
If you think that there has never been a better time to be alive — that humanity has never been safer, healthier, more prosperous or less unequal — then you’re in the minority. But that is what the evidence incontrovertibly shows. Poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy, child labour and infant mortality are falling faster than at any other time in human history. The risk of being caught up in a war, subjected to a dictatorship or of dying in a natural disaster is smaller than ever. The golden age is now.
“As a TV celebrity, Donald Trump made a career out of pretending to be more successful than he really is. Now, as a presidential candidate, he pretends to understand economics and immigration policy better than he does.” So demonstrates Jason Brennan.
David Boaz looks at the role of the courts in protecting – or not – individuals’ freedoms. (The distinction between conservativism and libertarianism plays a role here.)
Mark Perry contributes more ballast to the case for free trade.
Also from Mark Perry is this wise counsel for Uncle Sam to ditch the ethanol mandate.
Diana Furchtgott-Roth explains how U.S. labor unions are like roach motels for workers.
There is a simple logic to insurance markets. Let businesses freely compete to provide services to consumers with sensible regulations but without government support, and both consumers and insurance companies are well off. In contrast, when real insurance is outlawed, and only non-insurance can be sold, neither consumers nor insurance companies benefit. That’s where America is today.
Sam Staley reflects on what the Prague Spring teaches us today – 48 years later – about liberty.
