A New Underground Market in E‑Cigarettes Will Soon Begin Flourishing in Australia

As with all black markets, consumers will be less sure about the purity and quality of the products they buy or whether they contain deadly compounds. This will make vaping more hazardous.

https://www.cato.org/blog/new-underground-market-e-cigarettes-will-soon-begin-flourishing-australia

Public Employee Unions Rule California

Expect more strikes, fewer government services, and more tax increases to pay for pension obligations.

Let’s just admit to reality: Taxpayers actually work for our public employees rather than the reverse. As long as that’s the case, public services will never improve and your tax burden will only increase.

https://reason.com/2023/08/18/public-employee-unions-rule-california/

Beyond the Fourteenth Amendment: Protecting the Right to Earn a Living

Most people would be hard‐​pressed to define the “American Dream” without some reference to economic freedom. From Benjamin Franklin’s dozens of inventions (bifocals! A flexible catheter!), to self‐​made man Frederick Douglass, to serial inventor Joy Mangano’s miracle mop, Americans believe that with a good idea and enough hard work, anyone can enjoy economic success—no matter the circumstances of their birth.

https://www.cato.org/blog/calling-papers-beyond-fourteenth-amendment-protecting-right-earn-living

Tax Exiles

In 1973, Pink Floyd released The Dark Side of the Moon which included the single ‘Money,’ on which Roger Waters snarled: 

Money

Get back

I’m alright, Jack, keep your hands off of my stack

‘Money,’ according to one critic, “deals with crass materialism.” But by the time Pink Floyd recorded The Wall in 1979, they did so in France and the United States because remaining in Britain would have incurred a massive tax bill. 

Should We Abolish Zoning?

Houston is not a free-for-all. It requires a minimum number of parking spaces for different uses, which encourages sprawl. Its complex development code limits how many homes you may build on an acre. But it has no zoning, and its density restrictions are less severe than in almost any other large city.

The surprisingly strong argument for abolishing zoning is the rare case of successfully moving the “Overton window.” It should make all of us more sympathetic to fundamental reforms.

Arkansas Business Owner Sues Over Government Garbage Monopoly

X-Dumpsters owner Steven Hedrick rents roll-away dumpsters to people, but now his city forces residents to contract with the county.

In his lawsuit, Hedrick contends that the ordinance constitutes a monopoly, which “violates the anti-monopoly clause and the due process clause of the Arkansas Constitution.” Article II, Section 19 of the Arkansas Constitution states that monopolies “are contrary to the genius of a republic, and shall not be allowed.”

https://reason.com/2023/08/28/arkansas-business-owner-sues-over-government-garbage-monopoly/

Africa’s Planned Cities Need Unplanning

Nigeria’s shantytowns are more functional than its centrally planned gated communities.

This comparison speaks to a paradox I’ve found with African real estate. The more “formal” a project is—with master plans, institutional investors, and government involvement—the more slowly it materializes. The more “informal” it is, with minimal rules other than how locals self-govern, the more quickly it becomes a real city.

https://reason.com/2023/09/02/africas-planned-cities-need-unplanning/

On the Mercantilist and Monarchial Origins of the Concept of the ‘Balance of Trade’

As Adam Smith explained so brilliantly, if the goal of economic policy is – as it should be – the achievement of prosperity as great as possible for ordinary people, mercantilism fails. It impoverishes ordinary people rather than enriches them.

Norway’s Wealth Tax Is Backfiring. Are Americans Paying Attention?

Norwegian lawmakers forgot this simple lesson, and now they can do little but watch as the wealth creators in their country depart, taking with them their capital, ingenuity, and taxable income.