Whitewater has a Transient Merchant Ordinance, at Chapter 5.28, et seq., of her Municipal Code, but the ordinance’s title is only half right. It’s not merely an ordinance that restricts food trucks’ sales, but also and necessarily consumers’ purchases. It’s part Transient Merchant Ordinance and part Consumer Restriction Ordinance. Each and every time a city…
Free Markets
Economy, Free Markets
Free markets as the secret to Sweden’s success?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Yes, Sweden. And yes, they have been, as Stefan Karlsson observes: …Sweden during its most free market oriented era, from 1870 to 1950, had the highest rate of per capita economic growth in the world. After massive tax and spending increases during the 1950s and 1960s, Sweden stopped outperforming other countries….However, free market reforms implemented…
Economy, Free Markets, Labor
Immigration Myths
by JOHN ADAMS •
Free Markets
Cabs and Free Markets
by JOHN ADAMS •
Cabs are often hard to find, and they’re more expensive than they would be if they were more plentiful. Why is that? Jeanette Petersen of the Institute for Justice talks about the reasons it’s hard to get a cab: Cabs can also be greener than other forms of transportation. They take a specific number of…
Economy, Free Markets, Freedom of Speech, Libertarians, Liberty
Happy Birthday, Dr. Friedman
by JOHN ADAMS •
Agriculture, Business, Food, Free Markets, Laws/Regulations
Boosting Big Farms at the Expense of Small Ones
by JOHN ADAMS •
It’s about as hard as ever to be a small famer in America. Some difficulties are simply a consequence of competition, by which both farmers (compelled to be more innovative) and consumers (getting better goods at lower prices) benefit. Yet, when government, itself, becomes a burden and hardship for small famers, we have tolerated what…
Economy, Free Markets
Friedman on Leonard Read’s ‘I, Pencil’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Economy, Foreign Affairs, Free Markets
Expanding Trade with Canada and Mexico
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Free Markets, Immigration, Libertarians, Politics
The Right and Immigration
by JOHN ADAMS •
Steve Chapman, writing in a reposted 2007 article at Reason, explains Why the Right Shifted on Immigration. Chapman thinks the shift began with the fall of the Berlin Wall, when many conservatives no longer saw immigrants trying to reach our shores as proof of America’s sound economy and society. If so, consider the cynicism of…
Business, City, Free Markets, Planning
Whitewater’s Overpowering Fear of a … Family-style Restaurant with a Liquor License
by JOHN ADAMS •
Update: 2.16.12 – video recording of session embedded below. Whitewater’s taken more than one bad turn in recent years — sadly, it took another one Monday night. Introduction. Following a unanimous January denial of a conditional use permit to operate a sports bar on the main business district in Whitewater, the city’s Planning Commission this…
Free Markets
‘Markets, Not Capitalism’
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Development, Free Markets, Liberty, Planning
How to Make Whitewater Hip and Prosperous
by JOHN ADAMS •
Some suggestions, in no particular order, of a list that’s only a sketch: Recognize the truth of the city, and all cities. This small town is filled with thousands upon thousands of smart, knowledgeable people. I don’t say this to make others feel good; I say it because it’s true. These many don’t need the…
City, Development, Economy, Free Markets, Laws/Regulations, Liberty, Local Government, Planning
The Williamsburg Neighborhood in Brooklyn
by JOHN ADAMS •
I mentioned that I would write a bit about the Williamsburg neighborhood. Brooklyn’s huge (millions of residents) and there are many neighborhoods (themselves large) within that borough. One of them is Williamsburg, a diverse and eclectic community, with both Hasidim and hipsters, and a thriving arts scene. These groups within the neighborhood do not always…
Free Markets, Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty
Institute for Justice fighting the good fight
by JOHN ADAMS •
From the IJ, highlights of ongoing work: Litigating for Liberty. The Wall Street Journal featured IJ’s founder and president, Chip Mellor, this past Sunday. Read the in-depth interview here. Georgia property owners are fed up with forfeiture. The state’s forfeiture law allows law enforcement to seize the property of innocent owners without convicting or even…