While the world’s poor nations complain about their inability to vaccinate their citizens, one African nation recently destroyed a million doses of vaccine. Nigeria had received the vaccines knowing that they would expire in a few weeks, but the government was unable to use them in time. The executive director of Nigeria’s health agency said…
Like most of the nation’s governors, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of emergency when the pandemic first started. He then promptly shut down much of the state’s economy in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus. A year later, Abbott was one of the first governors to remove mask mandates and…
In the late 1990s, a campaign began to “ban the box.” The goal of the campaign was to prohibit employers from asking about criminal convictions on employment applications. The campaign has since been expanded to prohibit landlords from asking about criminal convictions on rental applications. Fundamentally, the campaign wants us to pretend that it didn’t…
As inflation continues to push prices higher and higher, conservatives are stumbling over themselves to blame Biden and Congressional Democrats. While the current regime certainly deserves criticism, placing all of the blame for inflation on Democrats is intellectually dishonest and an attempt to inflate the truth. Conservatives conveniently ignore the fact that Trump signed the…
For months, there have been increasing demands for waivers for the intellectual property rights to COVID vaccines. Big Pharma, the argument goes, should share its knowledge and technology with anyone who desires it. To refuse to do so is “vaccine imperialism.” The failure to waive intellectual property rights is being blamed for the low vaccination…
Scott Alexander at Astral Codex Ten makes an interesting point about the term “no evidence” (HT-Gus Van Horn). Alexander notes that the term is used to mean “this is plausible but we haven’t really proven it” as well as “this is false.” There is a huge difference between the two meanings. The former means that…
If we objectively evaluate government’s involvement in housing over the past century, we will discover a legacy of failed policies. From public housing projects that became breeding grounds for criminal gangs to the subprime fiasco of the 2000s, government has proven to be incredibly inept when it comes to the provision of housing. Despite this…
In the early twentieth century the Good Roads movement successfully framed improved roads as a “public good.” Better roads, the movement argued, would enable food and manufactured products to be more easily distributed and everyone would benefit. Therefore, free, improved roads should be provided by government. Today, housing advocates are making a similar argument. If…
Activists are more than happy to spend money on their pet projects. That money, however, isn’t their own—it comes from taxpayers. So, it is quite easy for them to put your money where their mouth is. An organization in Portland, Taking Ownership, is putting its money and efforts where its mouth is. Taking Ownership is…
Increasingly, housing activists are calling for housing equity. This might seem like a call for justice, but the activists use words like “equity” and “justice” to hide their true agenda. They are not promoting equality before the law. They are promoting the idea that all individuals should enjoy similar results, regardless of their own individual…
New York City is considering a law that would prohibit landlords from considering most criminal convictions while screening prospective tenants. One ex-convict told a reporter, “Just think of the worst thing you’ve ever done, and suppose someone held that against you for the rest of your life.” Context matters. There is a huge difference between…
The methods for dealing with a supply shortage are well-known. Prices can be increased to curtail demand. Retailers can move inventory to areas with high demand. Manufacturers can increase their production. However, these methods have not been effective in addressing the housing shortage currently afflicting nearly every city in Texas. Price increases have done little…