Today’s New York Times has an article appropriately titled: “Wage Laws Squeeze South Africa’s Poor.” It starts:

The sheriff arrived at the factory here to shut it down, part of a national enforcement drive against clothing manufacturers who violate the minimum wage. But women working on the factory floor — the supposed beneficiaries of the crackdown — clambered atop cutting tables and ironing boards to raise anguished cries against it... continue reading »

I’m getting plenty of push back about my special this weekend:

I love how we are classified as parasites. I get up at 3:50 most days. On the road by 4:30. During our busiest season it is usually six days a week…to be compared to a parasite is friggin over the line... continue reading »

The UN General Assembly of world leaders in New York last week was, as usual, an unproductive fiasco... continue reading »

I have a new documentary airing this weekend (Saturday @ 9pm ET and Sunday @ 8pm & 11pm ET) called, "The Battle for the Future." Let's face it: The news is ugly.  Big government keeps growing. The Federal government alone now spends $10,000 per American, pushing our debt to more than $13 Trillion. Total government spending eats up 40% of the economy! Yet the Progressives who rule elite colleges teach that government spending solves problems... continue reading »

Who is Greg Ip? I hadn't heard of him, and began reading his WSJ Op Ed expecting another tedious diatribe, but the economics editor of the Economist surprises me with new insights. First he reminds us how the silly American media worried about a rising Japan in the 80's.

"Japan has created a kind of automatic wealth machine, perhaps the first since King Midas," Clyde Prestowitz wrote in 1988. The U.S... continue reading »

The captain of the Exxon Valdez, Joseph Hazelwood, emailed Walter Olson to complain about what I’ve been saying about him.   In my column, and on television, I said:

“Exxon gave ship captain Joseph Hazelwood a job after he completed alcohol rehab. Hazelwood then drank too much and let the Exxon Valdez run aground in Alaska. Exxon was sued for allowing it to happen.”... continue reading »

This morning, I got an e-mail that provides another example of how private schools tend to beat the government-union monopoly.

Dear John:

The annual state test results were just announced, and we have exciting news to share!... continue reading »

Yesterday, Congress voted 60 to 40 to extend unemployment benefits through November. Unemployment benefits are popular with the public, so I understand why even Republicans say they support this handout “if it’s paid for.”  But this is not good policy. Unemployment checks lead people to delay seeking work.  I’m told that  it’s cruel to say that, but it’s just true. When you subsidize something, you get more of it... continue reading »

Every time something goes wrong in America, Obama and Congress use it as an excuse for more government. Is the economy failing? Spend $800 billion on government make-work. Are the automakers failing? The government takes them over. An oil well breaks?... continue reading »

Thousands of flyers are stranded today because Spirit Airlines' pilots walked off the job. A press release on the Air Line Pilots Union (ALPA) website reads:

Spirit pilots, joined by other ALPA brothers and sisters... continue reading »