The government's principal responsibility is to provide our national defense, but do our policies promote defense? Or offense? My column this week discusses the military.

With an election approaching and at least some Americans upset about irresponsible spending, the president has finally expressed a political interest in cutting something. He says the Pentagon will spend "only" $525 billion next year. That's slightly less than the current $531 billion... continue reading »

"Made in America." Those 3 words on a product label make people feel good, as if their money will magically grow jobs for their unemployed neighbors. But that's nonsense.

I try to set the record straight in my syndicated column this week:

Anytime we can use fewer resources and less labor to produce one thing, that leaves more for other things we can't afford. If we save money buying abroad, we can make and buy other products... continue reading »

On my FBN show this week, we cover entrepreneurs, like the ones who created Intel, Genentech, Apple, Cisco, Microsoft. They created vast wealth and, of course, cool things. Is it coincidence that all that creation happened in San Francisco and Seattle, the two metropolitan areas farthest from Washington DC? I doubt it. Sadly, those company now spend millions on lobbying—millions that would be better spent on inventing.

We’d be better off if we just had fewer rules... continue reading »

Our government embargo on trade with Cuba is now 50 years old.  The travel ban is almost as old.  What did we accomplish?  Nothing good. Communism collapsed in countries where we had trade relations, because Communism doesn’t work.  There’s no evidence that sanctions speed the process.  In Cuba, our restrictions may have helped Castro and his cronies by giving them an excuse for failure. Cato’s Ian Vasqez says now is the time to lift the embargo:

It would be better for ... continue reading »

Speaking in Pittsburgh this week, President Obama said:

 “To be fair, a good deal of the other party's opposition to our agenda has also been rooted in their sincere and fundamental belief about the role of government," Mr. Obama said. "It's a belief that government has little or no role to play in helping this nation meet our collective challenges."... continue reading »

On my Fox Business show this week (Thursday @ 8pm & Midnight ET), I fight about free trade with Lou Dobbs, who says he prefers "balanced trade". (He also called me a "self important ass".) Trade is win-win. Two people trade only because each values what he gets more than what he gives up... continue reading »

Citizens United is the group that made the movie “Hillary, the Movie,” and then, fortunately, got the Supreme Court to rule that Congress cannot restrict the ability of unions and corporations. Now Citizens United has made another movie, called "Generation Zero," which is scheduled to come out in theaters this month... continue reading »

A headline in today's Wall Street Journal reads: "Obama Details Effort to Double Exports Over Five Years." George Mason University economist Donald Boudreaux read that and offered his own translations:

"Obama Details Effort to Increase Corporate Welfare Over Five Years."

"Obama Details Five-year Plan to Increase American Taxpayers' Subsidization of Foreigners' Consumption of U.S. Products."... continue reading »