There is a new sense that governments can make people happy by giving them stuff. This is a mistake that I address in my column this week.

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson called the pursuit of happiness an unalienable right. This was a radical idea. For most of history, most people didn't think much about pursuing happiness. They were too busy just trying to survive... continue reading »

Just now, during his State of the Union address, President Obama promised a "blueprint for an economy."

How silly. Politicians always think they can concoct a simple "blueprint" to make life fairer and better for all. But I say: No, thanks. We don't need more planning and more taxes. We need to shrink government.

In this week's syndicated column, I write what I wish the president would have said:... continue reading »

On my show last week - clips of it are here - I argued that our instincts about politics and economics are generally wrong.

A most dangerous aspect of that is this: When a problem comes up: people instinctively think that government should do something. There ought to be a law!

In my syndicated column, I explore how these bad intuitions come from the way humans evolved:... continue reading »

On my Fox Business show last week, I celebrated some people who fight for liberty. Election season is upon us and I could have cited Ron Paul as a defender of freedom, but I didn't. I had some other idea in my column this week... continue reading »

Did you know that ideas have sex?

Think about it this way: one idea goes to a bar and meets another idea. They get together -- and however many days or months later (I'm not sure how it works with ideas) -- a baby results. The baby idea has the best traits of both parents.

I know this seems like a weird concept. It seemed weird to me when I first heard it.

But the more I thought about it ... the more right it seems.

... continue reading »

On my Fox Business Network show this Thursday at 10PM ET, and in my syndicated column today, I ask:

As 2011 draws to a close, is freedom winning? Did America become freer this year? Less free? How about the rest of the world?

I go through some of what was good and bad for freedom in 2011:... continue reading »

President Obama says his health care "reform" will be good for business. But businessmen don't seem to agree. Three successful CEOs came on my Fox Business show last week to explain how Obamacare is a reason that unemployment stays high... continue reading »

A member of the European Parliament, Daniel Hannan, worries about what he calls "The New Road To Serfdom." He says Europe is imploding, and it should be a warning to America.

I interviewed him for my FBN show. And expand on his argument in my syndicated column this week:... continue reading »

Should government forbid people from saying things viewed as hateful, or harassing? I cover that in my syndicated column today:

I once interviewed someone who said words are like bullets because words can wound; this justified some censorship in his eyes.

Ugly words in a workplace can indeed make it hard for someone to succeed at work, and racism in school can make it hard to learn. But I say words are words and bullets are bullets... continue reading »

America's government-managed schools are a mess. On international math tests, U.S. students rank behind countries like Hungary. It's one reason I called my special "Stupid in America." The bigger reason is that it is stupid to trust something important like education to a government monopoly.

But, as I write in the my syndicated column this week, there is good news:

Cool things are starting to happen in classrooms... continue reading »