By Michael Bastasch Despite being soundly rejected a few years ago, cap-and-trade will get its U.S. encore but not in Congress. The Obama administration will likely use its executive power to unilaterally impose carbon dioxide emissions trading systems. The Environmental Protection Agency will unveil regulations for existing U.S. power plants early next month. For months,…
France’s socialist approach to governance has caused the country’s GDP to flounder in recent years. To give their economy a manufactured boost, the French government recently ordered 2,000 new trains to replace existing –and perfectly functional– units. The modernization effort in socialist paradise has been stymied by human error. Reuters reports that France’s RFF gave…
By Michael Bastasch There may be a plus side to melting polar ice caps: British scientists suggest they could hold the key to stemming global warming. According to research published in the journal Nature Communications, summer meltwaters from polar ice sheets are rich in iron, which are critical for phytoplankton growth. And what do phytoplankton do? They…
A Bigger Tax Bill For Google Helps Neither People, Nor Profits By Craig Schlesinger It’s not uncommon to hear populist cries for companies operating under foreign subsidiaries to pay their “share” in taxes or even repatriate assets. What’s extremely rare, however, is a company’s own shareholders demanding they cough up a sizeable chunk of change…
By Sarah Hurtubise Americans have recently been hit with some of the largest premium increases in years, according to a Morgan Stanley survey of insurance brokers. The investment bank’s April survey of 148 brokers found that this quarter, the average premium increase for customers renewing an insurance plan is 12 percent in the small group market and 11…
It’s not just the blood, sex and action of Game of Thrones that makes it an excellent watch, but Matthew McCaffrey explains there are real world economic lessons that can be learned from the popular HBO series. From vice taxes of prostitutes to public finance, the Game of Thrones is really about the “Game of Cronyism,”…
By Michael Bastasch Liberal billionaire George Soros suggested that President Barack Obama release oil from the country’s strategic reserves to lower gas prices and “ruin” Russia’s energy-dependent economy. Follow TLR on Google+ Soros told a panel in Berlin last week that the best way to sanction Russia for its actions in Ukraine “is in the…
Governments bully small businesses on a regular basis with overwhelming regulation. Innovators who don’t fit the mold of similar businesses often have terrible stories to tell of red tape, resistance and regulatory runarounds. Far too often, the story ends with a business crushed by unreasonable requirements that prevent innovation and growth in new industries. Every…
In an era where consumers are clamoring for innovative products and cheap alternatives for services, the free market seeks to provide. Time recently wrote an enlightening article highlighting the plight of three companies in particular to compete against crony capitalism. The electric car Tesla has achieved the best safety rating of any car ever tested,…
By Greg Campbell A health-care navigator with Colorado’s state-run health-care exchange bluntly told a customer that she would pay substantially more in monthly premiums for her new insurance policy if she insisted on sticking with her long-time doctor. Rebecca Ryan, shopping for a new insurance plan when her previous one was canceled for not conforming to the…