Unintended Consequences
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Can Other States Learn From California’s Property Tax Experiment?
Capping property taxes isn’t all upside, but California’s Proposition 13 shows how tax limits can protect property owners from sudden increases and provide greater predictability.
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Why Apartments in Tokyo Are So Much Cheaper Than in NYC
Tokyo houses millions more people than New York, with a surprisingly simple affordability formula: let people build more housing.
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Good Intentions Paved the Road to the 2008 Financial Crisis
The financial crisis demonstrated how regulations can produce dangerous incentives — and how discretionary intervention can magnify uncertainty. Eighteen years later, policymakers remain tempted by both.
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The Fed’s Mortgage Policy Made Homeownership Cost More
The Fed’s mortgage-market policy rewarded existing homeowners, but raised the price of entry for first-time and future buyers.
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Twenty-Five Years After 9/11, Fear Is Testing Freedom Again
America answered the terror of 9/11 by making every citizen more visible to the state. Will our genuine fears of AI be used to erode liberty and privacy even further?
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When Government Separates Choices from Consequences
From tariffs to “free” public services, government policies routinely transfer the costs and consequences of individual choices onto someone else.
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Admissions Standards Ration Scarce Resources
Mismatching students and institutions can hurt the very students such policies intend to help — while squandering scarce faculty talent on remedial math.
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Univ. of Michigan’s Hidden Grades Will Backfire on Students
Hiding student grades may sound compassionate, but it will weaken an important signal of merit and push employers toward less transparent ways of sorting applicants.
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When Paris Went Hungry Under Government Food Controls
During the French Revolution, authorities in Paris turned to “a series of ventures in price-fixing and food control” to ensure people did not go hungry. It didn’t work as planned.
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What Slaughtered Pigs Can Teach Us About Europe’s Wine Policy
There’s a senselessness to Europe’s attempt to manage wine supply and dictate prices that echoes the New Deal’s effort to alleviate poverty by destroying millions of pigs.
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Can Other States Learn From California’s Property Tax Experiment?
Capping property taxes isn’t all upside, but California’s Proposition 13 shows how tax limits can protect property owners from sudden increases and provide greater predictability.
-
•
Why Apartments in Tokyo Are So Much Cheaper Than in NYC
Tokyo houses millions more people than New York, with a surprisingly simple affordability formula: let people build more housing.
-
•
Good Intentions Paved the Road to the 2008 Financial Crisis
The financial crisis demonstrated how regulations can produce dangerous incentives — and how discretionary intervention can magnify uncertainty. Eighteen years later, policymakers remain tempted by both.
-
•
The Fed’s Mortgage Policy Made Homeownership Cost More
The Fed’s mortgage-market policy rewarded existing homeowners, but raised the price of entry for first-time and future buyers.
-
•
Twenty-Five Years After 9/11, Fear Is Testing Freedom Again
America answered the terror of 9/11 by making every citizen more visible to the state. Will our genuine fears of AI be used to erode liberty and privacy even further?
-
•
When Government Separates Choices from Consequences
From tariffs to “free” public services, government policies routinely transfer the costs and consequences of individual choices onto someone else.
-
•
Admissions Standards Ration Scarce Resources
Mismatching students and institutions can hurt the very students such policies intend to help — while squandering scarce faculty talent on remedial math.
-
•
Univ. of Michigan’s Hidden Grades Will Backfire on Students
Hiding student grades may sound compassionate, but it will weaken an important signal of merit and push employers toward less transparent ways of sorting applicants.
-
•
When Paris Went Hungry Under Government Food Controls
During the French Revolution, authorities in Paris turned to “a series of ventures in price-fixing and food control” to ensure people did not go hungry. It didn’t work as planned.
-
•
What Slaughtered Pigs Can Teach Us About Europe’s Wine Policy
There’s a senselessness to Europe’s attempt to manage wine supply and dictate prices that echoes the New Deal’s effort to alleviate poverty by destroying millions of pigs.