Will mankind survive the next billion years? It is of course impossible to give any definite answer to this question. However, it may be possible to discern which of our present policies will increase, or decrease, the likelihood of that eventuality. This can be done not with any precision, to...

Our claim is a limited one: for strict purposes of economic welfare, subsidies are worse than taxes. This is because while taxes divert resources, necessarily, to the second best alternative, which is pretty good all things considered, subsidies come with no such guarantee. Instead, subsidies...

Blackmail consists of two things, each indisputably legal on their own; yet, when combined in a single act, the result is considered a crime. First, one may gossip, and, provided that what is said is true, there is nothing illegal about it. Truth is an absolute defense. Second, if one may speak...