Sunday at 10pm Eastern, Fox News will be rebroadcasting John Stossel’s special, War On The Little Guy, which includes a segment about my lawsuit on behalf of Kentucky entrepreneur Raleigh Bruner. Some years ago, Raleigh started a moving business in Lexington called Wildcat Moving. What he didn’t know was that if you want to start […]
Archive | Economic LIberties
Unconstitutional to Ban All Felons from Becoming Precious Metals Dealers
So holds last week’s Barletta v. Rilling (D. Conn. Sept. 26, 2013), in a decision that — if upheld — may pave the way for similar decisions with regard to bans on gun ownership by (nearly) all felons. The court applies the “rational basis” test, under which nearly all legal classifications are upheld, but concludes […]
Canada Day
By Ilya Somin on July 1, 2013 8:56 pm in Canada, Economic LIberties, Federalism, Growth of Government, Sports and Games
Since today is Canada Day, this is an appropriate time to thank that nation for giving us most of the greatest Boston Bruins players, including Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Ray Bourque, and Rick “Nifty” Middleton (my favorite player when I was little). I even rooted for Canada more than the US in the 1984 and […]
IQ2US Debate: Abolish The Minimum Wage
At my suggestion, Intelligence Squared is hosting a debate on the motion: Abolish The Minimum Wage. At a time when President Obama is proposing to increase it, I thought it might be useful to go back to first principles and explore whether the minimum wage is good policy in the first place. The debaters are […]
Fifth Circuit Strikes Down Casket Sales Limit on Rational Basis Grounds
The decision is St. Joseph Abbey v. Castille (5th Cir. Mar. 20, 2013), and it strikes down “rules issued by the Louisiana Board of Funeral Directors granting funeral homes an exclusive right to sell caskets.” The court concludes that “mere economic protection of a particular industry” is not “a legitimate governmental purpose,” and that the […]
Debate at Rutgers University Law School in Camden on Whether the Constitution Protects Economic Rights
On Monday, March 11, I will be debating Georgetown Law Professor Michael Seidman at the Rutgers University School of Law in Camden, NJ, on the subject of whether the Constitution protects economic rights, broadly defined to include property rights as well as freedom of contract. The event will begin at 11 AM and continue for […]
Another Economic Liberty Victory for the Institute for Justice
These sorts of economic liberty rational basis cases are very hard to win, but the Institute for Justice is remarkably good at winning them. Here’s IJ’s summary: In a major victory for economic liberty, a federal court ruled late yesterday that Utah’s requirement that hairbraiders have a government-issued cosmetology license is unconstitutional. Jestina Clayton, a […]
Lochner and the Individual Mandate Revisited
By Ilya Somin on May 23, 2012 3:28 pm in Economic LIberties, Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Libertarianism
Various defenders of the individual mandate have long argued that if the Court strikes down the law, it is likely to lead to the resuscitation of Lochner v. New York and the invalidation of a wide range of economic regulations. This meme has most recently been taken up by Jeffrey Rosen, who claims that striking […]
The Burden of Small Business Licensing
Two recent studies find that state licensing regimes for small businesses impose severe burdens on consumers and entrepreneurs alike. The first, by the libertarian Institute for Justice, finds that licensing is ubiquitous for a wide range of professions, and that it often has little or no public interest justification: License to Work details licensing requirements […]
What Milton Friedman Means to Me
Co-blogger Eugene Volokh links to the Free to Choose Foundation’s “What Milton Friedman Means to Me” video competition. The contest marks the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Friedman’s birth. I’m not very good at making videos, but Friedman did mean a great deal to me, as I explained in this 2006 post on the […]
Writings of Vaclav Havel
For readers who may be interested, many of Vaclav Havel’s writings and speeches are available for free in English translation at his official website. Havel, who passed away on Sunday, was a great writer and the leader of the anti-communist dissident movement in Czechoslovakia. In addition to such classics as The Power of the Powerless, […]
The Right to Rise
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush in the WSJ: The right to rise doesn’t seem like something we should have to protect. But we do. We have to make it easier for people to do the things that allow them to rise. We have to let them compete. We need to let people fight for business. […]
IJ’s Victory in the Bone Marrow Case
I was going to write a post about the Institute for Justice’s important recent victory in the bone marrow case. However, I see that co-blogger Eugene Volokh has beaten me to the punch, and said most of what I would have wanted to say. I would add only that the sale of organs and medically […]
Clark Neily (Institute for Justice) Guest-Blogging This Week
By Eugene Volokh on October 10, 2011 7:16 pm in Constitutional Law, Due Process Clause Property Rights, Economic LIberties
I’m delighted to report that Clark Neily of the Institute for Justice will be guest-blogging this week, about IJ’s “judicial engagement” project. IJ is one of the leading libertarian public interest law firms in the country, and I’ve always much respected their work. As readers of this blog doubtless know, both conservatives and libertarians are […]
New York Times Room for Debate Forum on West Hollywood’s Ban on the Sale of Fur
A few days ago, I was asked to participate in the New York Times Room for Debate forum on West Hollywood’s recent enactment of a law banning the sale of fur clothing. Here is an excerpt from my contribution: West Hollywood’s ban on the sale of fur clothing is ultimately trivial because it will have […]