Defense contracting is hard to get right. Unelected government officials dealing out princely sums naturally creates an area of government that is ripe for cronyism and waste if not overseen properly. That’s why the Government Accountability Office has had Department…
The defenders of Silicon Valley are fond of pointing to the many benefits that America’s tech sector has conjured, seemingly from thin air, and to the great virtues of those who run these modern day titans of industry. We all…
For much of the Obama Administration the federal government did as much as it could to limit the use of coal — engaging in so many anti-coal measures the undertaking was colloquially known as the “War on Coal.” From the…
Taco Bell has been rolling out the idea of the “Taco Bell Cantina” recently, offering the typical fare of the fast food restaurant but also local craft beer and frozen margaritas. But officials in Royal Oak, Michigan, have poured cold…
Remember “got milk?” That charming advertising campaign is one of the most famous of all time, not to mention having a laudable goal in advocating for children’s nutrition. On the other hand, it’s a product of a cronyist scheme to…
Thanks to the actions of the mayor of a tiny town in the Aleutian islands and a protectionist shipping law from the 1920s, American-built fishing trawler America’s Finest will not be hiring any American fishermen. Fishermen’s Finest, an American fishing…
D.C. has been something of a factory of bad ideas of late. Last week, it was the proposal to subject servers to conventional minimum wage laws, despite the fact that they make more when they can count tips towards the…
Happy Small Business Week, an annual celebration by the Small Business Administration of “America’s 30 million small businesses.” Small businesses, the backbone of the U.S. economy, employed 48 percent of all American workers in 2016, and were deemed “the engine of the American Dream” by President…
The American sugar program is a strong contender for the poster child for crony capitalism. And this year, it’s up for reauthorization. The sugar program in the United States is cronyistic in four main ways. First, the federal government sets…
