Reason Foundation

Recent Research and Commentary

We Must Take UN’s Internet Grab Seriously

June 21, 2012, 5:06pm

Steven Titch

The ITU, an arm of the United Nations, is pushing for an international treaty that will give governments a much more powerful role in the architecture of the Internet and economics of the cross-border interconnection.

Video: French and Greek Elections Were Not Proof Austerity Doesn't Work

May 8, 2012, 10:18am

Anthony Randazzo

Europe's elections this weekend don't prove much of anything about austerity in general. Citizenry are not to be blamed for being upset with austerity measures. The whole point is that it doesn't feel good to get your fiscal house in order after a spending binge. The democratic reaction doesn't suggest the viability of the plan's capacity to achieve its goal of reducing government debt.

Refining the Story of the Financial Crises in Europe and the USA

What new information is telling us about the causes of the financial crisis and how they relate to the economy today

April 9, 2012

Anthony Randazzo, Murat Yulek

A significant amount of research has already been made about the financial crisis. But a midterm primer is nevertheless necessary;it is critical to assess the nature of the crises to ensure that the proper lessons are learned.

This article aims to present a history on the causes of the financial crisis that first emerged in the U.S. in 2007. Then it will analyze the roots of the current state of the economic crisis in Europe and the U.S. It will also assess the effects of the crises on the European and American economies. Consequently, a range of topics are discussed in the article, some of which have received deeper treatment elsewhere in economic literature, but have not been pieced together to provide a coherent past and present picture of the situation.

 

Why is Europe So Delusional on Greece?

February 24, 2012, 2:32pm

Anthony Randazzo

This isn't really about the country. The Greeks are being held hostage by the banks and financial institutions on Wall Street, in London and Paris who want to make sure that money keeps on flowing from government bailout packages -- not to Greece, but into their coffers.

Surveying the State of Global Freedom

In 2010, the world stalled on the road to democracy

December 23, 2011

Steve Chapman

This year served mainly to vindicate the desires of tyrants and the fears of pessimists. To recapture the sense that the world is destined for universal democracy, you'd need a time machine.

How Economic Freedom Can Ensure an Arab Autumn

Lack of political representation is merely a symptom of the fundamental lack of economic freedom in Arab countries

December 14, 2011

Hicham El Moussaoui

The self-immolation of a young Tunisian street vendor Tarek Mohamed Bouazizi helped spark the Arab Spring. The first of many protestors in 2011 sharing the honor of Time magazine Person of the Year, Bouazizi was denied the right to trade, having his produce repeatedly stolen by police while being harassed by corrupt government officials. It is fitting, then, that the circumstances leading up to his tragic protest are also emblematic of underlying causes of the revolution.

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