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The Mises Institute has a thought provoking article on zoning, comparing it to theft.

Zoning uses all the standard interventionist lines of thought, most notably the concepts of externalities and utility. Those who advocate zoning really believe that acting man does not have the ability to create communities that are functional and prosperous. Without plans and […]

It’s ok to be chatty and anecdotal when you have just a basic understanding of a topic under discussion. But not when you’re a scientist who specialises in the area. In this front page TOI article, Sanjay Limaye claims to observe the monsoon in Mumbai, but all he does is make general statements like
I have […]

Don Boudreaux responds to my post yesterday by pointing out that the high prices of goods following the tsunami is not a second disaster, but simply part of the original disaster. He also recalls a conversation with a student who disagreed with him and shows how these price increases are not incompatible with charity […]

Ravikiran has a superb demolition of the Government of India’s Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) law. It reminds me of a mini debate I had recently with friends on whether or not government should enforce or regulate zoning. My view is that the government should be out of it completely except (maybe) for enforcing property rights […]

Leon Louw is a libertarian from Africa, where state failure is the norm. He runs the Johannesburg-based Free Market Foundation and is the director of the Good Laws Project. He was twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize along with his wife, Frances Kendall. These are previously unpublished excerpts from an impromptu interview with Sauvik […]

Interesting pictorial on pollution and development. Scroll down to see the India - China comparison.

If you skip the party crap, Bombay Times sometimes comes up with a gem like this. Veena Singhal of the Pedder Road Residents’ Association is concerned about the impact a new 47 storey tower will have on civic amenities in the area. Her two major areas of concern are a) water and b) traffic congestion. […]

Ronald Bailey’s new article in Reason shows that new technologies have always had a rough ride in initial public opinion.
In 1969, a Harris poll found that a majority of Americans believed that producing test-tube babies was “against God’s will.” Christiaan Barnard was condemned by many as a “butcher” when he transplanted the first heart into […]

I subscribe to many sites that send a daily email. Freedom’s Nest sends me three libertarian quotes daily. This one by historian Daniel Boorstin hits home on the unseen side of “environmentalism.”
We easily forget that smog is the price of freedom of our streets from manure, and from the flies and diseases it brought.