Reason.tv - Topics

Jacob Sullum, Virginia Postrel, & Nick Gillespie on Fox Business' Stossel

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST

On March 4, 2010, Jacob Sullum, Nick Gillespie and Virginia Postrel appeared on a special episoode of Fox Business Network's Stossel devoted to prohibition to discuss drug laws, ridiculous media scare stories, and legalizing markets in human organs.

Approximately 30 minutes.

Scroll down for downloadable iPod and audio versions.

Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel and receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

And come back to Reason.tv March 15 through March 19 for the debut of Reason Saves Cleveland With Drew Carey: How to fix the "Mistake on The Lake" and other once-great American cities, an original six-part documentary series.

Tim Cavanaugh Talks Greece's Financial Troubles on Fox Business' Cavuto

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:27:00 EST

On March 9, 2010, Reason's Tim Cavanaugh discussed Greece's financial problems on Fox Business' Cavuto.

Approximately 5 minutes.

Scroll down for downloadable iPod and audio versions.

Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel and receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Adrian Moore on Fox Business Channel Talking State Pensions

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:00:00 EST

On March 3, 2010, Adrian Moore, vice president of research at Reason Foundation, appeared on Fox Business with Stuart Varney to comment on California's prison guard pensions and the large issue of the Golden State's buget shortfalls.

Approximately 3.40 minutes.

Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel and receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

And come back to Reason.tv March 15 through March 19 for the debut of Reason Saves Cleveland With Drew Carey: How to fix the "Mistake on The Lake" and other once-great American cities, an original six-part documentary series.

Anthony Randazzo Discusses the Greek Debt Crisis on RT

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST

The Reason Foundation's Director of Economic Research Anthony Randazzo discusses the Greek debt crisis and what it means for the E.U. and U.S. on Russia Today's Alyona Show, February 11, 2010.

Approximately 7 minutes.

Obama's Doublethink Doubletalk (State of the Union Remix)

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:00:00 EST

George Orwell defined doublethink as "the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.

When it comes to war, spending, and more, President Barack Obama's 2010 State of the Union address showed that doublethink is alive and well in Washington, D.C.

Approximately two minutes. Written and produced by Paul Feine.

For downloadable versions of all videos, go to Reason.tv.

Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel and receive automatic notifications when new videos go online.

Obama's Surprising Jobs Program Success

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST

During his first State of the Union address President Obama highlighted the jobs created during his first year in office. And it is clear that the president's policies are putting Americans back to work--especially bankruptcy attorneys, repo men, and government workers.

Written and produced by Ted Balaker. Director of Photography: Alex Manning; Associate Producer: Paul Detrick.

Approximately 40 seconds.

Go to Reason.tv for downloadable versions.

Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel and get automatic notification when new content goes live!

Virginia is for (Liquor) Lovers!

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST

Bob McDonnell is a self-professed pinot grigio and white zinfandel drinker.

He's also the new Republican governor of Virginia and is taking aim at the commonwealth's oppressive and inefficient state-owned liquor monopoly. More than a dozen states still completely control the sales and distribution of all distilled spirits.

The result? Higher payrolls for state governments (state-workers are public-sector employees after all) and rotten selection and service for customers (state-sanctioned monopolies tend to diminish the shopping experience).

Despite a reputation as a social conservative, McDonnell thinks that state-run liquor stores are a bad idea from both pragmatic and philosophical perspectives. Given budget crises, says McDonnell, "we can't just do things the same old way.... Certainly there's nothing I gleaned from the [Virginia] constitution that would have me think it's better or required to have the government controlling distilled spirits."

States such as West Virginia and Iowa have gained millions of dollars in new tax and license revenues by privatizing liquor sales, says Reason Foundation policy analyst Len Gilroy. And they've also cut government expenditures by millions of dollars as well.

Will Virginia join them? McDonnell invited Reason.tv to come back in a year and check in with him. Sure thing, Mr. Governor. We'll bring the questions. You can bring the white zinfandel.

Approximately 4.30 minutes. Written and produced by Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie, who also hosts. Additional footage: Dan Hayes.

Scroll down for downloadable versions.

Subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel and get immediate notification whenever a new video goes live.

For more Reason.tv videos on prohibition and alchohol policy, go here.

Anthony Randazzo on The Alyona Show on Russia Today - 01/07/10

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST

Reason Foundation Policy Analyst Anthony Randazzo talks about the problems the economy will face this year and offers some predictions for 2010. He appeared on Russia Today's "The Alyona Show" on January 7, 2010.

Timothy P. Carney Analyzes "Obamanomics"

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:23:00 EST

In his new book Obamanomics: How Barack Obama is Bankrupting You and Enriching His Wall Street Friends, Corporate Lobbyists, and Union Bosses, Timothy P. Carney explains that Barack Obama's "progressive" rhetoric masks good old-fashioned crony capitalism, in which the favored few and politcally well-connected get all sorts of benefits paid for with public dollars. Whether the area is Wall Street, health care reform, union organizing, or K Street lobbying, the same pattern is everywhere: using the government's power to distribute goodies and rig markets.

A columnist at the Washington Examiner and a non-partisan reporter, Carney also lays into the Republican Party for its massive contribution to the problem when it wielded power. Carney provides a game plan to take the country back and restore truly free markets that will benefit everyone.

Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie interviewed Carney in December 2009. Shot by Dan Hayes and Meredith Bragg; edited by Bragg.

Scroll down for embed code and downloadable versions. You can watch this video at Reason.tv's YouTube Channel (subscribe now). Approximately 9 minutes.

Be Happy!: Why this is the best holiday season ever.

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST

We're going through some tough economic times right now, but this holiday season, take a moment to appreciate how good we really have it.

Need proof? Just think about how much Christmas presents sucked in the 1970s compared to today.

Thanks to our market-based system, we're wealthier, we have more choices, and we enjoy more leisure time than ever before.

From all of us at Reason.tv, happy holidays!

Produced by Paul Feine and Hawk Jensen. Hosted by Nick Gillespie.

Approximately 1.45 minutes.

Scroll down for embed code and downloadable versions.

To sign up for Reason.tv's YouTube page, go here.

From Poverty to Prosperity: Arnold Kling, Nick Schulz, and Economics 2.0

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie talks with economist Arnold Kling and journalist Nick Schulz about their new book, From Poverty to Prosperity (Encounter), which charts the fantastic increase in overall wealth despite recent economic troubles.

Taking a longer view that stretches back decades and even centuries, Kling and Schulz argue that we've entered the era of Economics 2.0, in which the key issue is innovation, transformation, and growth, not the divvying up of existing goods and services.

Schulz, the editor of the The American, and Kling, author also of the new Unchecked and Unbalanced, worry about a politics that is dangerously out of synch with the way the economy actually works.

Approximately 10 minutes. Shot by Dan Hayes and Meredith Bragg; edited by Bragg.

Watch this video at Reason.tv's YouTube channel.

Nick Gillespie on Fox News' Freedom Watch With Judge Andrew Napolitano, Dec. 9, 2009

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:00:00 EST

On December 9, Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie appeared on Fox News' Freedom Watch with Judge Andrew Napolitano to discuss auditing the Federal Reserve, health care reform, and the role of small-government libertarians in the Republican Party. Also appearing: Investment analyst and Senate candidate Peter Schiff.

This video is also available at Reason.tv's YouTube channel.

Nick Gillespie on Fox's Freedom Watch, November 17, 2009

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:01:00 EST

Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie appeared on Fox News' Freedom Watch With Judge Andrew Napolitano to discuss the legality and efficacy of the federal government's bailout of General Motors.

Original airdate: November 17, 2009.

Watch this at Reason.tv's YouTube site by going here.

Anthony Randazzo on Russia Today December 3, 2009

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:00:00 EST

Reason Foundation policy analyst Anthony Randazzo discusses President Barack Obama's "Jobs Summit" and plans to combat unemployment on Russia Today.

Original airdate: December 3, 2009. To watch this video at Reason.tv's YouTube channel, go here.

How to Fix Health Care

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:00:00 EST

Make no mistake about it. Health care reform is coming. But what's the best way to fix our health care system, which is an inefficient, complicated mess of private actors, third-party payers, public subsidies, and innumerable state and federal regulations? Should we place our faith in the government or in the free market?

ObamaCare supporters argue that the answer lies in more government—more subsidies, more regulations, a law mandating individuals buy health-insurance coverage and, of course, more taxes to pay for it all.

The alternative is to base reforms on what works in the other five-sixths of the U.S. economy, where choice and competition increase quality and drive down prices over time.

Can a market-based health care system work? We can begin to answer this question by looking at Lasik, a medical procedure that's not covered by health insurance. And has gotten better—and cheaper—over time.

"How to Fix Health Care" proposes three simple reforms that will put us on a path to a health-care system that's better, more affordable, and more accessible. And get this—these market-based reforms can be implemented without creating new government programs or raising taxes.

Approximately 8.30 minutes. Produced by Paul Feine and Meredith Bragg. Hosted by Nick Gillespie.

For downloadable versions of this video, scroll down. To watch this video at Reason.tv's YouTube channel, go here.

Nathaniel Branden on "My Years With Ayn Rand"

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:00:00 EST

Throughout Ayn Rand's career, no collaborator was closer to her than Nathaniel Branden, whom she once named her "intellectual heir." In Rand, Branden found a fearless advocate of individualism and of man as a heroic being. In Branden, Rand saw her vision come to life in flesh and blood. "She gave people a sense that they could be effective. That if they would persevere, stick by their standards, work hard, you could achieve something you can be proud of. Find that part in you—she would say ‘the hero in your own soul'—and work towards that," says Branden.

After a decade at the center of Rand's inner circle, Branden founded the Nathaniel Branden Institute with the goal of promoting her philosophy. The Institute was largely responsible for the spread of Rand's ideas during the 1960s, but came to an abrupt end when romantic conflict between Branden and Rand tore apart their professional association.

Despite the official and unreconciled split between the two, the 79-year-old Branden has remained true to the spirit of Rand's work during his prolific career as a psychologist of self-esteem. To this day, their legacies remain inseparable and in 2000, Branden authored My Years with Ayn Rand, his second memoir of his relationship to the author of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.

Approximately 10 minutes. Nathaniel Branden was interviewed by David Nott, filmed by Alex Manning, and edited by Hawk Jensen and Alex Manning.

This video is part of the Reason.tv series Radicals For Capitalism: Celebrating the Ideas of Ayn Rand. Go here for more information, other videos, and related materials.

Scroll down for embed code and downloadable versions.

Go here to subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel.

Barbara Branden on The Passion of Ayn Rand

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:00:00 EST

Arguably, no two people were closer to Ayn Rand than Barbara and Nathaniel Branden, whom Rand once named as her "intellectual heir." Indeed, when the Brandens married in 1953, the author served as bridesmaid (Rand had also urged the pair to wed).

A decade later, the Brandens would collaborate on the first biography of Rand, Who Is Ayn Rand? In 1986, Barbara published a second biography, The Passion of Ayn Rand, which eventually was made into an award-winning Showtime movie starring Helen Mirren.

Despite the ruinous and controversial romantic affair between Rand and Nathaniel Branden, and her eventual ouster from Rand's inner circle, Barbara still feels fondly for the author of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. As Branden, now 80, recalls in this Reason.tv interview, "I felt like she's answering questions that I've been looking for answers for, and nobody's been giving me any sort of answer until now."

Approximately seven minutes. Interview by Seth Goldin, camera by Alex Manning, and editing by Hawk Jensen.

This is part of the Reason.tv series Radicals For Capitalism: Celebrating the Ideas of Ayn Rand. Go here for more information, other videos, and related materials or scroll down for embed code and downloadable versions.

This video is also available on Reason.tv's YouTube channel. Go here to subscribe.

UPS Vs. FEDEX: Ultimate Whiteboard Remix

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:30:00 EST

You may have heard the UPS is in quite the fight with FEDEX. Though both are package-delivery companies, they're governed by totally different federal labor rules. As a result, UPS's workforce is much more heavily unionized than FEDEX's—and more than twice as expensive.

So now UPS is trying to get FEDEX reclassified under federal law as a way of screwing a competitor. That's horrendous, but it also makes a sick kind of business sense. And it also reveals the real villain: A government that is big enough to absolutely, positively guarantee it can screw any business. Overnight.

"UPS Vs. FEDEX" was produced by Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie (who also hosts). Approximately two minutes long.

This video is based on "Using Unions as Weapons," by Veronique de Rugy, which appeared in the October 2009 print edition of Reason.

Scroll down for downloadable versions. This video is also available at Reason.tv's YouTube channel. Subscribe now.

Life, Liberty & Viticulture: Bryan Babcock on winemaking, Patrick Henry, & Ayn Rand

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:00:00 EST

Bryan Babcock is a cutting-edge winemaker named by the Los Angeles Times as one of the "Ten Best Winemakers of the Year" and voted "Most Courageous Winemaker of the Year." Part of his bold and daring reputation stems from his outspoken embrace of liberty and the ideas put forth by Ayn Rand.

"I don't walk around thinking about Ayn Rand, John Galt, or Atlas Shrugged every second of the day, thinking about how I can make this [vineyard] be like Galt's Gulch. But if it was Galt's Gulch, the government would not be permitted to take one step on the property," says Babcock. "John Galt is the guy in fiction that Patrick Henry [was in] real life....And the world needs a few of those. The world needs an Atlas to hold up the globe. The world needs a John Galt or a Patrick Henry to say, 'Freedom is a good thing, man needs freedom, we've got to be free.'"

Approximately 10 minutes. Babcock was interviewed by David Nott. The segment was filmed and edited by Alex Manning. Production assistants were Seth Goldin and Ryan Seals.

This video is part of the Reason.tv series Radicals For Capitalism: Celebrating the Ideas of Ayn Rand. Go here for more information, other videos, and related materials. Scroll down for embed code and downloadable versions.

This video is also available at Reason.tv's YouTube channel. Go here to subscribe.

Goddess of the Market Author Jennifer Burns on Ayn Rand

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:00:00 EST

Reason Senior Editor Katherine Mangu-Ward recently sat down with Jennifer Burns, an assistant professor of history at the University of Virginia and author of the new book Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right.

Shot and edited by Meredith Bragg.

This is part of the Reason.tv series Radicals For Capitalism: Celebrating the Ideas of Ayn Rand.

Go here for more information, other videos, and related materials. Scroll down for embed code and downloadable versions.

Reason Foundation Co-Founder Tibor Machan on Ayn Rand

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:00:00 EST

Tibor Machan was one of the founding partners in Reason Enterprises, which began publishing Reason magazine in 1971, three years after its creation. He became editor in the spring of 1971 and worked with the magazine through the '70s and '80s as an associate editor and senior editor. In 1978 he co-founded the Reason Foundation with Manny Klausner and Bob Poole. Today Machan holds the R. C. Hoiles Chair of Business Ethics and Free Enterprise at the Argyros School of Business & Economics at Chapman University in Orange, California.

"I think that for Ayn Rand to have survived and made a life for herself, she almost needed that edgy personality, otherwise she would have been destroyed," says Machan, who was born in Hungary in 1939. At 14 years of age, his father smuggled Machan out of the country, fearing the Hungarian communist government. His background helps give Machan insight into how the intellectual mind of Ayn Rand functioned. "Her unpleasantness," he says, "ultimately can be fully justified given the treatment she was given when she came out the Soviet Union, told the truth about that country, and nobody paid attention." In 2000, Machan wrote Ayn Rand exploring all the major themes of Ayn Rand's philosophical thought.

Approximately six minutes. Interview by David Nott, camera by Alex Manning, and editing by Hawk Jensen.

Reason Foundation Co-Founder Manny Klausner on Ayn Rand

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:49:00 EST

Manuel "Manny" Klausner was one of the founding partners in Reason Enterprises, which began publishing Reason magazine in 1971, three years after the publication's creation. He became editor in the summer of 1972 and a senior editor in June 1978. In 1978 he co-founded the Reason Foundation with Tibor Machan and Bob Poole. He remains on the board of the Reason Foundation today, is a stalwart supporter of the Federalist Society, and a libertarian lawyer extraordinaire.

"Rand is, I think, a very valuable resource in the movement for people who take liberty seriously," says Klausner. "When I was editor of Reason in the early 1970s, we got an article that was submitted that proposed a method for converting the world to libertarianism, and that was by going door-to-door and distributing to every household a copy of Atlas Shrugged. We rejected the article...but it was an example of the kind of impact Rand has had and continues to have on many many people."

Approximately six minutes. Interview by David Nott, camera by Alex Manning, and editing by Hawk Jensen.

This interview is part of the Reason.tv series Radicals For Capitalism: Celebrating the Ideas of Ayn Rand. Go here for more information, other videos, and related materials. Scroll down for embed code and downloadable versions.

Reason Foundation Co-Founder Bob Poole on Ayn Rand

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:00:00 EST

Robert W. Poole Jr. was one of the founders of Reason Enterprises, which began publishing Reason with its January 1971 issue (the magazine had started in 1968, under the direction of Lanny Friedlander). He co-founded the Reason Foundation in 1978 with Manny Klausner and Tibor Machan and has held many titles with the magazine, including editor, managing editor, executive editor, editor-in-chief, and publisher. He remains on the board of the Reason Foundation today and is the Searle Freedom Trust Transportation Fellow and Director of Transportation Policy.

"Rand really inspired a lot of people who otherwise might have become conservatives, like me," says Poole. "If you go back and look at surveys that were done of libertarians in the 1960s, '70s, and even the '80s, and asked what single book or thought leader most inspired you to become a libertarian, it was always Rand by a large large majority—always a plurality and usually a majority."

Approximately six minutes. Interview by Michael C. Moynihan, camera by Dan Hayes, and editing by Hawk Jensen.

This is part of the Reason.tv series Radicals For Capitalism: Celebrating the Ideas of Ayn Rand.

Go here for more information, other videos, and related materials. Scroll down for embed code and downloadable versions.

Budget Deficits For Dummies: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love $1.4 Trillion

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EDT

The U.S. budget deficit for fiscal year 2009, which ended in September, was a record-shattering $1.4 trillion, equal to about 10 percent of Gross Domestic Product. In case you're wondering, the previous record had been set in...2008.

$1.4 trillion dollars is a lot of money and it's hard to get your mind around that figure. One way to appreciate the sum is to think of it in terms of all the things that you could buy with that dough. The budget deficit, for instance, would pay for more than 1.2 billion nights at Rep. Charles Rangel's vacation condo in the Dominican Republic. And that's just for starters.

Don't worry if you have trouble doing the math, because you'll get another chance next year. The Obama administration has just released its estimate for the fiscal year 2010 budget deficit. The number? Another $1.4 trillion.

Approximately 1.30 seconds. Written and produced by Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie.

Natural Food Fight: Whole Foods and Health Care

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:12:00 EDT

In August, Whole Foods CEO John Mackey argued in the pages of the Wall Street Journal that the solution to America's health care crisis was to be found in "less government control and more individual empowerment." His own company's unique health care plan, Mackey wrote, covers 90 percent of employees, costs less than health insurance plans, aned provides a "very high degree of worker satisfaction." But for the sin of not supporting a government take over of health care, labor unions and left-wing activists called for a boycott of Whole Foods, claiming that Mackey's solutions were unworkable and his employees were unhappy.

Reason.tv talked to protesters, Mackey, and employees about "the Whole Foods alternative to ObamaCare."

Produced by Michael C. Moynihan and Dan Hayes. Edited by Dan Hayes. Approximately 5 minutes. (Full disclosure: Mackey has contributed to Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes this website.)

Realizing Freedom

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EDT

Last month, Reason senior editor Michael C. Moynihan talked with Tom G. Palmer, senior fellow at the Cato Institute and vice president of international relations at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, about his latest book Realizing Freedom: Libertarian Theory, History, and Practice, why we are living in the freest time in human history, and the necessity of libertarian compromise.

Approximately 10 minutes. Shot by Meredith Bragg and Dan Hayes. Edited by Dan Hayes.

A Mystery in Which Everyone is Guilty

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT

A loose monetary policy that created lots of cheap money, government interventions into the housing market, and the hubris of Wall Street firms deemed "too big to fail" combined to send the world economy into a tailspin, argues Swedish author Johan Norberg.

Reason senior editor Michael C. Moynihan sat down with author Norberg to discuss his latest book Financial Fiasco: How America's Infatuation with Homeownership and Easy Money Created the Economic Crisis, an overview of what caused the current financial crisis (and what did not) and how politicians of all parties and all ideologies helped make the problem much worse.

Approximately 10 minutes. Shot by Meredith Bragg and Dan Hayes. Edited by Dan Hayes.

LP Chairman William Redpath Tells All

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:00:00 EDT

At July's FreedomFest in Las Vegas, Reason magazine Editor in Chief Matt Welch sat down with the chairman of the Libertarian Party William Redpath to discuss what went right (and wrong) in the LP's 2008 electoral season, how the government's response to economic tumult is shaping policy, and the hopes for a freer, more individualistic society.

"Some people say, 'Don't you get kind of depressed sometimes,'" jokes Redpath, "and I say, "We'll have a libertarian society someday, when it's imposed on us by the Chinese government....Ultimately, if our politicians don't have the cojones to step up and make the tough decisions they need to make, our foreign creditors are going to make them for us."

Approximately 10 minutes. Shot and edited by Dan Hayes.

Live From The September 12 Taxpayer March on Washington

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT

Are the Tea Party protesters a small group of radical freakazoids or a large crew of taxpaying regular joes who are fed up with government spending, Democrats and Republicans, and business as usual?

Reason.tv fanned out through the crowd and the backstage of the September 12 Taxpayer March on Washington, the controversial anti-government protest that drew somewhere between 75,000 and 1 million people, according to press reports.

We talked with folks from all over the country and snagged interviews with speakers and media including Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), CNN's Jeff Greenfield, actor Steven Baldwin, Freedom Works' Matt Kibbe, and many more.

What we found was a group of people united in their calls for less government spending and their disgust at the Republican and Democratic pols who made it all happen.

Interviews by Nick Gillespie, Matt Welch, and Michael C. Moynihan. Shot and edited by Dan Hayes and Meredith Bragg. Approximately 6 minutes.

For more Reason coverage of the protest, go to Reason.com.

The Flaw of Averages

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EDT

Have you heard the one about the river-crossing statistician who drowns after determining that the water is, on average, only three feet deep? This, says author Sam L. Savage, is just one example of the flaw of averages.

But don't despair, Savage writes in The Flaw of Averages: Why We Underestimate Risk in the Face of Uncertainty. There are sensible ways to make judgments involving uncertainty and risk. Reason senior editor Michael C. Moynihan met up with Savage to discuss the "seven deadly sins" of averages and how a greater understanding of these flaws could prevent future financial meltdowns.

Approximately 4:30. Shot by Dan Hayes and edited by Meredith Bragg.

Scroll down for embed code, and iPod and audio versions.

Subscribe to Reason.tv's channel there today.

Reason.tv on Health Care: Get Some!

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 06:00:00 EDT

As President Barack Obama "aims to take control of health care debate" via his big speech last night, ponder these offerings on the subject from Reason.tv. As the public option goes under the knife and polls keep plummeting, these are nothing less than essential viewing.

How to Fix America's Health Insurance Crisis: Get Some!

What if Government Ran Health Care?

Would ObamaCare Cover Sticker-Shock Treatment?

Obama to Citizens on Health Care: Send in All Fishy Emails!

Reason mag on health care.

Neuroeconomist Paul Zak on Markets and the "Molecule of Love"

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:00:00 EDT

"Markets are pro-social. Markets are about serving the needs of another—that is innately virtuous," says Paul J. Zak, professor of Economics at Claremont Graduate University.

Zak is the founding Director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont and is credited with the first published use of the term neuroeconomics, a new discipline that integrates neuroscience and economics. He describes neuroeconomics as the "brain basis for decision-making" or simply put, "It's really about why people make bad decisions regarding money."

In 2004, Zak's lab discovered that the chemnical oxytocin (best known for inducing labor in women and giving us that warm fuzzy feeling when we hug someone) allows us to determine whom to trust in situations that require exchange. That's the same trust that makes trade possible and underpins modern civilizations and economies.

Zak discusses his oxytocin argument, presented in Moral Markets: The Critical Role of Values in the Economy and why even the most untrustworthy among us leads to a healthy and moral marketplace.

Approximately 10 minutes long. Produced by Hawk Jensen with Alex Manning as director of photography.

Scroll down for embed code and downloadable versions. If you have trouble embedding, check out the version posted at Reason.tv's YouTube channel (subscribe today!).

Too Big To Fail 2.0: This Time It's Personal Finance. And Just About Everything Else.

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EDT

As the one-year anniversary of TARP chugs into view, Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie sat down with Reason Foundation policy analyst Anthony Randazzo to look at the next round of comprehensive financial regulations being crafted in Washington, D.C.

The short version? Get ready for government oversight of just about every burp, hiccup, and fart in the economic system, from payday loans to "systemic risk." Three major proposals are high on President Barack Obama's fall agenda and if pending legislation passes, says Randazzo, the government will create a multi-tiered system for identifying financial institutions that are explicitly "too big to fail." The likely result? Far less choice and innovation for consumers and industry alike, a slower and weaker recovery, and a huge bill for taxpayers.

For more details, read Randazzo's new study, "The Future of Too Big To Fail and Bailouts."

Related videos: George Mason University and Mercatus Center scholar Todd Zywicki on "The Next Great Leap Backwards for Consumer 'Rights'" and "Turning Japanese: Is America creating its own Lost Decade?"

Scroll down for embed code and downloadable versions. Approximately 9 minutes. Shot by Dan Hayes and Meredith Bragg and edited by Dan Hayes.

The Next Great Leap Backwards For Consumer "Rights"

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:30:00 EDT

Is your mortgage confusing to you? Are you bewildered by credit card offers? Do you crave the simplicity of "plain-vanilla" financial vehicles whose complete terms can be read in less than four minutes?

Be careful what you wish for: The Obama administration and members of Congress are pushing legislation that will create a new agency, The Consumer Financial Protection Agency, whose job would be to simplify and police all manner of financial transactions, from what sorts of mortgages could be offered to what sort of credit cards would be in your wallet to whether Wall Street could create new ways of buying and selling stocks. In the name of making your life easier and avoiding the next financial meltdown, the CFPA might just harshly limit how you spend your hard-earned (and dwindling!) dollars.

Would the CFPA do anything other than add another layer of bureaucracy and regulation on top of what already exists? Are consumers too bewildered by competing credit cards to make a rational choice? Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie recently sat down with George Mason University law professor, Volokh Conspiracy blogger, and Mercatus Center scholar Todd Zywicki to get answers.

"The agency is one of the centerpieces of the Obama regulatory reform act[s]," says Zywicki, "It goes far beyond how we've thought about consumer credit regulation for the past 30 or 40 years." More importantly, it will do nothing to address pernicious incentives that encouraged banks and consumers to take on more debt than was prudent.

Approximately 9.44 minutes. Scroll down for embed code and downloadable versions. Shot by Dan Hayes and Meredith Bragg and edited by Dan Hayes.

"It's Our Turn To Eat"

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:00:00 EDT

Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie recently sat down with Michela Wrong, author of It's Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistle-Blower, a riveting and deeply disturbing account of John Githongo's tenure as Kenya's anti-corruption czar. Githongo made the mistake of taking his job title seriously—and quickly had to flee his homeland with evidence of wide-scale graft and tribal discrimination that has crippled Kenya since independence.

The author of I Didn't Do It For You: How the World Betrayed a Small African Nation and In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on The Brink of Disaster in Mobotu's Congo, Wrong brings a journalist's eye for detail to an unparalleled body of work that explores and explains why post-colonial Africa has struggled so greatly with economic, social, and political development.

"What the Kenyan case showed—and it's true of many African countries," says Wrong, who refuses to romanticize a continent she passionately cares about, "is that you cannot pretend to help a country if you do not cast a very critical eye on the politics of the day. And if you have a government that's busy stealing, there is no point in continuing to spout the sermon about helping and aid."

Approximately 10 minutes. Shot and edited by Meredith Bragg.

Scroll down for embed code and downloadable iPod, HD, and audio versions.

Wayne Allyn Root Wants to Empower "The Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gambling, & Tax Cuts"

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EDT

During Freedomfest, the annual mega-conference held in Las Vegas each July, Reason magazine Editor in Chief Matt Welch sat down online-gambling enthusiast, 2008 Libertarian Party vice-presidential nominee, and Conscience of a Libertarian author Wayne Allyn Root.

In a fast-paced and wide-ranging conversation Root examines the failure of the Barr-Root ticket to generate enthusiasm even among LP members, why online gambling (though admittedly a "minor" issue) is the gateway drug to increasing the number of small-government voters, and why California's political and economic meltdown is the model for a series of rolling "economic catastrophes" that will hit the rest of the country over the next few years.

Approximately seven minutes long. Shot and edited by Dan Hayes.

Scroll down for embed code and downloadable versions.

More fun with Wayne Allyn Root: While running for the LP nod in 2008, Root, along with Bob Barr and Sen. Mike Gravel, discuss the "Future of Libertarian Politics" in the Reason DC HQ. Watch it here or click below:

Economist Richard Vedder on Why College Costs Too Much

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:00:00 EDT

In Going Broke By Degree: Why College Costs So Much, Ohio University economist Richard Vedder lays out in plain language why, well, college costs so much.

Vedder, also a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, sat down at FreedomFest in mid-July with Reason magazine Editor in Chief to talk about college costs and more.

Approximately nine minutes. Shot by Dan Hayes and edited by Meredith Bragg.

Scroll down for downloadable, hi-res, and iPod-friendly versions. And embed code too.

What Do You Get When You Cross Ronald Reagan and Woody Harrelson?

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:00:00 EDT

Recently, Reason.tv's Ted Balaker sat down with California State assemblyman and U.S. Senate candidate Chuck DeVore.

While the Republican is aiming to Democratic incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer, Devore discusses bipartisan state and federal spending sprees. California remains mired in permanent fiscal crisis because the state spends "every last penny and then some," say DeVore, while noting "the unprecedented increases in state spending under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger."

The novelist and former soldier addresses the historic Bush-era spending binge, but says the "big thing is the order of magnitude shift" under President Obama. "So instead of a multi-billion dollar program, now we're on to trillions."

Other topics include: ObamaCare, foreign policy, California's lax welfare-to-work rules, why the tea party movement is here to stay, and what it's like being a pro-hemp politician in conservative Orange County, California.

Producer is Ted Balaker, director of photography is Alex Manning, field producer is Hawk Jensen, and associate producer is Paul Detrick.

Approximately 8.30 minutes. Scroll down for downloable versions and embed code.

Matt Ridley on Evolution, Economics, and "Ideas Having Sex"

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EDT

Matt Ridley, an Oxford-educated zoologist, turned to journalism in 1983 when he got a job as The Economist’s science reporter. He soon became the magazine’s Washington correspondent and eventually served as its American editor.

Ridley has written several acclaimed books that combine clear explanations of complex biology with discussions of the science’s implications for human society. In the reason.tv interview, Ridley discusses some of the themes in The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature; The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation; Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters; and Nature via Nurture: Genes, Experience, & What Makes Us Human; as well as his forthcoming book which seeks to understand how and why human progress happens.

Paul Feine and Alex Manning interviewed Ridley in the Milton and Rose Friedman Reading Room at Chapman University in Orange, California.

Scroll down for embed code, iPod, HD, and audio versions.

Is Your iPod Unpatriotic?

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:00:00 EDT

Is your iPod unpatriotic?

Its 451 parts are made in dozens of nations, and creating the little doodads employs thousands of foreigners. Final assembly is done in China—a country that right-wingers and left-wingers alike fear is an economic threat to the U.S.

As the recession worsens, maybe patriotic Americans should be smashing foreign-made iPods in protest. Or at least hiring bikini-clad American women to do the job, which is exactly what Reason.tv did. Our patriotic, sledgehammer-wielding bikini bandits headed to California’s Venice Beach to smash some foreign-made iPods to make a political statement about saving American jobs.

Maybe the United Steelworkers Union (USW), one of the biggest “Buy American” backers would like to hire these patriotic ladies for their next rally.

“Every other nation during this economic downturn is directing their stimulus money inward,” thunders USW’s Billy Thompson at a rally in West Virginia. “Now if they can do it, why in the hell can’t we?”

Actually, we are. President Obama’s $800 billion stimulus package came equipped with a “Buy American” provision, and more than 500 state and local governments have signed “buy American” resolutions. And that may be just the beginning of the protectionist push.

Reason.tv went to a Washington, D.C. event where business owners and activists learned how to lobby for more protectionist laws. “If you want to sell it here, build it here,” says one participant who referrs to those who ignore the “buy American” imperative as “uneducated, ignorant people.”

And shouldn't we be patriotic purchasers? That’s what car ads, draped with Old Glory and heartland visuals, suggest. What could be more patriotic than buying a Jeep Patriot? With American automakers hurting so badly, that’s got to help America.

“That’s nonsense,” says George Mason University economist—and Cafe Hayek blogger—Donald Boudreaux.

“The Jeep Patriot, despite it’s name is actually less American than some Toyota products. It’s literally impossible—at least in any practical sense—to ‘buy American.’”

Boudreaux argues that Americans should buy whatever products they choose; neither guilt nor laws should push them to buy American. “The thing that is most distinctively American is freedom. To insist that Americans should not be free to buy good from foreigners that's very anti-American.”

And what about your iPod?

Even though plenty of foreigners have jobs thanks to it, so do 14,000 Americans whose duties include designing and marketing the little buggers. So the iPod is a product of America and the world, and these days that describes nearly all the items we buy.

Welcome to the iPod economy, where just about everything is made everywhere.

After hearing the whole story, Reason.tv’s bikini bandits decided to put down their protectionist sledgehammers. Will America’s people, pundits, and politicians follow suit?

“Is Your iPod Unpatriotic?” is written and produced by Ted Balaker and hosted by Nick Gillespie. Field producer is Hawk Jensen and director of photography is Alex Manning.

Associate Producers are Meredith Bragg, Paul Detrick, and Dan Hayes, with additional photography provided by Nathan Chaffetz and Dan Haas.

And introducing reason.tv’s Bikini Bandits: Alexandra Fulton, Chuki Lord, and Amber Waddick.

Approximately nine minutes. Scroll down for embed code and iPod, audio, and HD versions. If you have trouble viewing or embedding this video, go to Reason.tv's YouTube page.

Overstock.com's Patrick Byrne on Internet Sales Taxes, Naked Short-Selling & Regulatory Capture

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:00:00 EDT

Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie sat down recently with Patrick Byrne, the CEO of Overstock.com, the online retailer famous for sexy ads ("It's all about the O"), low, low prices, and hyperattentive customer service.

Born in 1962 and now living in Utah, Byrne holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Stanford and serves as the co-chair (with Rose Friedman) of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. He is the former manager of Blackhawk Investment, a cancer survivor, and a black belt in tae kwon do.

An outspoken critic of online sales taxes, Byrne is a self-declared libertarian who champions short-selling while adamantly opposing the more-controversial practice of "naked" short-selling.

From his journalistic perch at the blog Deep Capture, he and his colleagues regularly chart the ways in which regulators routinely stifle innovation and maintain a status quo that favors connected firms at the cost of competitors and consumers alike.

Raised in New Hampshire, Byrne describes himself as a former "Yankee Republican" who has never felt comfortable with anti-market Democrats and no longer recognizes the GOP as the party of small government and individual liberty.

In this 10-minute interview, Byrne explains why school choice is the key issue of our day, how bad regulations contributed to the current economic crisis, and why "the government should pave the roads, run the Post Office, and stay off my porch."

Filmed by Dan Hayes and edited by Meredith Bragg.

Scroll down for embed code and downloadable versions.

Turning Japanese

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:00:00 EDT

It wasn't that long ago that everyone in America believed that Japan would soon overtake the United States as the dominant economic force on the planet. When the Japanese stock market rallied to historic heights in late 1989 and Japanese investors even bought Rockefeller Center in New York, it all seemed like a done deal.

But then...the Nikkei Index tanked, the nation's economy collapsed, the government responded with an ever-changing mix of tax hike and tax cuts, stimulus spending on infrastructure, massive bailouts of businesses, and more. None of it worked and Japan entered what's been called its "Lost Decade," a seemingly endless period of economic stagnation.

What are the lessons for the U.S. from Japan's experience? Reason Foundation policy analyst Anthony Randazzo is the co-author of the recent study "Avoiding an American Lost Decade: Lessons from Japan's bubble and recession" and a July 2009 cover story for Reason magazine, "Turning Japanese: Japan's post-bubble policies produced a 'lost decade.' So why is President Obama emulating them?"

As Randazzo explains, both the causes of and official responses to Japan's bubble and economic slump eerily anticipate exactly what the U.S. government is doing. Worse still, the Obama administration and Congress seem dead-set against the sorts of policies—across-the-board taxes on personal and business income, reductions in long-term and unsustainable government debt, and allowing damaged firms to go bankrupt—that would help revivify the American economy.

Is America on the verge of its own lost decade? Sadly, the government seems to be doing everything it can to make that happen.

Approximately 3.30 minutes long. Produced by Dan Hayes and Nick Gillespie; graphics by Meredith Bragg.

Scroll down for embed code and downloadable iPod, HD, and audio versions.

128 Days Later: It Can Always Get Worse

Wed, 27 May 2009 11:00:00 EDT

For all the talk about President Barack Obama's historic first 100 days in office, too little attention has been paid to what could happen next...

Now, from the horror masters behind The Auto Bailout, The Stimulus Package, and White House Poetry Night comes a story of true terror...

128 Days Later: It Can Always Get Worse.

Written and produced by Meredith Bragg, with Nick Gillespie. From a concept suggested by Katie Hooks and Jeff Winkler.

To embed this video on your site and subscribe to Reason.tv&'s YouTube channel, go here.

Privatization in the Age of Obama: Reason Foundation's Adrian Moore and Len Gilroy

Tue, 19 May 2009 12:00:00 EDT

As President Barack Obama and the federal government goes hog wild in terms of economic intervention, state and local governments are running record deficits despite massive increases in revenue over the past decade.

At the same time, many government units are moving ahead with large- and small-scale privatization programs to cut costs and improve services. During Reason Weekend, the annual event held by the nonprofit that publishes this website, Reason Foundation analysts Adrian Moore and Len Gilroy gave a detailed overview of trends in privatization and the massive benefits privatization holds for government and taxpayers alike.

Approximately 35 minutes.

Scroll down for embed code, audio podcast, and iPod and HD versions of this talk.

For more information on the policy work of Reason Foundation, go to Reason.org.

Shot by Roger M. Richards; edited by Meredith Bragg.

Wall Street Journal's Jason Riley on Immigrants: Let Them In

Fri, 08 May 2009 11:00:00 EDT

During Reason Weekend, the annual event held by the nonprofit that publishes this website, The Wall Street Journal's Jason Riley, author of the recent book Let Them In: The Case for Open Borders, gave a spellbinding presentation about the myths surrounding immigration.

Riley walks through the history of German, Irish, and Mexican migrants in rich and compelling detail, deflating nativist hype while also complicating easy narratives about the United States as a mythic destination for all the wretched of the world.

Approximately 30 minutes.

Go here for audio podcast.

Shot and edited by Roger Richards.

For more Reason.tv with Riley, go here.

Reason on immigration here.

Recovery.org vs. Recovery.gov: How The Private Sector, Not The Feds, Is Tracking Stimulus Spending in Real Time

Thu, 07 May 2009 14:00:00 EDT

Remember the day when President Barack Obama promised that concerned citizens would be able to track "every dime" of stimulus money online? He was talking about the official government website, Recovery.gov.

Which doesn't have any details about contracts or grants yet—and won't until October 2009 or, more likely, sometime next year, long after the thrill of living is gone and a huge chunk of the $787 billion stimulus package has already been frittered away on "shovel-ready" projects such as the John Murtha-Johnstown Cambria County Airport (pop. 20 passengers a day).

Thankfully, the folks at the information-services firm Onvia stepped in and created the site Recovery.org, which is already on the case and showing, as much as is possible, who is getting what.

Like Adam Smith's butchers, bakers, and brewers, it's not from Onvia's benevolence that the company is doing this, but from its self-interest: The company puts mostly small and mid-sized firms in touch with local, state, and federal agencies that need some sort of contract work done.

Which might well be the point: The private sector has eaten the feds' lunch on this precisely because they have to hustle in order to keep the wolf from the door. Even, ironically (and frankly disturbingly), when the project is all about chasing government dollars.

On Wednesday, May 13 6, 2009, Reason.tv caught up with Onvia CEO Mike Pickett and asked him about the reaction so far to Recovery.org, his hopes for government accountability and transparency, and whether sunlight really is the best disinfectant.

Approximately 5 minutes. Interview conducted and edited by Dan Hayes at the Heritage Foundation.

Obama's French Toast: Just Say Non

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:50:00 EDT

Download MP4 Version

By all accounts (including his own), President Barack Obama had a great time during his recent trip to France. And elite opinion at places ranging from Newsweek to The Economist to the Brookings Institution is urging Obama to make America more like France and Europe.

Should the United States become the next France, a land of high taxes, regulation, and government spending? And, not uncoincidentally, comparatively low economic growth?

In "Obama's French Toast: Just Say Non," Sorbonne-trained economist Veronique de Rugy of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University argues that embracing the French way would be nothing less than a train wreck, leaving Americans with fewer jobs and less disposable income.

"Obama's French Toast" is a co-production of Reason.tv and the Center for Freedom & Prosperity.

Written and produced by Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie. Approximately three minutes long.

The Reason.tv Talk Show, Episode 16

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:30:00 EDT

Reason.tv's Michael C. Moynihan and Nick Gillespie sit down with Peter Leeson, author of The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates, and David Post, author of In Search of Jefferson's Moose: Notes on the State of Cyberspace, to discuss social contracts amongst pirates, Internet piracy, and whether or not 17th century pirates actually said "shiver me timbers."

Approximately 25 minutes.

For an audio podcast version, go here . For an archive of all Reason.tv Talk Shows, go here. Watch Nick Gillespie's interview with Peter Leeson here, and his interview with David Post here .

Jeffrey Miron on The Financial Crisis And The Case for Doing Nothing

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:00:00 EDT

During Reason Weekend, the annual event held by the nonprofit that publishes this website, Harvard economist and Reason contributor Jeffrey A. Miron argued that last year's bailout was a mistake and that any stimulus spending should consist of reductions in taxes, not increases in expenditures.

Miron is a senior lecturer and director of undergraduated studies at Harvard. Educated at Swarthmore and M.I.T., he has held positions at the University of Michigan and Boston University and he has written widely on the "economics of libertarianism," including a controversial and widely discussed cost-benefit analysis of the war on drugs that concluded prohibition's costs far outweigh any possible benefits.

Go here for podcast version.

Approximately 30 minutes. Shot and edited by Roger Richards.

3 Great Reasons to Pay Your Taxes (or Else)!

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:00:00 EDT

As April 15 approaches, Reason.tv is proud to present a little-seen IRS public-relations video that explains the benefits of paying your taxes—and underscores the dire outcomes for tax evaders and tax cheats.

Approximately 1.30 minutes. Produced by Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie.

Introducing the DMV Automotive Repair Center!

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Stop worrying about the warranty on your GM or Chrysler automobile.

President Obama has announced that your warranty will be backed by the US Government. Now, getting service will be as easy as a trip to your local DMV office

Introducing the Department of Motor Vehicles Automotive Repair Center!

The DMV Automotive Repair Center was written and produced by Ted Balaker with Alex Manning and Paul Detrick.

Frank Buckley on Libertarian Paternalism

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EDT

Reason.tv caught up with F.H. Buckley of George Mason University to discuss his new book, Fair Governance: The Enforcement of Morals, and the appointment of "libertarian paternalist" Cass Sunstein as regulations czar in President Obama's administration.

Can certain rules make us more free? If opt-out rights are great, why not expand them? Are we becoming too risk-averse as a society? Is "libertarian paternalism" a dangerous oxymoron? Watch now for answers.

Approximately 5.30 minutes. Interview conducted by Nick Gillespie. Shot and edited by Dan Hayes.

Getting off Track

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EDT

John B. Taylor, professor of economics at Stanford University, challenges the conventional wisdom that it was an excess of deregulation that precipitated our current financial crisis. In fact, he says, the exact opposite is true.

In January, he sat down with Reason.tv's Michael C. Moynihan to discuss his new book Getting Off Track: How Government Actions and Interventions Caused, Prolonged, and Worsened the Financial Crisis (Hoover Press) and explain what caused the collapse of the American economy.

Nick Gillespie: Why You're Living in the Libertarian Moment

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EDT

On Saturday, February 21, Reason.tv and Reason.com Editor in Chief Nick Gillespie addressed a crowd of 200-plus attending the second annual International Students for Liberty conference, held in Washington, D.C.

Titled "Why You're Living in the Libertarian Moment And What You Can Do to Keep and Expand Your Freedom" and featuring a slideshow set to Sid Vicious's version of "My Way," Gillespie's talk argued that we are more free than ever despite massive increases in government spending, regulation, and controls over the past several decades. Due to huge growth in wealth, technology, and social liberalization, more individuals are more free to pursue their lives on their own terms than ever before.

However, warned Gillespie, for these positive trends to continue it is imperative that the zero-sum game of politics be kept in as small and limited sphere as possible. In an age of bailouts and big spending, it is vitally important to stop thinking of politics in terms of right vs. left or conservative vs. liberal. The best way to analyze public policy and social organization is in terms of choice vs. control. Does a given idea expand the ability of people to pick and choose among various ways of living?

The future of freedom, argued Gillespie, rests upon the shoulders of today's libertarian-minded youth, who must convince their peers to reject the played-out politics of the past and embrace a vision of an open-ended future empowered by "free minds and free markets." And it is up to students to invent the next great, decentralizing, DIY technology like rock 'n' roll and the Internet.

It is important to engage politics, said Gillespie, but it is even more important to remember that real life exists far beyond the petty strictures of the next election or zoning board meeting. "Live your life as a work of art and an act of discovery. Create your own identity, your own community, and your own meaning."

Approximately 40 minutes. Shot and edited by Dan Hayes.

For an audio podcast, go here.

The Washington, D.C. Tea Party

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:00:00 EST

On Friday, February 27, John O'Hara of the Heartland Institute and JP Freire of The American Spectator organized a Washington, D.C. tea party to protest the runaway spending and tax hikes recently unveiled as part of Barack Obama's stimulus package and fiscal year 2010 budget.

Reason.tv's Dan Hayes was on the scene, talking with the organizers and participants about the state of the economy and how the government should respond to the recession.

The Reason.tv Talk Show, Episode 10

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:00:00 EST

Reason.tv's Michael C. Moynihan and Nick Gillespie recently sat down with Julie Stewart, founder and head of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, and Mark Hemingway, a staff reporter at National Review Online.

In a wide-ranging and freewheeling discussion, Stewart and Hemingway discussed the rise of mandatory drug sentencing laws, right-wingers and marijuana use, conservatives vs. libertarians, just how bad President Barack Obama might turn out to be, and much, much more.

Approximately 20 minutes. Shot by Dan Hayes and edited by Roger Richards.

Go here for audio podcast.

Slumdog Thousandaire

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 07:00:00 EST

Perhaps the only people who don't like the hit movie Slumdog Millionaire are those who compete against it at awards shows. After all, it's already cleaned up at the Golden Globes, and the BAFTAs, and it's poised to repeat these feats at the Oscars.

The film follows an Indian orphan named Jamal who grows up and hits it big on the famous game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? In important ways, Slumdog tells the story of India itself—a poverty-stricken underdog with its own rags-to-riches tales. British rule ended in 1947, and the economic woes America faces now are nothing compared to the widespread malnutrition and starvation India faced then.

Indians were enthusiastic about self-rule, but "the problem was that the Indian political leaders had this very Fabian Socialist idea," says Shikha Dalmia, a senior analyst at Reason Foundation and native of India. "And that completely thwarted the entrepreneurship of the country."

For decades would-be entrepreneurs staggered under the weight of corruption and bureaucracy. Want to import a computer for your business? You'd have to get permission from a bureaucrat. Want to sell food from a small cart? You'd need all kinds of licenses.

But in the 1990s, India emerged as a high-tech powerhouse. What changed?

"In the 1990s India started liberalizing its economy," says Dalmia, "and it did three things: cut taxes, liberalized trade, and deregulated business." Although they failed to cut the kind of red tape that entangled Slumdog's orphans, the reforms did make it easier for more Indians to start businesses and hire employees.

"One IT company doesn't just employ computer professionals," says Dalmia. "It also needs landscaping services, cleaning services, and restaurants. There was this tremendous spillover effect that allowed people to lift themselves out of poverty."

Since the early 1990s, India has cut its poverty rate in half. About 300 million Indians—equivalent to the population of the entire United States—escaped the hunger and deprivation of extreme poverty thanks to pro-market reforms that increased economic activity.

Yet here in America we're turning away from market reform. Says Dalmia, "It's just this great conundrum that at the same time that deregulation and markets have produced such dramatic results in India, they are falling into suspicion in America." Dalmia's prescription for India is at odds with what politicians have chosen to "stimulate" the United States. "What India needs to do is continue apace with its liberalization effort, but expand it to include the poor. Release them from the shackles of government corruption and government bureaucracy."

"Slumdog Thousandaire" is written and produced by Ted Balaker. The director of photography is Alex Manning.

Go here for an audio podcast version.

Bailing Out the Big Three

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 07:00:00 EST

2008 was an apocalyptic year for the American car industry, with sales of Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler cars all falling by 25 percent. Supporters of the Big Three automakers argue that the government needs to provide Detroit with at least $50 billion in taxpayer money in order to save the American car industry, on top of the billions of federally subsidized loans they've already received. President Barack Obama agrees, having attacked John McCain during last year's presidential campaign for opposing a bailout of Detroit.

But while many commenters and union advocates paint Detroit's economic troubles as a consequence of the financial crisis, necessitating its inclusion in the bailout sweepstakes, the financial troubles of the Big Three long predated the current mess. Indeed, in 2007, GM sold more cars and trucks than Toyota. Yet Toyota made almost $2,000 per vehicle while GM lost more than $1,000. So why does the United Auto Workers union and President Obama want taxpayers to reward Detroit—and punish her competitors—for making unprofitable cars?

Stimulis

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST

Are you an economy with performance issues?

If you find it hard to achieve and maintain growth, maybe Stimulis is right for you.

Take Stimulis once every election cycle or whenever you're in need of economic enhancement.

"Stimulis" is written and produced by Ted Balaker, and edited by Alex Manning.

The Reason.tv Talk Show, Episode 8

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:00:00 EST

On January 16, Reason.tv's Michael C. Moynihan and Nick Gillespie sat down with Karol Boudreaux, a senior research fellow at The Mercatus Center's Enterprise Africa! project and Stephen Schwartz, head of the Center for Islamic Pluralism and author of the new book The Other Islam.

In a wide-ranging and freewheeling discussion, Boudreaux and Schwartz disussed developmental economics, the role of Islam in world politics, trade policy, and whether President Barack Obama represents a clear break with the past or continuity with it.

Go here for an audio podcast.

Go here for past episodes of the Reason.tv Talk Show.

Shot and edited by Dan Hayes.

Agricultural Subsidies

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 07:00:00 EST

"The government is bailing out the banks...but who's going to bail out the government?" asks Texas cotton farmer Ken Gallaway, a vocal critic of agricultural subsidies that cost U.S. taxpayers and consumers billions of dollars a year in direct payments and higher prices for farm goods.

Agricultural subsidies were put in place in the 1930s during the Great Depression, when 25 percent of Americans lived on farms. At the time, Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace called them "a temporary solution to deal with an emergency." Those programs are still in place today, even though less than 1 percent of Americans currently live on farms that are larger, more efficient, and more productive than ever before.

Consider these facts. Ninety percent of all subsidies go to just five crops: corn, rice, cotton, wheat, and soybeans. Two thirds of all farm products—including perishable fruits and vegetables—receive almost no subsidies. And just 10 percent of recipients receive 75 percent of all subsidies. A program intended to be a “temporary solution” has become one of our government’s most glaring examples of corporate welfare.

U.S. taxpayers aren’t the only ones who pay the price. Cotton subsidies, for example, encourage overproduction which lowers the world price of cotton. That’s great for people who buy cotton, but it’s disastrous for already impoverished cotton farmers in places such as West Africa.

U.S. farm programs cost taxpayers billions each year, significantly raise the price of commodities such as sugar (which is protected from competition from other producers in other countries), undermine world trade agreements, and contribute to the suffering of poor farmers around the world. It’s bad public policy, especially in these troubled economic times.

"Agricultural Subsidies: Corporate Welfare for Farmers" is hosted by Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie and is approximately 8.30 minutes long. The producer-writer is Paul Feine and the producer-editor is Roger Richards.

For an audio podcast version, go here.

For more videos in Reason.tv's award-winning Drew Carey Project series, go here.

Politics & Culture in Obama's America

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST

At Reason Goes Hollywood, our 40th anniversary bash held November 14-15, 2008 in Los Angeles, Reason magazine Editor in Chief Matt Welch led a discussion with Reason Foundation Vice President of Research Adrian Moore and Big Hollywood's Andrew Breitbart about what's next in politics and culture in Obama's America.

Go here for an audio podcast version.

Perspectives on the Financial Market Crisis at Reason Goes Hollywood

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST

At Reason Goes Hollywood, our 40th anniversary bash held November 14-15 in Los Angeles, no topic generated more heat than the financial crisis and the government's seemingly endless (and endlessly revised) bailout plans.

In this hour-long panel, Reason's director of government affairs Mike Flynn leads a wide-ranging and intense discussion about just how bad the bailouts will be in the short- and long-terms—and whether the worsening economy might actually make some limited-government reforms more possible than not. Joining Flynn are Mercatus Center economist and Reason columnist Veronique de Rugy, former Los Angeles Times online editor and Reason contributing editor Tim Cavanaugh, and Reason Foundation director of government reform Len Gilroy.

Go here for an MP3 podcast.

And go here for a one-stop link to all of Reason's materials on the bailout.

The Reason.tv Talk Show, Episode 7

dan.hayes@reason.org (Dan Hayes) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST

On December 16, Reason's Nick Gillespie and Michael C. Moynihan sat down with the journalist Jon Utley, the subject of the excellent new documentary about his father's death in a Soviet labor camp, Return to the Gulag, and economist Michael Munger, head of Duke University's political science department and the surprisingly successful Libertarian Party gubernatorial candidate in North Carolina.

The quartet spent about 25 minutes talking about the bailouts, how the Cold War still matters, whether libertarian ideas are on the march or in retreat, and much more.

For audio podcast, go here.

The SEC's Disastrous Distractions

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST

Appointed to the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2002, Paul Atkins was a persistent—and unfortunately prescient—critic of the agency's failure to execute its regulatory functions in an efficient and effective manner.

Instead of working to make financial markets more transparent, argues Atkins, who stepped down from his post earlier this year, the SEC spent its time and resources focusing on irrelevant or secondary issues, allowing all sorts of problematic behavior to flourish and grow.

In December, Atkins sat down with Reason's Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch for a wide-ranging 45-minute conversation about the proper role of government oversight in a free enterprise system, the dangers of regulation, and what's likely to unfold as the Democrats take over the White House.

For an audio podcast version of this conversation, go here.

Peter Wallison: The Roots of the Financial Crisis

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST

At Reason's 40th anniversary event, held in Hollywood on November 14 and 15, the American Enterprise Institute's Peter Wallison analyzed the roots of the current market meltdown and explained how government policies directly caused or massively exacerbated the housing bubble and the subsequent bust at the center of things.

The Arthur F. Burns Fellow in financial studies and codirector of AEI’s program on financial markets deregulation, Wallison is the author of several books including most recently, Competitive Equity: A better way to manage mutual funds.

Approximately 25 minutes.

Obama's New New Deal

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST

Nobel laureate economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman says he wants President-elect Barack Obama to enact "something like a new New Deal." Historian Douglas Brinkley has said that Obama could come to office with a "sweeping legislative agenda which will be Johnson-like or New Deal-like." An aide close to Obama told New York magazine that "A lot of people around Barack are reading books about FDR's first hundred days."

On the cusp of a deep economic recession, and with a staggering amount of bailout money being offered to struggling industries, pundits and political advisers are advocating that the incoming Obama administration construct a new New Deal.

But is the popular narrative about the old New Deal—that Keynesian economics and top-down planning rescued America from the Great Depression—accurate? Reason.tv's Michael C. Moynihan talks to UCLA economist Lee Ohanian, who argues in work written with colleague Harold Cole, that the New Deal's massive intervention into the economy actually prolonged the economic crisis by seven years.

"Obama's New New Deal" is written and produced by Michael C. Moynihan. Director of Photography is Dan Hayes.

Podcast available here.

Bjorn Lomborg Says Cool It!

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST

At Reason's 40th anniversary event, held in Hollywood on November 14 and 15, "Skeptical Environmentalist" Bjorn Lomborg kicked things off with an engrossing 30-minute presentation about man-made climate change and the best ways to prioritize and solve global problems ranging from water shortages to poverty to malaria.

The author most recently of Cool It, Lomborg is also the force behind The Copenhagen Consensus, a path-breaking approach toward effecting efficient solutions to the planet's most pressing issues. "At the end of the day," says Lomborg, "this is about saying, Yes, global warming is real. It's often massively exaggerated, which is why we need smarter solutions.... Let's pick them smart, rather than stupidly. And also, let's remember that they are many other problems in the world that we can fix so much cheaper and do so much more good....If this is really a question about doing good in the world, then let's do real good—and not just make ourselves feel good about what we do."

Go here for Reason magazine's recent interview with Lomborg, who has been named one of the "100 the most influential people on the planet" by Time, a "global leader for tomorrow" by the World Economic Forum, and "one of the 50 people who could save the planet" by The Guardian.

For Reason's coverage of Lomborg, go here. For our environmental coverage, go here.

To embed this video at your own site, go here.

For an audio podcast, go here.

Where's Sock Puppet's Bailout?

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Live from Congress, the infamous Pets.com mascot, Sock Puppet, comes to lobby Washington for a bailout.

Approximately two minutes and 20 seconds.

To embed this video at your website, go here.

"Where's Sock Puppet's Bailout?" was written and produced by Ted Balaker.

Economist Lee Ohanian

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:10:00 EDT

UCLA economist Lee E. Ohanian, coauthor of a startling new paper arguing that the New Deal prolonged the Great Depression by about seven years, talked with reason.tv about the past six weeks of apparent economic crisis and the government's bewildering bailout response.

Ohanian's main concern, and one that is never sufficiently appreciated: "Periods of crisis often beget bad policies."

Approximately seven minutes. Interview conducted by Justin Keppler and shot by Alex Manning.

Starbucks vs. the Little Guy

dan.hayes@reason.org (Dan Hayes) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz recently announced that the company would close 600 of its approximately 12,000 American stores in the coming year, sending 12,000 managers and baristas to the unemployment line.

But as Starbucks contracts, many independent coffee shops are growing, beating the coffee giant in an upscale market it helped to create.

As anti-corporate crusaders are now discovering, instead of advocating for legal prohibitions on chain stores or attempting to zone the offending businesses off of Main Street USA, mom-and-pop shops can successfully combat the coffee behemoth by using old-fashioned market competition.

reason.tv's Michael C. Moynihan and Dan Hayes investigate.

Should the U.S. boycott the Summer Olympics in China?

dan.hayes@reason.org (Dan Hayes) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:34:00 EDT

Should the United States boycott the Summer Olympics in China later this year? What's the point of boycotts in general?

reason.tv's Dan Hayes hit the mean, sunny streets of Washington outside of reason's D.C. headquarters and took the pulse of residents in the nation's capital. Approximately three minutes.

What We Saw at the Mortgage Bailout Demonstration...

dan.hayes@reason.org (Dan Hayes) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:35:00 EDT

On April 16 in Washington, D.C., the Ad Hoc National Network to Stop Evictions & Foreclosures organized a demonstration outside a meeting of the Mortgage Bankers Associaton at the Washington Court Hotel.

reason.tv's Dan Hayes and Michael C. Moynihan checked out the demonstration and talked with some of the activists, who quickly changed the subject from home loans to Castro's Cuban paradise, the need to free Mumia Abu Jamal, forgiving student loans, the Rothschilds (!), Haitians eating a mixture of dirt and oil (!?!?), and much, much more. Approximately six minutes.

For the full song used in the intro and outro, go here.

School House Rock! Tyrannosaurus Debt

paul.feine@reason.tv (Paul Feine) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:01:00 EDT

To Americans who grew up in the 70s, "School House Rock!" is as familiar as "Sponge Bob Square Pants" is to children today. And now that the series is available on DVD as well as YouTube, a new generation can sing along to "Lolly Lolly Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here," "Three Is a Magic Number" and, of course, "Conjunction Junction."

But even Generation Xers who were steeped in School House Rock! every Saturday morning may not be familiar with "Money Rock," a series created in the 90s when the "School House Rock!" band got back together for a revival tour.

As was evident in the "America Rock" series (see, for example, "No More Kings" and "Sufferin' Till Suffrage"), "Money Rock" emphasizes themes that libertarian-leaning folks everywhere can appreciate.

"Tyrannosourus Debt" is the hands down favorite in my house. Watch the ending closely and you'll see a cameo by "Bill."

(As of March 2008, the US national debt is $9.4 trillion--approximately $31,000 per US citizen. The debt is growing at a rate of $1.65 billion/day.)

Living Large

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 23:30:00 EST

To hear the Lou Dobbses and Bill O'Reillys of the world--not to mention politicians ranging from Ron Paul to Hillary Clinton--the middle class of America (however you define that term) has never had it so tough. Between credit squeezes, out-of-control immigration, rising costs of education and health care and everything else, it's all darkness out there for those of us who are neither millionaires nor welfare cases, right?

In "Living Large," Drew Carey and reason.tv examine the plight of the American middle class. What do they find? Click on the image above to find out.

Discuss this video at reason's Hit & Run blog.

Michael Shermer: Evolutionary Economics and the Google Theory of Peace

dan.hayes@reason.org (Dan Hayes) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:45:00 EST

Michael Shermer is the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, a columnist for Scientific American, and most recently the author of The Mind of the Market: Compassionate Apes, Competitive Humans, and Other Tales from Evolutionary Economics.

Shermer's new book--which The Washington Post says "has earned the right to our attention"--seeks to explain "how evolution shaped the modern economy and why people are so irrational about money."

Shermer, who lives and works in Southern California and is the author of previous books such as Why Darwin Matters and The Borderlands of Science, sat down with reason.tv to talk about the intersection between evolution and capitalism, trust in a globalized world, his "Google theory of peace," and his ideological journey toward libertarianism.

And why it's extremely tough to convince left-wingers who believe in evolution that capitalism is a good thing and conservatives who believe in free markets that evolution is real.

Discuss this story online at reason's Hit & Run blog.

The Incredible Train Market

paul.feine@reason.tv (Paul Feine) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:53:00 EST

Even a train can't stop these Bangkok traders from doing business!

Milton Friedman on Greed on Donahue

gillespie@reason.com (Nick Gillespie) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 11:36:00 EST

Via economist extraordinaire Don Boudreaux comes a reminder that Milton Friedman died a year ago Sunday--and a clip of Friedman on the old Phil Donahue show wherein our hero defends "greed." Or more accurately, how free market systems harness self-interest in such a way as to benefit everyone, especially the poor.

reason had a long and warm relationship with Friedman, who contributed to our pages and, far more importantly, to the increase in freedom the world has seen since our first issue hit the stands in May 1968. Beyond any ideolgical issues, Friedman remained the paradigmatic public intellectual. As I wrote in our February ~~2006~~ 2007 issue:

He provided an all-too-rare example of a public intellectual who was scrupulously honest, forthright, and fair in every debate he entered. As such, he provides a model that all of us might follow, whatever our
ideology.

When I heard the news of Friedman’s death in November, I thought of the haunting eulogy of the great Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi: “When nature removes a great man, we explore the horizons for a successor. But none comes and none will, for his class is extinguished with him.”

I hope not.

Go here to read "Quotations from Chairman Milton," selections from his reason contributions.

And go here for more reason articles by and about Milton Friedman.

Phase 3: Profit!

paul.feine@reason.tv (Paul Feine) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 01:32:00 EDT

In the 30th episode of "South Park," Harbucks comes to town and threatens to put a coffee shop, owned by Tweek's mom and pop, out of business. High on caffeine with a current events report due, the kids struggle to make sense of market processes with the help of the Underpants Gnomes. Happily, the Gnomes are "geniuses at corporations."