Unfair Competition: Government in the Marketplace
What happens when the government competes with the free market to provide non essential services? The practice is all too common and it sabotages both the government and the people.
HB235: Reducing the Burden of Occupational Licensure
This bill passed out of committee but was not considered by the House of Representatives. Libertas Institute supports this bill. We believe in the right of an individual to engage in an occupation free from government restriction...
HB126: Licensure for Interior Designers
This bill passed out of committee but was not considered by the House of Representatives. Libertas Institute opposes this bill. In Utah, the independent practice of interior design, when seeking building permits to make...
Crony Capitalism: America’s Cancer Epidemic
America has cancer. I’m not talking about the various forms of deadly and debilitating biological cancer that many American’s suffer and die from, like those often related to years of smoking. No, I am talking about a cancer...
Prohibitionist Policies and Black Markets
President Obama has recently decided to make it illegal to buy, sell, or trade ivory that is less than 100 years old. International trade of “blood ivory” has been illegal since 1989. According to unnamed conservationists,...
HB285: Tearing Down the Zion Curtain, and Removing the “Intent to Dine” Requirement
After passing out of committee successfully, this bill was not heard by the House. Visit our Legislative Index to see the final vote rankings for the 2014 general session. Libertas Institute supports this bill. A new bill by...
All Liquor Laws Boil Down to This
A recent article in the Deseret News highlights the most recent iteration of the never-ending struggle between restaurants, legislators, and assorted busybodies over Utah’s arcane liquor laws. This time, the battle is over an...
Utah’s Hairbrained Scheme To Protect Special Interests Needs To Be Upbraided
A recent dust up in Utah courts pitted African hair braiding specialist, Jestina Clayton, against the State of Utah, over a current statute that requires 2000 hours of cosmetology coursework to become a licensed hair braider....
Utah’s UTOPIA: Necessary Infrastructure or an Illegitimate Pseudo-Market?
A showdown in Orem earlier this week highlighted some of the (significant) problems faced by the Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency, commonly known as UTOPIA. It also puts on open display the rampant violation of...
Believing in Liberty
Many believe in theoretical liberty but aren’t ready to see it in practice. There is a long tradition of liberty in this country. It was a desire for greater liberty that moved early revolutionaries to challenge the greatest...