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The Locavore's Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000-Mile Diet

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 11:00:00 EDT

"If you take the local food movement to its logical extreme...people who live beyond their local food chain are essentially parasites," explains economic geographer Pierre Desrochers, co-author of the book The Localvore's Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000-mile Diet .

Using economic and historical data, Desrochers and his co-author Hiroko Shimizu pick apart the latest food activist trend extolling the benefits of eating local. "If everything was so great when most food was sourced locally centuries ago," asks Desrochers, "why did we go through the trouble of developing a globalized food supply chain in the first place?"

Desrochers sat down with ReasonTV's Nick Gillespie to discuss the book, the benefits of factory farming, and the enduring nature of food activism.

About 5:45 minutes.

Cameras by Jim Epstein and Joshua Swain. Edited by Meredith Bragg.

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How City Hall is F*cking Record Store Day!

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EDT

April 21, 2012 marks the fifth annual Record Store Day, a nation-wide project to promote struggling brick-and-mortar music shops. Across the country, independent stores offer exclusive, one-of-a-kind recordings as a way to bring customers through the door.

"It is the busiest day of the year," says Matt Moffatt, co-owner of Washington, D.C.'s Smash Records, a shop that sells new and used CDs and vinyl LPs, along with clothing, posters, t-shirts, vintage clothing, and more.

But now the powers that be in the nation's capital have decided that record stores must get second-hand dealer business licenses, which cost a lot of money and have onerous reporting requirements. Store owners such as Moffatt would have to report every new piece they put up for sale to the police, allow the cops to verify it's not stolen, and get information about all customers who buy used goods. Failure to comply would mean incurring massive fines of thousands of dollars a days.

"Basically," says Moffatt, "they want us to get a pawn shop license."

Local business groups such as the Adams Morgan Partnership are pushing back but the future of stores such as Smash Records is far from clear. "It just seems so heavy-handed, it could easily destroy businesses like mine," says Moffatt.

About 3.45 minutes. Produced by Meredith Bragg and hosted by Kennedy; co-written by Nick Gillespie.

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Why The Future Is Better Than You Think

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:00:00 EDT

Can a Masai Warrior in Africa today communicate better than Ronald Reagan could? If he's on a cell phone, Peter Diamandis says he can.

Peter Diamandis is the founder and chairman of the X Prize Foundation, which offers big cash prizes "to bring about radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity." Reason's Tim Cavanaugh sat down to talk with Peter about his new book Abundance and why he think we live in an "incredible time", but no one realizes it. Peter thinks that there are some powerful human forces combined with technological advancements that are transforming the world for the better.

"The challenge is that the rate of innovation is so fast..." Peter says, "the government can't keep up with it." If the government tries to play "catch up" with regulations and policy, the technology with just go overseas. Certain inovations in "food, water, housing, health, education is getting better and better." Peter "hopes we are not going to be in a situation where, entrenched interests are preventing the consumer from having better health care."

Filmed by Sharif Matar and Tracy Oppenheimer. Edited by Sharif Matar

About 15 minutes

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China and Transportation: What We Can Learn in the United States

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

China's economy has been the envy of the world for a decade, but what about its transportation system? With the largest population in the world and growing, maybe we should be looking at its mobility. The economic superpower has built a 21st century road system to keep up with its new appetite for cars.

Transportation economist and Vice President of Policy Research at Reason Foundation, Adrian Moore, says that China is using "pricing scientifically" to keep up with the largest car market in the world. He sat down with Reason.tv to talk about what many are calling, "the most important bilateral relationship in the 21st century."

Moore has been working with China on free market transportation solutions for booming cities that are attracting hundreds of thousands of people every month. China's demand for cars is being driven by its new middle class, which is roughly the size of the entire population of the United States.

Doing transportation right is something China can't afford to do wrong. Moore explains what it is doing right, wrong and what this "capitalist country" can learn from the "avowedly communist system".

Filmed and edited by Sharif Christopher Matar.

Approximately 10 minutes.

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Ranking Economic Freedom with The Heritage Foundation's James Roberts

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST

"Economic Freedom peaked about seven or eight years ago in the U.S. and has been dropping since then," claims James Roberts, Heritage Foundation Research Fellow and co-author of the 2012 Index of Economic Freedom.

For over a decade the Heritage Foundation has been ranking countries based on a number of indices, including open markets, regulatory efficiency, and the size and scope of government. Due primarily to costly regulations and rapid government expansion, the tenth-place United States’ declined in the rankings for the fourth straight year, behind Hong Kong (#1), Australia (#3), Switzerland (#5), Canada (#6) and Ireland (#9). Even Maruritius, a small island off the coast of Africa, was seen as a more economically free.

Roberts sat down with Reason’s Matt Welch to discuss the Index, the state of free enterprise in the world, and the decline of economic freedom in Europe and North America.

About 6:30 minutes. Shot by Meredith Bragg and Joshua Swain and edited by Bragg.

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Blueseed: The Googleplex of the Sea

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST

"Right now the US visa immigration system does not allow for entrepreneurs [from overseas] to come here and test out their ideas and create the new jobs and create the new companies of tomorrow," says Blueseed co-founder Max Marty, "its system was designed for a bygone era."

Marty believes that his seasteading venture Blueseed "is the solution to a problem" created by the archaic U.S. visa system, which he and co-founder Dario Mutabdizja say is starving Silicon Valley of the best and brightest international entrepreneurs.

As a "visa-free technology incubator for startups" situated on a ship 12 miles off the coast of Silicon Valley, Blueseed aims to be the "Googleplex of the Sea," a vibrant workplace for innovative industries to bloom, unencumbered by onerous regulations on new technology-sector businesses. The project has attracted investors such as Paypal co-founder, venture capitalist and noted libertarian Peter Thiel (who once made an early investment in a little startup company called Facebook).

About 2.30 minutes. Produced By Anthony L. Fisher. Interview by Julian Morris.

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Singularity University: A School for Entrepreneurs Who Want to Change the World

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 09:00:00 EST

Founded in 2009 by Ray Kurzweil and Peter Diamandis, Singularity University is a start-up university in Silicon Valley. SU's mission is "...to assemble, educate and inspire a cadre of leaders who strive to understand and facilitate the development of exponentially advancing technologies to address humanity's challenges."

Singularity University is not your father's college.

In August of 2011, Reason.tv's Paul Feine and Alex Manning traveled to Singularity University to get to know a few of the 80 students who participated in SU's 10-week interdisciplinary summer graduate program. We encountered a fascinating group of young entrepreneurs who have big plans to use technology to help the world's poor…and make a profit!

Approximately 6 minutes.

Produced by Paul Feine and Alex Manning.

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Grace-Marie Turner On Why Obamacare is Wrong for America

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:00:00 EDT

At FreedomFest in July, Reason's Nick Gillespie talked with Grace-Marie Turner of the Galen Institute about her new book "Why ObamaCare is Wrong for America: How the New Health Care Law Drives Up Costs, Puts Government in Charge of Your Decisions, and Threatens Your Constitutional Rights."

Shot by Zach Weissmueller and Jim Epstein. Edited by Sharif Matar. About 7 minutes.

Held each July in Las Vegas, FreedomFest is attended by around 2,000 limited-government enthusiasts and libertarians a year. Reason.tv spoke with over two dozen speakers and attendees and will be releasing interviews over the coming weeks.

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Matt Welch Talks Housing Data on Freedom Watch

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 12:00:00 EDT

Reason Magazine editor in chief Matt Welch appeared on Freedom Watch to discuss new housing data as well as housing specifically around Washington D.C.

Air Date: June 1, 2011.

Approximately 4:32 minutes.

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Richard Riordan on Unions, Dysfunctional LA, and Golfing with the (Ex) Governator (Extended Interview)

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:00:00 EST

"They put incompetent adults ahead of children," Richard Riordan says of teachers unions who stand in the way of school reform.

The former mayor of Los Angeles took office shortly after the 1992 riots and shortly before the massive 1994 Northridge earthquake. Today, notes Riordan, the City of Angels faces a slate of different crises, from failing public schools to a fiscal calamity that has put the city on the brink of bankruptcy.

In this wide-ranging extended version of an interview that aired in January (and was shot in December), Riordan sits down with Reason.tv's Tim Cavanaugh to discuss public-sector unions, privatization, LA's dysfunctional government, why businesses are leaving the city, and why Arnold Schwarzenegger won't golf with him.

Approximately 40 minutes.

Shot by Zach Weissmueller, Paul Detrick, and Alex Manning. Edited by Detrick.

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Peter Thiel on Facebook, Technology, and the Higher Education Bubble

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 02:00:00 EST

Entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel co-founded PayPal, was an early investor in Facebook, and currently serves as president of the global macro hedge fund Clarium Capital. He recently announced the creation of the Thiel Fellowship, which will award $100,000 each to 20 people under 20 years old to "stop out" of college and create their own business ventures.

During the recent Libertopia festival in Hollywood, California, Thiel sat down with Reason.tv's Tim Cavanaugh to talk about the new film The Social Network, technology, exit rights, and the higher education bubble.

Approximately 9 minutes. Interview by Tim Cavanaugh. Camera by Adam Jensen, Zach Weissmueller.

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iGrow Medical Marijuana: A California Growth Industry

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 09:00:00 EDT

The California economy is in trouble, but there's at least one industry in the state that's booming: medical marijuana.

Even though medical marijuana has been legal in California since 1996, the people working in the industry continue to operate in the shadows of legal uncertainty. Dispensary owners and growers live in constant fear of being raided by federal agents who maintain that marijuana, medicinal or otherwise, remains illegal under federal law. And for years, indoor marijuana growers have dropped big bucks on growing equipment while keeping mum about what exactly it is they've been growing.

In Oakland, however, things are changing. Earlier this year iGrow (now called weGrow) became the first hydroponics store to come out of the grow closet and proclaim to the world that they exist to help farmers grow more and better medical marijuana. iGrow's slogan? There's no such thing as a $10,000 tomato!

We went to iGrow, the first US hydroponics superstore catering explicitly to pot farmers, to learn more about the burgeoning medical marijuana industry in California.

Approximately 6.5 minutes. Produced by Paul Feine and Alex Manning.

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UPS vs. FEDEX: Ultimate Whiteboard Remix (Original Cut)

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 10:30:00 EDT

Starting with MSNBC, Reason has started airing commercials on cable news channels with the goal of bringing a new audience to Reason.com and Reason magazine

For our first TV spot, we chose a slimmed-down version of our popular and acclaimed 2009 video, "UPS vs. FEDEX (Ultimate Whiteboard Remix)", which was nominated for a digital National Magazine Award and explores the way in which federal labor classifications lead firms to jockey for political favors rather than customer satisfaction.

See the new 60 second version of the Ultimate Whiteboard Remix as seen on MSNBC here.

You may have heard the UPS is in quite the political 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 Mercatus Center economist Veronique de Rugy, which appeared in the October 2009 print edition of Reason. Read that article here .

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Filmmaker Michael Covel on Broke: The New American Dream

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 09:00:00 EDT

"[Politicians and the Federal Reserve] rigged the market," says financial author and filmmaker Michael Covel. "They rigged the market through interest rate manipulation and we're still paying for it today." In his documentary, Broke: The New American Dream, Covel explores the roots of the financial crisis, which he traces back to Netscape going public in 1995.

Covel sat down with Reason.tv's Ted Balaker to discuss the role politicians, the Federal Reserve, Wall Street, and media figures like CNBC's Jim Cramer played in the financial meltdown. Topics include: why Covel is down on "buy and hold" as an investment strategy and the differences between state lotteries and poker.

Approximately 9.18 seconds.

Shot by Alex Manning, Hawk Jensen, and Paul Detrick. Edited by Detrick.

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Young World Revolution! - Youth, Technology and Business with Rob Salkowitz

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 00:00:00 EDT

What can global business leaders learn from a 14-year-old kid in a cyber cafe in Bangalore, India?

Just about everything, says Rob Salkowitz, author of Young World Rising: How Youth, Technology and Entrepreneurship are Changing the World from the Bottom Up.

Reason.tv's Dan Hayes sat down to talk with Salkowitz about Suhas Gopinath, an entrepreneur who started a multimillion dollar business out of a cyber cafe in India at age 14. Salkowitz says young, tech-savvy entreprenuers like Gopinath represent a changing dynamic that global business leaders ignore at their own peril. Understanding this "young world" is critical for making money, developing new business models and combating social problems.

Salkowitz says that the lower cost of entry in the tech world provides unprecendented opportunity to young people in emerging markets. "You don't have to work in the t-shirt factory, you don't need to work in the mine. If you can figure this out you can earn a decent living for yourself in diginified working conditions, give employment to other people, and move society forward in better and different ways."

Approximately 9.30 minutes. Shot by Meredith Bragg and Josh Swain. Edited by Swain.

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Joel Kotkin: Why America Will Still Lead the World in 2050

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EDT

What will America be like in 40 years, after it adds another 100 million people? With so much bipartisan handwringing about everything from illegal immigration to environmental degradation, it seems like many are expecting America to collapse before 2050. Enter urban historian Joel Kotkin, who offers a rare and optimistic take on America's future.

Kotkin is the Distinguished Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University and the author of the new book, The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050. Topics include: immigration, suburbia, job creation, why America's demographic trajectory gives it an advantage over its peers.

Interview by Ted Balaker, shot by Paul Detrick and Zach Weissmueller, and edited by Alex Manning.

Approximately 9.35 minutes long.

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A Delicious Free Enterprise Video Contest Entry

Tue, 25 May 2010 03:00:00 EDT

"A Delicious Free Enterprise Contest Entry," directed by Reason.tv's Meredith Bragg, is a finalists for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's "I Am Free Enterprise" video contest. The winner of the $50,000 grand prize will be determined through online voting. You can vote and view the other finalists here every day until June 2nd.

Be sure to check out Tracy Foster's entry , which Reason.tv producer Dan Hayes helped craft.

Directed by Reason.tv producer Meredith Bragg. Featuring Jill Erber of Cheesetique , Rhoda Worku of Caboose Cafe and Bakery, and Steve Gatward of Let's Meat on the Avenue . Shot in Delray, Alexandria VA. Approx. 1:50.

Peter Diamandis on The X PRIZE and Private Space Flight

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 07:00:00 EDT

His Zero Gravity Corporation lets the public experience weightlessness during parabolic flight, and his company Space Adventures has taken four tourists to the International Space Station.

But space entrepreneur Peter Diamandis may be best known as the Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, which in 2004 awarded the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE to aviation icon Burt Rutan, whose SpaceShipOne was the first private, manned spacecraft to reach suborbital space twice within two weeks.

Diamandis is on a mission to open space for all humanity, and he embraces the risk inherent to such an undertaking. "A true breakthrough requires tremendous levels of risk," says Diamandis. "It's really in the entrepreneurial sector that people are willing to risk their lives, risk their fortunes, their reputations, to do something they fundamentally believe they can do."

Diamandis is now developing X PRIZES in a variety of fields, including education and medicine.

Produced and interviewed by Ted Balaker; filmed by Hawk Jensen and Alex Manning; edited by Jensen and Paul Detrick.

Approximately 10 minutes long.

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Matt Welch Discusses Bailouts on Fox Business Network

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 20:00:00 EDT

On April 22, 2010, Reason Editor in Chief Matt Welch, appeared on Fox Business' Bulls and Bears to discuss President Obama's new financial regulations and its effects on bailouts.

Approximately 4.15 minutes.

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Anthony Randazzo Discusses the Jobs Bill on RT's Alyona Show

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 07:25:00 EDT

On March 18, 2010, The Reason Foundation's Director of Economic Research Anthony Randazzo discusses how the new jobs bill may actually leave college graduates without employment, on Russia Today's "The Alyona Show".

Approximately 7:18 minutes.

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Anthony Randazzo Discusses 2009's Economy and Beyond on RT's Alyona Show

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 07:00:00 EDT

On December 29, 2009, The Reason Foundation's Director of Economic Research Anthony Randazzo appears on Russia Today's Alyona Show to review the economy of 2009 and discuss the future economy of 2010.

Approximately 5.45 minutes.

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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.

New Hampshire Nannies

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 07:00:00 EDT

The always-expanding Nanny State does more than treat adults like children, it can also smother job creation—even in the "live free or die" state of New Hampshire. So as the national debate "pivots" from health care to jobs, Reason.tv suggests that politicians looking to "do something" about the stubbornly high unemployment rate first undo the regulations that ensnare entrepreneurs like Kim Ong.

Ong's parents brought her family from Vietnam to the United States in 1985. "They said this is a country of freedom, a country of opportunities," recalls Ong, who took their words to heart and now owns Kim's Spa & Nails in Derry, New Hampshire. When the recession hit she began looking for new ways to generate business. Her thoughts turned to a luxurious practice that's popular in parts of Asia—fish pedicures.

Ong spent over $6,000 to purchase fish and equipment, a big investment for the small business owner. However, her gamble paid off when she saw how much customers loved having their feet exfoliated by tiny fish. Soon Ong had a waiting list for this hip new service. But instead of hiring more employees, Ong hired a lawyer to plead her case to state regulators who questioned the safety and hygeine of fish pedicures. Unfortunately for Ong and her customers, New Hampshire's Board of Barbering, Cosmetology, and Esthetics banned the practice.

That's right, the state that lets adults motorcycle without a helmet or drive without a seat belt won't tolerate tiny fish nibbling at the dead skin on your feet. This is just one small example of a larger problem. Most people have no idea how many local, state, and federal regulations entrepreneurs struggle against, notes Adrian Moore, an economist with Reason Foundation. "Every day new businesses try to start but find out they're not allowed to because of some regulation or it's too expensive because of some regulation," Moore says.

And if the Nanny State is spreading into New Hampshire, the one place we thought was immune to it, we may all be in bigger trouble than we thought.

"New Hampshire Nannies" is written and produced by Ted Balaker, who also hosts. Producer: Hawk Jensen; Associate Producer: Paul Detrick, Additional Camera: Meredith Bragg. Special thanks to Yvonne Hair & Nails in Alexandria, Virginia.

Approximately 5.30 minutes long. Scroll down for iPod, HD, and audio versions of this video.

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Why The Stimulus Isn't Working

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 06:30:00 EDT

It's been a year since Congress passed a stimulus bill that will eventually dole out $787 billion in taxpayer money to lucky recipients across the country.

In California, stimulus money has been used to pay the salaries of cops, provide rental assistance to residents of Santa Monica, and subsidize homeowners who weatherize their homes. Were those good investments?

The University of California at Irvine was awarded $42 million in stimulus money to fund different research projects and, in one case, $2 million to "stimulate student interest in mathematics and computer science." Was that a good use of scarce public dollars?

To learn more, Reason.tv's Paul Feine spoke with UC-Irvine economist Richard McKenzie who, a year ago, predicted that the stimulus package wouldn't work.

McKenzie is the author of Why Popcorn Costs So Much at the Movies: And other Pricing Puzzles.

Shot by Paul Feine and Alex Manning; edited by Paul Feine.

Approximately 7.30 minutes.

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And check out 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.

Take Care of Business: Reason Saves Cleveland With Drew Carey, Episode 4

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 06:55:00 EDT

After World War II, Cleveland was booming, thanks to its leadership role in heavy industry and a business-friendly climate. Today, the city’s high taxes and onerous regulatory demands make it nearly impossible for new businesses to set up shop while choking the life out of existing companies. While relatively laissez-faire cities such as Houston are growing even during the current recession, Cleveland remains stuck in a rut. How can city officials make the city a more welcoming place for entrepreneurs to thrive?

Reason Saves Cleveland with Drew Carey is written and produced by Paul Feine; camera and editing by Roger Richards and Alex Manning; narrated by Nick Gillespie; music by the Cleveland band Cats on Holiday. This is the fourth of six episodes that will air March 15-19, 2010.

Approximately 10 minutes long. Scroll down for iPod, HD, and audio versions of this video.

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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.

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Nick Gillespie on Fox's Cavuto, 12/8/2009, Talking Jobs & Unemployment

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST

On December 8, 2009, Reason's Nick Gillespie appeared on the Fox Business Channel's Cavuto to discuss President Barack Obama's "jobs summit," stimulus, deficit spending, and related plans to create more employment.

In the long run, we're all dead, said John Maynard Keynes. "But," asks Gillespie, "how do we pay for our funeral?"

Watch this video at Reason's YouTube channel.

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'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.

If We Can Put a Man on the Moon...Then Why Does Government Screw Up Just About Everything Else?

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST

In If We Can Put a Man on The Moon... (Harvard Business Press), former Reason Foundation privatization analysts William D. Eggers and John O'Leary analyze why large-scale government projects typically go so wrong—and how to change a culture that almost demands such failure.

The response to Katrina, the Iraq war, NASA since the moon landing, Boston's Big Dig—it isn't difficult to list examples of utter, often tragic failures in the public sector. The key to avoiding such debacles, say Eggers and O'Leary (who bring a wealth of public and private-sector experience to the material) is to first make sure that government should be doing a given project in the first place. From there, both policymakers and the bureaucrats who will administer a given program need to understand and anticipate all sorts of traps into which they can, and all too often, do fall into.

Approximately 9 minutes. Interview by Nick Gillespie. Shot and edited by Meredith Bragg.

To watch on YouTube, go here.

For embed code and downloadable versions, scroll down.

Garrett Peck On "The Prohibition Hangover: Alcohol in America from Demon Rum to Cult Cabernet"

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:00:00 EST

Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie sat down with Garrett Peck, author of the new history The Prohibition Hangover: Alcohol in America From Demon Rum to Cult Cabernet (Rutgers University Press).

A wide-ranging social history that begins with the end of Prohibition and runs up to the current craze over great domestic wines and small-batch spirits, The Prohibition Hangover helps explain why Americans continue to have such an ambivalent relationship toward drinking. Engaging, well-written, and packed with an infinite number of fascinating interviews and historical anecdotes, The Prohibition Hangover is required reading for anyone interested in understanding the past 80 years of American business and culture.

For Peck's official site, go here.

To buy the book, go here.

Related Reason.tv videos include Beer: An American Revolution and Jerome Tuccille on "Gallo Be Thy Name."

Would ObamaCare Kill Medical Innovation?

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST

As health care reform inches closer to reality, a massively important question becomes even more pressing: Will ObamaCare kill the sorts of medical innovation that makes the United States the leader in bringing new treatments, technology, and procedures to market?

"America is the only industrialized nation that doesn't have a national health plan," says Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), former Gov. Howard Dean (D-Vt.), and countless others who want the United States government to guarantee health coverage to all.

Protesters at a recent rally in downtown Los Angeles demanded universal coverage. They told Reason.tv that America is a cruel land where profits come before people.

"It's disgusting!" said one woman. "There should be no profits in health care!" What about those who argue that profits drive medical innovation? "I think that's kind of sick," declared another protester, who wants the U.S. to be more like Canada, where government policy keeps drug prices, and drug company profits, lower than in America.

Many regard the profit motive as cruel, but might it actually produce compassionate results? After all, America has generated vastly more medical innovations than other nations. Included in the long list is the innovation that saved the life of Dave Christensen, construction supervisor, husband, and father. After being diagnosed with cancer, Christensen was lucky enough to be given a then-experimental drug that probably wouldn't have been developed or brought to market in any other country in the world.

If America follows the lead of the rest of the world and clamps down on profits in health care, who will make tomorrow's wonder drugs?

"Drug companies that take big risks may make big profits," says Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie, who hosts the video. "But I say, Good for them. If they're saving lives, I hope they make a killing."

"Would ObamaCare Kill Medical Innovation?" runs about seven minutes. Producer-Writer: Ted Balaker; Producer: Hawk Jensen; Director of Photography: Alex Manning; Associate Producer: Paul Detrick.

Special thanks to the Independence Institute for arranging and underwriting travel to Canada.

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John Mackey's Conscious Capitalism: Full Interview Version

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT

Note: This is the full version of an hour-long conversation with Mackey. For an abridged, five-minute version, go here.

When he started his first organic food store in Austin, Texas in 1978, Whole Foods Market CEO and co-founder John Mackey had no idea that he would eventually usher in not just a revolution in how we shop but what we buy. If you dig being able to buy dozens of types of once-exotic apples, or cheese, or wine, or soaps, or countless other items, you can thank Mackey in part for helping to create cathedrals of commerce that have vastly enriched our day-to-day lives and vastly expanded our palates. (Full disclosure: Mackey has contributed to Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes this website.)

In August, Mackey became one of the most controversial businessmen in America when he penned an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal outlining his company's free-market-oriented health care system and offering eight concrete reforms that would reduce costs and improve access. Noting that health care is not "a right" as that term is properly understood, Mackey forcefully argued that increasing government intervention into health care is precisely the wrong thing to do: "The last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system. Instead, we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the opposite direction—toward less government control and more individual empowerment."

The response from the left to Mackey's op-ed was swift: Advocates of single-payer health care, union activists, and others called for protests at and boycotts of Whole Foods, despite the fact that the company provides affordable and well-regarded coverage to its employees.

As a cutting-edge entrepreneur who is comfortable quoting astrological signs and Ludwig von Mises, who practices veganism and sells some of the best meat in America, and who chases profits and is an outspoken advocate of charitable giving, Mackey confounds conventional political categories. As an advocate of what he calls "conscious capitalism," Mackey is that rarest of businessman: an articulate and passionate defender of free enterprise and free individuals.

In late September, Mackey sat down with Reason's Matt Welch and Nick Gillespie to talk about health care reform, corporate social responsibility (on which Mackey has written for Reason), why government interventions rarely achieve their goals, and how Mackey came to his unstinting belief in free markets.

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

This is the full version of an hour-long conversation with Mackey. For an abridged, five-minute version, go here or click below.

John Mackey's Conscious Capitalism: Abridged Version

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT

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

This is an abridged version of an hour-long conversation with Mackey. For the full interview and downloadable versions, go here or click below.

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.

Nick Gillespie talks GM Bankruptcy on CNBC

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Nick Gillespie talks GM Bankruptcy and bail outs on CNBC.

Air Date: 04/12/2009

About 4:30 minutes.

Scroll down for iPod and audio versions of this video and subscribe to Reason.tv's Youtube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Dan Pallotta: Making Charity Pay

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 08:00:00 EDT

As the creator of memorable and successful charity events such as the California AIDSRide, in which participants biked 575-miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles over seven days, and the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk, in which participants covered 55 miles over several days, Dan Pallotta has long been recognized as a trailblazer in philanthropic circles. He has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for various causes and brought huge amounts of publicity to any number of issues.

In his groundbreaking new book, Uncharitable: How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential , Pallotta makes the case that the nonprofit sector needs to be deregulated so that it can directly harness the energy of capitalism and the profit motive in pursuit of philanthropy.

Approximately nine minutes, this interview was conducted by Reason Foundation President David Nott and filmed and edited by Alex Manning.

For audio podcast, go here.

For more information on Pallotta, visit his website.

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?

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.

Just Can't Quit

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

California became the first state to ban smoking in bars a decade ago. Since then, smoking bans in bars, restaurants, bowling alleys, universities, you name it, have flourished.

But there was a time when Americans would have been outraged at the idea of politicians telling business owners how to run their own bars. Today, most gladly allow nanny state cops to snuff out smoking in bars, cars, beaches, stage plays—almost anywhere. Years ago comedian Dennis Leary quipped, “What’s the law now, you can only smoke in your apartment, under a blanket with all the lights out?”

It seems like plenty of politicians would love to ban that too, but they could never ban smoking in private homes...or could they?

Recently, the Bay Area city of Belmont passed a law that targets people who smoke in their own homes. “I’m pretty sure I still live in America,” says smoker and Belmont resident David Scott.

But if Scott lights up once the new law takes effect in January, he might just get a visit from a police officer. The mayor who championed the new law declares, “It is our responsibility to take care of everyone!’ and a pro-ban councilmember who worries about smoke wafting into neighboring units compares smoking in an apartment to shooting a gun through the wall.

Smoking is one of the worst things you can do to your body, but how dangerous is second-hand smoke? Are banners saving lives or battering science? Are they progressive champions or plunderers of property rights?

Citing the proliferation of privately enforced bans, reason.tv host Nick Gillespie says, “I actually like smoking bans; I just don’t like it when the government does the banning."

Indeed, smoking bans have already set the stage for all sorts of other nanny state policies to save us from ourselves. The nannies have already barged through our front doors. Just how much farther will the banners go?

"Just Can't Quit" was written and produced by Ted Balaker.

As a bonus double-feature, click below to see 2002's Talking Butts: A Smoking Documentary, which was made with the help of reason's Paul Feine, Jesse Walker, Jacob Sullum, and Charles Paul Freund. The 25-minute film explores why people smoke and why attempts to regulate and punish smokers have unintended consequences. And it features a cameo by filmmaker John Waters that is absolutely unforgettable.

To embed Talking Butts on your site, go here.

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.

Mike Flynn talks Bank Bail Outs on CNBC

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Mike Flynn talks bank bail outs on CNBC.

Air Date: 04/08/2008

About 5:20 minutes.

Scroll down for iPod and audio versions of this video and subscribe to Reason.tv's Youtube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.