The dictum of Public Choice Theory is that politics functions as a form of exchange. This assertion is very much true of the process of voting, where participants either select policies or representatives to make policy decisions. Public policy is nothing about purchasing decisions. Any commodity or service provided by…

The recent controversy surrounding the Joe Rogan Experience (JRE) Podcast presents some problematic concerns for the nature of free speech. Throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rogan has been accused of proliferating “misinformation” about the virus, but the straw-that-broke-the-camel’s-back came in December (episode # 1757), when the podcaster had…

The concept of inflation (the depreciation of purchasing power of a specific currency) applies to other goods besides money. Inflation is related to the Law of Supply and Demand. As the supply of a commodity increases, the value decreases. Conversely, as the good becomes more scarce, the value of the…

Editor, Casa Grande Dispatch: The Arizona Supreme Court’s recent decision Torres v. JAI Dining Services examines the issue of liability in the case of restaurants and bars over-serving alcoholic beverages. A patron of the Jaguar Club in Phoenix got ejected from the club after drinking for hours. He subsequently drove…

As economist Thomas Schelling astutely points out in his paper Egonomics or the Art of Self-Management (1978), people are often conflicted in their decision-making by current satisfaction and long-term goals. Since these goals are contrary, it is almost like two different people exist within the same person, the present and…

The process of Implicit Logrolling (Buchanan & Tullock,1962) is a form of indirect vote-trading that heavily relies on the bundling of wedge issues. By way of tying specific groupings of policies to attract targeted demographics of voters to a political platform. This political strategy is especially effective in capturing the…

Editor, Casa Grande Dispatch: The Arizona Supreme Court has finally settled the controversy regarding the legality of setting uniform rates for consolidated water districts in the October 2021 ruling Sun City Home Owners Ass’n v. Arizona Corp. Commission. The Sun City HOA claimed that the setting of uniform rate was…

Editor, Casa Grande Dispatch: There has been a lot of debate over vaccine mandates in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most arguments revolve around the science of vaccines or the ethical concerns of state-sanctioned requirements. However, are such policy prescriptions even legal? Much of the justification based in past…

Editor, Casa Grande Dispatch: Aug. 15 marked the 50th anniversary of President Nixon terminating the Bretton Woods agreement. A global monetary management system that was initially established in 1944, intending to stabilize exchange rates, the agreement assigned the U.S. dollar as the world reserve currency backed by a fixed-price gold…