Commentary By John Stossel

Gentrify! by John Stossel

No matter what you do, modern liberals will tell you you're wrong.

Chicago Fray By John Stossel

Rahm Emanuel, current mayor of my old hometown, Chicago, is not a gentle soul. But he's smarter than his big-spending predecessor, Richard M. Daley, and the union pawn, Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, who becomes the new mayor if he beats Emanuel in a run-off election April 7.

Emanuel was the tough Obama chief of staff who reportedly stabbed a table with a steak knife as he listed political enemies.

What's Fair? By John Stossel

Donald Trump's kids and Paris Hilton's siblings were born rich. That gave them a big advantage in life. Unfair!

Inequality in wealth has grown. Today the richest 1 percent of Americans own a third of the assets. That's not fair!

But wherever people are free, that's what happens.

Raping Culture By John Stossel

A new documentary calls colleges like Harvard and Notre Dame "The Hunting Ground," where rapists prey on women. A bipartisan group of senators demand new rules to "curb campus sexual assaults."

Apparently, new laws are needed because at colleges, sexual assault is "epidemic." Rape is so common that there is a "rape culture."

Kochs and Unions by John Stossel

Lots of people sure hate the Koch brothers.

No Gatekeepers by John Stossel

For years, people assumed encyclopedias had to be created by professionals. Then Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales attempted to create an encyclopedia without central planners.

Spontaneous Order by John Stossel

Most of life happens without a central planner. Yet people think we need one.

Parasites By John Stossel

Politicians and lawyers pretend that they are important people doing important work. But often they're important because they are parasites. They feed off others, while creating no wealth of their own.  

Owning Ideas by John Stossel

For most of history, people suffered in miserable poverty.

Then, in a few hundred years, some new ideas made life hugely better for billions of us -- things like running water, the printing press, the steam engine, electricity, the Internet.

We want people to keep coming up with new and better ideas. But there's a problem: Why would you bother to spend years inventing something if other people can just steal your idea? Who will devote years and millions of dollars to making a big movie? Or a dozen years and billions of dollars to bringing a new drug to market? Almost no one.

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Restate of the Union by John Stossel

President Obama sure is consistent. His State of the Union address sounded like his other speeches: What I've done is great! America is in a much better position. We've created a manufacturing sector that's adding jobs. More oil is produced at home. I cut deficits in half!

The Better Option by John Stossel

It's easy to "fire" a business that rips you off. Just go to a different one. It's a lot easier to patronize another business than to get government to fix the problem.

Trust by John Stossel

Trust -- society depends on it.

Ignorance By John Stossel

No wonder Cuba wallows in poverty.

Last week, the New York Times reported that the Castro brothers opened a special business zone where foreign companies "would be given greater control over setting wages at factories. ... (P)roposals would be approved or rejected within 60 days."

What? If I want to give someone a raise, I have to wait up to two months for government approval! That's absurd.

Up-Lyft-ing Xmas Tale By John Stossel

This Christmas Eve, if you see a fat man in a sleigh distributing presents, tell him he is in violation of several government regulations.

The Federal Aviation Administration is upset about his secret flight path, and his gift bag violates charity tax rules.

In real life, government barely lets people give each other rides in cars. But now the Internet has given birth to exciting businesses that challenge the rules.

Governing vs. Giving By John Stossel

It's the season for giving.

That doesn't mean it's the season for government.

Government creates loyalty in the minds of citizens by pretending to be Santa Claus, doling out gifts and favors. Politicians claim they help those unfortunates who aren't helped by coldhearted capitalism.

Climate Catastrophe by John Stossel

People argue about whether the "consensus" of scientists is that we face disaster because of global warming. Instead of debating whether man's greenhouse gasses will raise temperatures, we should argue about how we gauge disasters. 

If you take most environmentalists and climate scientists at their word, the Earth heated up about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the past century, not much more than it heated up the century before that. Warming may increase, but no one can be certain of that.

Place Your Bets by John Stossel

Want to bet on tomorrow's NFL game between Chicago and Dallas? I do.

Newspapers and websites all over America tell their readers that Dallas is favored by three points. That's the "spread" posted by bookies. Millions will be bet on that game, and billions will be bet on other games this weekend -- college football, NBA games, NHL matches, UFC events ...

Thanks, Property Rights! By John Stossel

This Thanksgiving, I give thanks for something our forebears gave us: property rights.

People associate property rights with greed and selfishness, but they are keys to our prosperity. Things go wrong when resources are held in common.

Control Freaks by John Stossel

Control freaks want to run your life. They call themselves "public servants." But whether student council president, environmental bureaucrat or member of Congress, most believe they know how to run your life better than you do.

Democracy Delusions By John Stossel

When the Berlin Wall came down 25 years ago this week, people in the Soviet Bloc gained something even more valuable than a right to vote: a free market.