John Locke Updates: 2018

Yet another long-term university study of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has found no evidence that the process contaminates drinking water. This one is a four-year study from Texas, “the fifth…

It’s nearly impossible to discuss the cost, access, or quality of the U.S. health care system without circling back to Medicaid – the joint federal and state program that provides health…

From Merriam-Webster dictionary: Carbon dioxide. A heavy colorless gas CO2 that does not support combustion, dissolves in water to form carbonic acid, is formed especially in animal respiration and in…

Tax reform is always a work in progress as legislators seek to raise revenue for the government without impeding the economy. Business taxes are particularly tricky, in part because businesses…

On March 3rd, 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) aka Obamacare was signed into law with the promise of slowing the rising costs of health care. The law added to…

Funeral director is not exactly the kind of enterprise someone is prepared to comparison-shop for, but still, as with other services, the more options, the better for consumers. They’re more…

Why we oppose the state’s anti-“gouging” law enforcing pre-disaster pricing Laws that forbid price increases during extreme events have bad unintended consequences at the very worst of times. Precisely because…

The United States health care system is a unique, complex web of consumers, providers, and payers. And it is expensive. Health care spending in the United States has increased…

This is the third of a three-part series examining the issue of school supplies.  Part 1 discussed family expenditures on classroom items.  Part 2 addressed teacher expenditures on…

Advocates for higher taxes and spending were excited to see a new pool of economic activity from which to siphon money, but Gov. Roy Cooper’s Department of Revenue (NCDOR) may…