Science & Technology

Daniel Wahl reviews The Garden of Invention: Luther Burbank and the Business of Breeding Plants, by Jane S. Smith.

Shows that, contrary to proposals being put forth by Republicans, a genuinely free market in health insurance is not only moral, in that it respects the rights of producers and consumers, but also practical, in that it enables businessmen to solve problems for profit—which leads to more and better products and services at lower prices for consumers.

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, has an excellent article in the Wall Street Journal, in which he outlines several market-oriented changes that would substantially improve the quality of health care in America, multiply consumers’ options, and decrease health-care costs. Among other things, Mackey advocates the following: Remove the legal…

What does the bill, HR 3200, short-titled ‘‘America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009,” actually say about major health care issues? I here pose a few questions in no particular order, citing relevant passages and offering a brief evaluation after each set of passages. This bill is 1017 pages long.…

Heike Larson reviews The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, by Marc Levinson.

Shows how the USDA has grown from a small, seemingly innocuous bureau promoting agricultural research to today’s freedom-thwarting, rights-violating, market-crushing behemoth.

Surveys the history of the U.S. energy industry, with special emphasis on oil as the lifeblood of the modern world and on freedom as the condition that enabled oilmen to make it flow.

Michael Garrett, MD, reviews Concierge Medicine: A New System to Get the Best Healthcare, by Steven D. Knope, MD.

Discusses efforts at state and federal levels to put Americans on a collective diet by violating the rights of food producers, restaurateurs, and consumers.

by John David Lewis and Paul Saunders The Obama administration continues to appoint radical environmentalists who want us to commit industrial suicide on behalf of nature. Meanwhile, top-rank scientists continue to renounce claims of a coming climate disaster. The latest scientist to voice his conclusions is retired senior NASA atmospheric…