19 July 2026 By Robert C. Hinkley For nearly half a century, governments of every political persuasion have embraced the same idea: if we want prosperity, innovation and economic growth, we should leave business as free as possible to pursue its own interests and regulate only when necessary. The market will do the rest. It was an attractive theory. It has also proved to be one of the great disappointments of modern public policy. Consider the record. Tobacco companies spent

Photo by Samu Lopez 9 July 2026 The greatest threat to liberal democracy is not authoritarian government. It is a legal fiction. Governments all over the world have allowed the formation of corporations with all the rights of human beings, but none of the obligations. In human beings, those obligations are founded in conscience—something no corporation has. Instead, existing law instructs directors only to pursue their company’s best interests. Then we express surprise when

18 May 2025 By Robert C. Hinkley The world needs a way to stop the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The fossil fuel companies and their largest customers aren’t going to be shamed into it. A solution will need to be in the form of laws that make them stop. The problem is complicated by the fact that it is a global problem. Emissions anywhere contribute to global warming everywhere. There is no one legislative body that has the authority to pass a law that every cor