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Most countries only get rich when they have lots of power, says Bjorn Lomborg, and typically right now that’s fossil fuel.

Pentagon officials plan to keep spending on Ukraine even if there's a government shutdown. Reason's Nick Gillespie says that's "an amazing admission by the deep state."

In 2020, then-President Donald Trump dismissed Sweden's anti-lockdown approach to COVID when he tweeted "Despite reports to the contrary, Sweden is paying heavily for its decision not to lockdown." The Cato Institute's Johan Norberg reacts. Watch the full replay of Norberg's conversation with Reason's Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe: youtube.com/watch?v=wC5AG7JDUfY

"Sweden is the outlier," says Johan Norberg, senior fellow at the Cato Institute. Watch the full replay of Norberg's conversation with Reason's Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe: youtube.com/watch?v=wC5AG7JDUfY

If socialists want to imitate Sweden, they need to reform Social Security, privatize product markets, abolish occupational licensing, reduce corporate taxes, abolish property taxes, and implement a national school voucher system.

"We have been socialists in Sweden and we have been successful, but never at the same time," says Swedish historian Johan Norberg. Watch the full replay of Norberg's conversation with Reason's Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe: youtube.com/watch?v=wC5AG7JDUfY

Johan Norberg says Bernie Sanders’ socialism is a pipe dream and shares lessons Sweden learned trying to implement it.

The U.S. government intentionally poisoned Americans during prohibition and is estimated to have killed more than 10,000 people.

The Swedish government's decision to forgo lockdowns as most of Europe, Asia, and North America's political leaders forcibly closed businesses and schools in the early days of the pandemic became one of the most controversial COVID policies of 2020. The New York Times in April 2020 designated Sweden "the world's cautionary tale," and President Donald Trump proclaimed that "Sweden is paying heavily for its decision not to lockdown" as an early wave of COVID deaths hit Sweden harder than its Nordic neighbors. But to Swedish officials, "it looked like it was other countries that were engaging in a dangerous experiment," writes Cato Institute senior fellow Johan Norberg in a policy paper entitled "Sweden during the pandemic: Pariah or paragon?" The attacks on Sweden's laissez-faire approach were short-sighted, says Norberg. Today, Sweden's COVID-19 death rate is not an outlier, and its excess death rate from 2020 to the present is the lowest in Europe. In a retrospective report on the country's pandemic response, Sweden's public health officials say that they should have more aggressively protected senior citizens and tested and quarantined travelers from COVID hotspots in those early days, but consider the focus on public health recommendations that people can "follow voluntarily" over coercive lockdowns was "fundamentally correct." Norberg also points out that Sweden avoided the economic contraction that its neighboring countries suffered, as well as the learning loss experienced in countries that closed schools for months or even years. JoinReason's Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe for an in-depth discussion with Norberg about the lessons to draw from Sweden's pandemic policies this Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern on Reason's YouTube channel or on Facebook. Sources referenced in this conversation: Johan Norberg: Sweden during the pandemic https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/sweden-during-pandemic Trump: Sweden is “paying heavily” for not locking down - April 30, 2020 https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1255825648448348161 NYT: Sweden has become the world’s cautionary tale - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/07/business/sweden-economy-coronavirus.html Sweden’s Corona Commission: https://coronakommissionen.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/summary_20220225.pdf Imperial College report on COVID-19 mitigation: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/mrc-gida/2020-03-26-COVID19-Report-12.pdf Trump on Sweden, White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing, April 7, 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpaaOXZbKXY Bernie Sanders: U.S. should look more like Scandanavia, May 3, 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz0u2FH5Bnk Anders Tegnell talks on herd immunity on BBC HARDtalk, May 19, 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Biqq34aUJcQ

Rescheduling cannabis means it’s still federally illegal, but if politicians really want to end the drug war, deschedule the plant entirely.

Brightline is betting that it can run a commercially viable passenger rail service without massive federal subsidies. Full text and links: https://reason.com/video/2023/09/20/how-florida-beat-california-to-high-speed-rail/ --- In 19th century America, trains symbolized modernity. Passenger rail connected the east and west coasts and helped settle the frontier. By 1916, rail accounted for 98 percent of intercity travel. As it became easier to drive or fly, passenger rail use plummeted. In 1971, the government created Amtrak, which survives on federal subsidies. And most recently the Biden administration gave Amtrak $66 billion in federal subsidies as part of the federal infrastructure bill. But in Florida, Brightline is showing that it's still possible to run a viable, privately operated passenger rail line under certain conditions. The company is starting service from Miami to Orlando on September 22. Not only is Brightline the first privately funded intercity rail line in the U.S., but it's also the fastest train in the country outside of the northeast corridor. Topping out at 125 mph in Florida, it will travel from Miami to Orlando in about three hours. For comparison, the Amtrak in the area takes about six and a half hours to complete that same trip. Mike Reininger, CEO of Brightline, toldReason that passenger rail makes commercial sense under specific conditions, such as the case in Florida, where it connects two populous, tourist-friendly cities that are about 250 miles apart. At that distance, Reininger says, "It is too far to drive and too short to fly. You can approximate the time of flying significantly, improve the time of driving, and you can offer it at a price point that makes it an economic proposition." There has been one other ambitious effort to build high-speed rail in the U.S.—in California. But that project turned into something so "foolish" that it's "almost a crime," according to Quentin L. Kopp, the former state senator who was crucial in rallying support for a $10 billion bond measure to build high-speed rail in California. He became a fierce opponent of the project when it ran out of money and the agency in charge, he says, broke its promises to voters. The 520-mile railway between San Francisco and Los Angeles was supposed to be completed by 2020. But after fifteen years of construction, they've only laid track for a 170-mile stretch in the Central Valley. The project, which has received more than $20 billion in state and federal subsidies, is now projected to cost over $128 billion. Following on its success in Florida, Brightline is also starting to develop a high-speed rail line out west—connecting Las Vegas to Los Angeles. The 218-mile line will have just a handful of stops and plans to reach speeds over 186 mph. But the company is pursuing about $3 billion worth in federal subsidies to complete the project, or about a third of the total estimated cost. Though not even close to the amount of money California needs to finish its project, Robert Poole, the director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation, is "skeptical" once federal money gets involved at all in large infrastructure projects. "It becomes far less of a business venture. And much more of this attitude that we can do grand things because we don't have to worry about what it costs," says Poole. But Brightline's Florida project remains a true test of whether there are narrow cases in which American travelers value passenger rail enough to pay for it with their own money. Photo Credits: akg-images / Paul Almasy/Newscom; Chris Kleponis - CNP/Newscom; Ron Sachs - CNP/Newscom; DPST/Newscom; Everett Collection/Newscom; Everett Collection/Newscom; Everett Collection/Newscom; National Motor Museum / Heritage Images/Newscom; Gary Reyes/TNS/Newscom; Gary Reyes/TNS/Newscom; Gary Reyes/TNS/Newscom; Underwood Archives/Universal Images Group/Newscom; Underwood Archives/Universal Images Group/Newscom; Underwood Archives/UIG / Universal Images Group/Newscom; Darryl Heikes/UPI/Newscom

Hunter Biden’s real business was leveraging his relationship with his dad.

"I sacrificed my career in academic medicine to challenge the University of California's vaccine mandate policy," says psychiatrist Aaron Kheriaty. Watch the full replay of Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe's conversation with Kheriaty: youtube.com/watch?v=L64oVef6FnU&

"I think we would have done everything differently," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a recent interview. But critics say the evidence was clear at the time that California's policies were harmful. Watch the full replay of Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe's conversation with Aaron Kheriaty, a vocal Newsom critic and author of "The New Abnormal: The Rise of the Biomedical Security State": youtube.com/watch?v=L64oVef6FnU&

"I don't think we want to live in a society where anyone has the right to force another person to inject something," says Aaron Kheriaty, a psychiatrist who was fired for defying the University of California's vaccine mandate. Watch the full replay of Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe's conversation with Kheriaty: youtube.com/watch?v=L64oVef6FnU&

Historian Erika Dyck wants to document the deep roots of and battles over LSD, psilocybin, and other psychoactive substances. https://reason.com/video/2023/09/13/the-secret-history-of-psychedelics/ __________ Erika Dyck is a professor at the University of Saskatchewan who studies the history of psychedelics with a special interest in the legacy of Humphry Osmond, the British-born psychiatrist who coined the term pyschedelic, gave Aldous Huxley his first dose of mescaline, and conducted pathbreaking work using LSD to help alcoholics stop drinking. Among Osmond's best-known patients was Bill W., the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. Reason sat down with Dyck at the MAPS Psychedelic Science 2023 conference held in Denver this June, where a reported 13,000 people gathered to talk about all aspects of today's psychedelic renaissance. We talked about why drugs such as MDMA, psilocybin, and LSD are making a comeback; how tensions are rising between indigenous people and medical practitioners; and whether prohibitionists have finally lost the war on drugs. Music: "Life's Journey Begins" by idokay via Artlist

"This is a fraud on the American public," then-President Donald Trump said following the 2020 election. Was that speech part of a criminal conspiracy? George Mason University legal scholar Ilya Somin reacts. Watch the full replay of Somin's live conversation with Reason's Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe: youtube.com/watch?v=Q9tCHrG-87k

"Trump isn't being charged simply because he wrongly claimed he won the election. ... He went far beyond that," law professor Ilya Somin wrote for the Volokh Conspiracy last month. Watch the full replay of Somin's live conversation with Reason's Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe: youtube.com/watch?v=Q9tCHrG-87k Volokh Conspiracy — Retribution, Deterrence, and the Case for Prosecuting Trump for Conspiring to Overturn the 2020 Election: https://reason.com/volokh/2023/08/02/retribution-deterrence-and-the-case-for-prosecuting-trump-for-conspiring-to-overturn-the-2020-election/

On many campuses, unnecessary COVID mandates never went away even though college-aged adults aren’t at risk for severe COVID complications.

Should college professors be forced to promote "a race-conscious and intersectional lens" through "culturally affirming pedagogy"? Watch the full replay of Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe's conversation about the lawsuit against California Community Colleges' diversity, equity, and inclusion rules: youtube.com/watch?v=nW_3YvJVie0

"I'm just not going to comply. I am going to teach chemistry the way I always have," says Bill Blanken, plaintiff in a legal challenge against California Community Colleges' diversity, equity, and inclusion rules. Watch the full replay of Zach Wiessmueller and Liz Wolfe's conversation with Blanken and @FIREOrg attorney Jessie Appleby: youtube.com/watch?v=nW_3YvJVie0

Rick Perry, the former Texas governor, spoke with Reason about psychedelic medicine helping veterans with PTSD.

"I think there was definitely a need for a n organization to come out and be willing to defend free speech just because it's free speech," says @TheFIREorg attorney Jessie Appleby. Watch the full replay of Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe's conversation about the lawsuit against California Community Colleges' diversity, equity, and inclusion rules: youtube.com/watch?v=nW_3YvJVie0

A 12-year-old boy was kicked out of class for sporting a Gadsden flag patch on his backpack. Is the patch a symbol of slavery or the American revolution?

The Jones Act is a 103-year-old law that requires ships moving goods from one American port to another must be American-built, American-flagged, American-crewed, and registered in the United States.