John Locke Foundation Guest Editorial  

JLF’s Mission: The John Locke Foundation employs research, journalism, and outreach programs to transform government through competition, innovation, personal freedom, and personal responsibility. JLF seeks a better balance between the public sector and private institutions of family, faith, community, and enterprise.

Consider these two facts. First, most net job creation in any modern economy comes from new companies, typically small firms that grow quickly.
People concerned about declining North Carolina fish stocks should take a closer look at so-called "catch shares," a system that uses property rights to help protect a valuable resource.
Total state spending per capita is at its highest level ever in the 2012 fiscal year and has more than tripled since 1970--from $1,701 to an authorized $5,247.
I've written many times in the past about what I call North Carolina's Blarney tradition. We pretend to honor deeds over words, to "be rather than to seem" as the state motto puts it.
After North Carolina's primary elections May 8, it still is unclear who the Republican nominees for five powerful executive offices will be.
The three-quarter-cent sales tax centerpiece of Gov. Bev Perdue's $20.9 billion budget proposal would be used to hire more teachers and launch jobs programs, but is a "non-starter" for Republican leaders.
More than a third of voters turned out for North Carolina's primary elections, far higher than the normal turnout in a presidential year and almost as high as the record turnout for the Hillary Clinton-Barack Obama slugfest in 2008.
Republicans positioned themselves to make substantial gains in North Carolina's congressional delegation following Tuesday's primary.
Primary election night Tuesday resulted in several upsets and close races in legislative contests in North Carolina, setting the stage for a competitive general election season this summer and fall.
During this campaign season, I'm seeing a lot of North Carolina politicians promise to address the state's economic woes by helping more young people receive university degrees. In my view, this is not a serious policy proposal. It is just political pandering.
North Carolina's lopsided vote backing a constitutional amendment to limit marriage to one man and one woman is a national body blow to Democrats and signals that social issues are very much part of the political landscape this year, supporters of Amendment One say.
The North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition has closed an investigation of a blogger it had accused of "practicing nutrition" without a license. The April 9 decision came five days after Carolina Journal inquired about the complaint.
Those who know me know that I am inclined towards spicy food. When at the sub shop, I order the spiciest deli meats and plenty of jalapenos.
"With my old man I got no respect. I asked him, 'How can I get my kite in the air?' He told me to run off a cliff." - Rodney Dangerfield
The days of cordial campaigns where worthy opponents debate the issues instead of sling mud haven't gone away completely. Take a look at the GOP primary for N.C. House District 3 as an example.
Campaign finance disclosures made available this week show that Randy Ramsey has outraised and outspent his chief rival, Norm Sanderson, significantly in the Republican primary in N.C. Senate District 2.
It's the last week before North Carolina's first primary. I've put it off long enough, but now I have no real alternative but to issue some fearless predictions.
Attorneys for two associates of Gov. Bev Perdue, above, say a "massive amount of ill will" toward the governor may threaten their clients' ability to get a fair trial.
If you follow state politics for any length of time, you hear some version of the following assertion: North Carolina may not rank highly in elementary and secondary education, but we make up for it by having one of the best public university systems in the United States.
Republicans Jack Wall and Brian Brown will compete in the May 8 primary for the North Carolina House District 9 seat currently held by six-term Democrat Marian McLawhorn.
If North Carolina were a separate country, we would not fare well in key international comparisons of economic competitiveness.
Republicans Bob Steinburg and Owen Etheridge will compete in the May 8 primary for the North Carolina House District 1 seat currently held by nine-term Democrat Bill Owens, who isn't seeking re-election this year.
I don't understand all the fuss about the proposed Buffet Rule. I think it should be the guiding principle for government at all levels.
The Berlin Wall served as the clearest sign of the Cold War that divided East and West for decades after World War II. Vern Pike, a retired Army colonel who now lives in North Carolina, served as the first officer in charge of Checkpoint Charlie the night the Berlin Wall went up in 1961.
I was surprised after I graduated from college that employers were not lining up outside my door fighting over me. That was the picture that my private, liberal-arts college depicted while I was completing my degree.
I recently ran across a research finding that runs counter to the prevailing view of professional progressives. Naturally, I found it fascinating.
In my forthcoming book on North Carolina's economy, Our Best Foot Forward, I discuss at length the role that transportation has played in the state's economic history.
In my forthcoming book on North Carolina's economy, Our Best Foot Forward, I discuss at length the role that transportation has played in the state's economic history.
The North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition is threatening to send a blogger to jail for recounting publicly his battle against diabetes and encouraging others to follow his lifestyle.
But Parker won't be on the ballot. The real instigators of their political woes have been or will be on the ballot: Barack Obama and Beverly Perdue.
I remember the first time I heard about recycling. I think I must have been in about the fifth grade, and there was one kid in my class whose family did this weird thing where they sorted their trash.
Candidates Kenn Gardner, Mike Beitler, A.J. Daoud, and Ed Goodwin are crisscrossing the state, making the case that they are best suited to create a more business-friendly secretary of state's office in a lagging economy.
Natural gas exploration using hydraulic fracturing, aka fracking, may be moving forward in North Carolina. Gov. Bev Perdue recently changed her mind and supports it, with limitations.
One of the very first magazine articles I wrote for pay, appearing in The Freeman magazine, had the colorfully oleaginous title of "Gray Markets and Greased Pigs."
"That free-market stuff sounds great in theory, but it doesn't work in the real world." Or so I've been told countless times by critics, sparring partners, and emailers.
If you really want to stir up a hornets' nest, go to a certain kind of modern-day conservative gathering and say, "I'm so glad that America is a democracy."
I'm focusing most of my attention this week on completing the final two chapters of my forthcoming book on North Carolina's economic prospects.
Progressives make a point that conservatives ought to take to heart: taxes are far from the only factors that households and businesses take into consideration when deciding where to live, work, invest, shop, or create new businesses.
"I'm the mole," Fox News Channel chairman and CEO Roger Ailes fibbed in a bit of faux news folly during remarks at the 23rd Roy H. Park Distinguished Lecture on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus Thursday.
North Carolina owes the federal government $2.8 billion the state borrowed to pay unemployment benefits since the depths of the Great Recession.
A subordinate of N.C. Commerce Department official Henry C. McKoy was serving as president of a nonprofit organization when, acting in her official capacity as a state employee, she applied for and received a $150,000 grant for the nonprofit from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.
In late March, Gov. Bev Perdue embarked on a two-week campaign to promote a plan that would fund additional education spending by increasing the state sales tax.
There's a great deal of magic incantation in traditional fantasy literature, of course. Think of the Evil Queen consulting her spellbook to transform her appearance and concoct her poison apple for Snow White.
The North Carolina General Assembly passed several landmark pieces of legislation during its 2011 session, dealing with key issues as regulation, civil litigation, criminal justice, education reform, and annexation.
Newer     Older »     

ad-20110923123932