The Reason Roundtable

"Gouging" becomes an issue every hurricane season. After big storms, some people raise prices. Then politicians and the media freak out. Both demand tougher laws against "gouging."

But Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman says, "the gougers deserve a medal" because they take risks to bring in goods that people desperately need.

Annelise Kofod, Erika Lewis, and Maggie Hroncich are students who get that.

What the reaction to John McCain's death tells us about the values of Washington's political class

As the eponymous host of The Greg Gutfeld Show, which airs Saturday evenings on Fox News, co-host of the network's hugely popular afternoon talk show, The Five, and creator of the defunct, path-breaking late night show, Red Eye, Greg Gutfeld is one of the most ubiquitous presences on cable news.

He's also one of the sharpest and funniest.

A prolific writer and former editor of Maxim and Stuff magazines, Gutfeld has a new book out, The Gutfeld Monologues: Classic Rants from The Five, which features annotations and corrections by the author of past mistakes.

Nick Gillespie sat down with the libertarian-leaning conservative, to talk about his book, the origins and persistence of punk rock attitudes, the exaggerated death of print media, and just how great it would be if Rosie O'Donnell challenged Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

In the 1980s and '90s, novelist Bret Easton Ellis captured more fully than anyone the excitement and ennui of a wealthy and smug America that was stumbling without knowing it into a century filled with terror, disruption, and generalized hostility. In the book and movie versions of Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction, and American Psycho, Ellis dissected what happens to a society in which depth of feeling is synonymous with failure to thrive. In this century, Ellis is back in his hometown of Los Angeles writing and producing movies like The Canyons with the likes of Lindsay Lohan and porn star James Deen, whose shambled personal lives might as well have been scripted by Ellis in one of his most darkly comic moments.

He's also putting out one of the most engaging and insightful podcasts available on Patreon, in which he talks with guests like Kanye West, Rose McGowan, and veteran writer/director Walter Hill about the ways the entertainment industry is built on an unstable foundation of economic, sexual, and political hypocrisy.

Reason's Nick Gillespie talked with Ellis about the ways Hollywood is failing to come to terms with ever-changing methods of production and distribution, what Ellis sees as the excesses of the #MeToo movement, our rapidly changing and failing public discourse, and the enduring interest and relevance of his work in 2018.

Produced and edited by Paul Detrick.

"Shibuya" by Bad Snacks is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

Bernie Sanders is all over the internet. His videos are everywhere and, unfortunately, millions watch.

How have his socialist ideas reached so many people? John Stossel explores.

Many of Sanders' videos are just him ranting about how Republican ideas hurt people. He claims that the repeal of Obamacare will mean "tens of thousands of [people] will die." He ignores the possibility that thousands will live if the economy is allowed to grow.

Many videos focus on President Trump. One claims Trump "uses the same kind of language the Nazis used" because he called people animals. The video didn't mention that, in that case, Trump was talking about the MS-13 gang.

A common theme in Sanders' videos is income inequality. Sanders says that's "immoral" and "causes suffering for the working classes." Stossel explains that the wealth gap doesn't cause suffering. Yes, rich people got richer, but the poor and the middle class got richer too. Sanders never says that.

Stossel says Sanders' videos are a mix of socialist propaganda and economic ignorance. Unfortunately, millions watch.

What could go wrong with federalizing the corporate charter process and putting bureaucrats in charge of long-term business thinking?

Camilo and Pablo Dunoyer came to the U.S. with their parents when they were small children. In the late '90s, their father, Roberto, was a government employee working for Colombia's finance minister. Local guerrillas tied to FARC were extorting him to help them steal money from treasury. When he refused, they threatened to come after his family. The local police said they couldn't protect the Dunoyers, so they fled.

The family has been living in San Diego ever since. They own a house, and Roberto and his wife, Consuela, both work at U.S. companies. Pablo is an engineering major in college, and Camilo is a high school senior. Neither have any memory of their birth country.

Now changes in federal immigration policy mean that the Dunoyers will likely be forced to leave the U.S. before the end of the year.

Produced by Zach Weissmueller. Camera by Justin Monticello, Lorenz Lo, and Weissmueller.

"Linger" by Soularflair is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 License

"Untitled" by Soularflair is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 License

"Infinity Ad Nauseum" by Soularflair is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 License

"Building Gaia" by Soularflair is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 License

"Alice Through the Windshield Glass" by Soularflair is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 License

"Fortitude" by Soularflair is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 License

"The Mask of Sanity" by Soularflair is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 License

"The Everlasting Embrace" by Soularflair is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 License

Remy is OUTRAGED over outrageous outrage.

Today is the 83rd anniversary of Social Security, and this year it went into the red. In the long run, it has a shortfall of $32 trillion.

John Stossel says that the program is unsustainable. Young people shouldn't expect it to cover their retirement.

Romina Boccia explains the Heritage Foundation's plan to allow young people to contribute to their Social Security payments via private investment accounts.

Those private accounts would likely grow faster than people's contributions to Social Security, and young people could invest in "whatever floats your boat," Boccia tells Stossel.

Should libertarians cheer, boo, or do a shrug-emoji when a private social media platform bans the likes of Alex Jones?