The Libertarian

Richard Epstein looks at the controversy over whether the Fourteenth Amendment requires that children of illegal immigrants become US citizens.

Richard Epstein analyzes the state of the modern judiciary: What kind of people should become judges? Should presidents use litmus tests to pick people for the bench? What structural reforms could improve the judicial branch?

Richard Epstein looks at Hillary Clinton’s proposal to change how college educations are financed and considers the broader structural problems bedeviling US higher education.

Richard Epstein looks at the new Environmental Protection Agency regulations designed to combat carbon dioxide emissions and considers the implication for the US economy.

Richard Epstein explains the development of his political and legal philosophy, focusing on the individuals and books that exerted the greatest influence on him.

Richard Epstein looks at attempts to restrict Uber in New York City and explains how those efforts are evidence of the growing weaknesses of progressivism.

Richard Epstein looks at the recent nuclear agreement with Iran, the upending of the traditional process for treaty ratification in the Senate, and the consequences for America’s national security.

Richard Epstein considers how Greece and the European Union (EU) should resolve their dispute over excessive debt and weighs in on whether the broader EU project is doomed to fail.

Richard Epstein critiques the reasoning behind the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on gay marriage and considers the implications for the future of religious liberty.

Richard Epstein examines the Supreme Court’s ruling in King v. Burwell, upholding the Obama Administration’s application of subsidies to federal health exchanges.

Richard Epstein looks at the controversies surrounding the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.

Richard Epstein dissects the recent Supreme Court ruling on whether Congress or the president should have the final say on certain diplomatic disputes.

Richard Epstein looks at the recent scandal involving FIFA, examines why US officials got involved in an international case, and describes the legal implications.

Richard Epstein analyzes a recent Supreme Court case that turned on the justices’ understanding of the dormant Commerce Clause — an obscure concept that’s divisive on both the Left and the Right.

Richard Epstein examines recent anxieties about American wealth disparities, analyzes the policies progressives are proposing as remedies, and argues that deregulation may be the best way forward.

Richard Epstein reviews the Second Circuit’s ruling against the NSA metadata program and considers how much government intrusion is warranted by the threat of terrorism.

Richard Epstein explores the arguments about crime, race, poverty, and policing that have emerged in the aftermath of Freddie Gray’s death.

Richard Epstein looks at WikiLeaks’s release of Sony e-mails and considers the implications for privacy and transparency.

Richard Epstein considers President Obama’s recent efforts to improve the United States’ relationship with Cuba and the broader implications for US foreign policy.

Richard Epstein explains the historical development of antidiscrimination laws, looks at modern controversies involving religious liberty, and proposes a classical liberal solution based on mutual tolerance.

Richard Epstein critiques the agreement that President Obama recently struck with Iran over the country’s nuclear program.

ard Epstein argues that critics of Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act are undervaluing the right to free association.

Richard Epstein looks at efforts to constrain the classification of workers as “independent contractors,” including a pair of controversial court cases involving Uber and Lyft.

Richard Epstein examines the contents of two new Justice Department reports out of Ferguson, Missouri: one exonerating Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown, one claiming systemic racial bias in the city’s police force.

Richard Epstein looks at the recent flap over Republican senators’ letter to Iran, examines President Obama’s decision to circumvent Congress on a potential diplomatic agreement with Tehran, and considers what it all means for the future of US foreign policy.

Richard Epstein examines the oral arguments in King v. Burwell, considers the responses of John Roberts and Anthony Kennedy, and interprets what it all may mean for the eventual ruling.

Richard Epstein looks at the legal issues surrounding the Supreme Court’s upcoming Obamacare case, why the progressive justices might be inclined to side with the administration, and what the fallout from a verdict overturning Obamacare subsidies might look like.

Richard Epstein explains how Greece can solve its ongoing debt problem, looks at the difficulty of effectively restructuring the country’s debt, and considers whether the European Union can endure.

Richard Epstein looks at an effort to make corporations directly responsible for the employees of their franchise locations.

Richard Epstein looks at the factors that the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department will consider in determining whether Comcast and Time Warner should be allowed to merge.

Richard Epstein is joined by Yuval Levin, editor of National Affairs and the Hertog Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, for a wide-ranging discussion on the progressive legacy of the Obama years and how conservatives and libertarians should respond.

Richard Epstein considers how much government intervention is permissible when it comes to parents’ vaccinating their children.

Richard Epstein critiques the policy proposals contained in Barack Obama’s 2015 State of the Union address and presents his own diagnosis of the nation’s most pressing concerns.

Richard Epstein discusses the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, what the West should do in response, and whether the Obama administration is up to the challenge of combating radical Islam.

Richard Epstein discusses Nebraska’s and Oklahoma’s attempts to take Colorado to court over its marijuana legalization policy.

Richard Epstein discusses the recent hacking of Sony e-mails, including whether the media are within their rights to publish the content of those messages and whether current legal standards adequately protect privacy in the digital age.

Richard Epstein looks at the recent tumult at the New Republic and what it says about the state of both modern media and modern liberalism.

Richard Epstein tackles the controversies over policing and prosecutorial powers that have emerged in the wake of the grand jury’s decision not to indict Darren Wilson.

Richard Epstein scrutinizes the recent agreement between the United States and China on carbon emissions, gives advice on how both sides of the global warming debate should reframe the argument, and explains why policy makers should focus more on technology than on regulation.

Richard Epstein critiques President Obama’s call for net neutrality regulations and explains how to preserve online innovation.

Richard Epstein decries the current lack of market forces in the field of organ donations and explains why more freedom would lead to better outcomes.

Richard Epstein examines the outcomes of the 2014 midterm elections and makes his predictions for what’s to come from President Obama and a Republican-dominated Congress.

Richard Epstein considers the fight over voting rights in the context of the 2014 midterm elections.

Richard Epstein looks at efforts in New York to tighten regulation on Airbnb, a service that allows individuals to rent out living space to travelers.

Richard Epstein explains the process by which the government’s bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac became a Treasury department money grab.

Richard Epstein analyses the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear any gay marriage cases this session and ventures a prediction as to what it means for the issue’s future.

Richard Epstein reacts to the resignation of Attorney General Eric Holder, renders his verdict on Holder’s time in office, and speculates about a successor.

In part two of a two-part series on the major political parties, Richard Epstein examines the Democratic Party’s drift from classical liberalism to modern progressivism—and whether the trend can be reversed.

As part two of a two-part series on the major political parties, Richard Epstein looks at when the Republican Party has embraced classical liberal principles—and when it has abandoned them—during the last hundred years and at how effective the modern GOP is at advancing the cause of limited government.

Does President Obama have a strategy to confront ISIS? Maybe, but Richard Epstein doesn’t think it’s up to snuff. In this podcast, Epstein explains why an emphasis on multilateralism and air strikes won’t get the job done and why the root of the trouble may lie with the president’s temperament.