Category: 3-DailySometimeCommentary

Many state pension funds are still in dire financial condition. The case for reform is stronger than ever. Lance Christensen with the Reason Foundation talks about how lawmakers can ask fund managers and actuaries the right questions.

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This week Tim explains the Barnett Formula with a bit of help from Money Box's Paul Lewis. He looks at Ed Balls sleight of hand in his speech to the Labour Party Conference. Is Ed Miliband's promise on NHS funding really worse than the funding increases delivered by Margaret Thatcher? And how do we know how far away is the sun really is?

Harsh sentencing laws that gives judges no discretion can effectively destroy whole families. Greg Newburn of Families Against Mandatory Minimums discusses a few recent cases.

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The Supreme Court spoke clearly on police searches of cellphones incident to arrest. Jim Harper discusses the twin cases that brought about the ruling.

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Serious or not, the U.S. Senate leadership's attempt at curbing political speech would have dramatically reduced the range of political debate. Allen Dickerson of the Center for Competitive Politics comments on the failed amendment to the Constitution.

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McCutcheon v. FEC has been maligned and misunderstood. Nadine Strossen sets the record straight on an important First Amendment Supreme Court ruling.

13th Annual Constitution Day

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Is Britain poorer than every US state, except for Mississippi? Journalist Fraser Nelson calculates that?s the case. Tim Harford speaks to economist Chris Dillow about why he?s right. Late last year BBC Trending referred to Eritrea as ?tiny?. Listeners complained and the complaint was upheld. More or Less talks to Trending producer Mukul Devichand and asks whether any country can rightly be called ?tiny?.

Cases moving through the courts threaten to undo various occupational licensing regimes. Timothy Sandefur comments.

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The chance of a successful kidney match between two unrelated people has increased significantly in the past ten years - why? Tim Harford speaks to Professor Anthony Warrens, president of the British Transplantation Society. Donations to the Manchester Dogs' Home have exceeded ?1m in the wake of a fire, which killed more than 50 dogs. The large sum raised caused Today presenter Justin Webb to comment that it often seems easier to raise money for animals than humans who are in need. Is it true that we give more generously to animals? Ben Carter reports. An edition of BBC Four's Wonder of Animals states that there are 14,000 ants to every person on earth, and that were we to weigh all of these ants they would weigh the same as all the people. Can this be true? And a complaint has been held up against a BBC programme for calling Eritrea 'tiny'. Can any country rightly be described this way?

Objections to liberalizing markets in air travel lack genuine merit, according to Kenneth J. Button in a new Cato policy analysis.

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