Indeed, price controls are one of the most pernicious kinds of government regulation. In an ironic twist, they often lead to higher consumer prices over time because they build inefficiencies into economic transactions and decision-making that end up costing consumers more money in the long run.

Here is another good news/bad news column about the 112th Congress.

Alex Brill and Alex Pollock discuss the impact of credit card swipe fees

The trustees report from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services out Monday uses strong language to describe the uncertainty of its predictions in both the short- and long-term for the medical insurance program aimed at America's seniors.

With 48.3 million people covered by Medicare in 2011 -- and...

The number of schools ranked highly in guides such as Barron's Profiles of American Colleges is increasing, without any evidence that these schools' instructional quality is also increasing. Applicants and their families should be wary of letting these rankings serve as the main criteria in their college decisions.

The burden of excise taxes in the America's Healthy Future Act of 2009 will largely fall on patients, meaning sick patients will be subsidizing the health care of other sick patients.

Nobody has asked what financial and scientific burdens new legislation will place on the Food and Drug Administration.

Does price competition exist in the mutual fund industry? If so, is it too weak to prevent anticompetitive pricing by investment advisors to retail investors?