Links

• You know things are bad in North Korea when the government starts allowing private markets to operate. Money quote: "The latest policy switch, though, stands as an acknowledgment that the currency move was a failure and that only capitalist-style trading can prevent widespread famine."

• Regulation is becoming so burdensome that some Americans are actually renouncing their citizenship.

• The Washington Post reports that as China spends on infrastructure with abandon that there are growing questions over how much of it is actually needed. Government is a notoriously bad allocator of resources.

• Thomas Sowell revisits the Great Depression and the idea government can cure economic ills. Of course, it actually can -- but usually by getting out of the way.

• Scott Lincicome notes that Canada has passed a bilateral free trade agreement with Colombia as the US-Colombia FTA continues to languish in Congress. Where's the leadership?