The nanny state is in the news. A lot of people have been outraged by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s effort to restrict soda sizes, recently overturned by a state court, and some people do not much like ...

All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Gizmodo may earn an affiliate commission. Reading time 6 minutes As ...

It is common for economists and neoliberals to argue for the use of relatively unrestricted vouchers in lieu of in-kind or highly circumscribed welfare payments. The rationale is that more choices ...

Should government "nudge" citizens to do what is in their self-interest? In his latest column, David Brooks runs through the arguments for and against "libertarian paternalism," summing them up as ...

In an op-ed in The New York Times titled "Three Cheers for the Nanny State," Sarah Conly, a philosophy professor at Bowdown College and author of Against Autonomy, dismisses principled concerns about ...

Fear of paternalism inhibits good policy decisions on facebook (opens in a new window) Fear of paternalism inhibits good policy decisions on linkedin (opens in a new window) ...

New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg recently proposed a ban on sales of sugary drinks over 16 oz., prompting an astonishing outpouring of strong pundit feelings on the subject of “paternalism” in ...

In these political times, populism is creeping towards paternalism, and the Italian “Third Republic’s” new basic income scheme is the latest example. Nevertheless, it’s not through the benevolence of ...