The Foundation for Economic Education recently invited me to join its flagship publication, The Freeman, as a regular contributor. It just published my first article, No Exit: Are Honduran Free Cities DOA? Here's an excerpt:
Eager to bring Hong Kong-style growth to their beleaguered Central American country, Honduras amended its constitution in 2011. The new provisions allowed the creation of quasi-sovereign special development regions. Libertarians thrilled at the prospect.
By making it easier to escape from bad government to better government, the Honduran plan would put the forces of competition and choice in the service of the Honduran people. Formerly, Hondurans who voted with their feet had to flee their homeland. Now, they could stay and wait for good government to come to them--at least to the neighborhood.
Those grand visions came to nothing, however. Instead, the Honduran Supreme Court struck down the constitutional amendments as ... unconstitutional. Does that spell the end of the Honduran experiment in newer, freer cities?
