John Stossel

The government is “shut down.” Media call this a “crisis.” A “crisis (with) no deal in sight,” says Fox News. Reuters says it's a “key risk to US stability.” But when I look around, I see business as usual -- families raise children, workers work, people play music ...  The media act like government is the most important part of life. It isn't. Fortunately, most of life, and the best of life,…

Have you heard how young people suffer now? Scroll TikTok, Instagram, etc., you see the same message: “Young people today can’t get ahead!” One popular meme says when baby boomers like me were young, “A family could own a home, a car and send their kids to college, all on one income.” “That’s a fantasy,” says economist Norbert Michel. “We are much better off than we were.” My new video takes…

Eight years ago, I left network TV behind. I worried that moving to social media wouldn’t work -- that not enough people wanted news alongside cat videos. I also worried that not enough of you would donate to pay for it. Unlike most of what you find on Fox News, CNN, etc., we at Stossel TV do weeks of research. Before we post, seven people fact-check, edit and double-check each other’s work.…

When I was a kid, childhood meant playing on the street, riding my bike, hanging out with friends. Most kids now experience a different childhood. Jonathan Haidt’s bestselling book, “The Anxious Generation,” talks about that. He calls it “a tragedy in two acts.” “Act One, we lose the play-based childhood. We stop letting kids run around outside. We’re too afraid they’ll get abducted. ... We…

The federal government owns about a third of America. Since we’re on a path to bankruptcy, it would be smart to sell some unused property. President Donald Trump’s Interior Secretary says it may be worth as much as $200 trillion. Selling just a fraction of it would reduce our enormous debt. Not just that -- since government doesn’t manage things well, selling or leasing some would leave it in…

“Mental health is declining,” says psychologist Jonathan Haidt. This week, his book, “The Anxious Generation,” is number one on The New York Times bestseller list. His book has been a bestseller for more than a year. Haidt argues that smartphones and social media have “rewired childhood” and made kids more anxious and depressed. My son agrees. He brings Haidt’s argument to schools.…

Some parents abuse their kids. Child welfare workers are supposed to stop that to protect the kids. But bad things often happen while they watch. “Children have a right to safety,” says Tim Keller. “If home is a danger, we as a society have to step in and protect those children.” Keller, legal director of the Center for the Rights of Abused Children, is a libertarian. “It’s surprising to hear…

Progressives love unions. Not only do unions protect workers, they say, unions gave us the weekend and the middle class. I say, capitalism created the middle class. Employers, competing for better workers, gave us the weekend. But whatever you think about capitalism, few people question the claim that unions help workers. But I will. It’s the focus of my new video. A couple years ago, the…

Before Robby Starbuck became a problem for leftist companies, alerting consumers to stupid woke indoctrination policies, he directed music videos. He worked with some big names, like Snoop Dogg and Natalie Portman. In my new video, I remind him that his Snoop Dogg video includes the lyrics: “Set the mood, spoon and groom. ... I can get you high.” He replies, “Realizing that this stuff has a…

Now that Texas and South Carolina have passed school choice bills, parents will be able to choose the best school for their kids in 17 states. Why not all states? After all, competition improves services. The Post Office couldn’t get it there overnight. Then FedEx showed it could be done. Quickly, UPS and DHL did it, too, and now even the Post Office does ... sometimes.

Government makes most things worse. Lyndon Johnson launched a War on Poverty; Richard Nixon a War on Drugs. Both had good intentions, but their “wars” do more harm than good. I believed the War on Poverty would lift people out of poverty. At the time I was a naive Princeton student who believed my professors when they said, “It’s wrong that in this rich country, people are poor, so government…

I guess United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres didn’t think his hyping global warming risks brought him enough attention, so now he says, “The era of global boiling has arrived!” Global boiling? Give me a break. Yes, the climate is warming. We can deal with that. What annoys me is politicians, activists and media pushing hysterical myths.

It’s finally spring. Better mow your lawn. If you don’t, your town government may fine you thousands of dollars a day. Worse, if you can’t pay the fine, they may confiscate your home. Six years ago, in Dunedin, Florida, Jim Ficken let his grass grow. His mom had died, and he’d left town to take care of her estate. He asked a friend to cut his grass, but that friend died, too!

President Donald Trump ended federal DEI programs. Even before, companies were having second thoughts. Victoria’s Secret changed “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” to “inclusion and belonging.” Now, even woke Disney, despite squandering 270 million shareholder dollars on a moronic new version of “Snow White,” joined the mob of companies dropping DEI programs.