They’re libertarians and they don’t know it. That’s long been the view of Cato Institute co-founder Ed Crane. It’s what he expressed decades ago to recently passed Cato executive vice president David Boaz. Boaz was a conservative when he first met Crane, but Crane knew from their conversations that Boaz was a libertarian precisely […]
Book Review: Ron Manners’ ‘The Impatient Libertarian’ Read More »
To this day it’s said that mark-to-market (MTM) accounting rules are what caused existential troubles for banks and investment banks back in 2008. It sounds so compelling at first glance, but only until readers stop and imagine what the outlook for financial institutions would have been without MTM. No different. As Blackstone co-founder Stephen
The Fed’s Stress Tests Are a Conceited Look Backwards Read More »
It’s been said before by many inside and outside of science that so-called “global warming” is a good thing. Usually it’s pointed out that warming associates with more food production, not to mention that cold weather kills more people than hot. Beyond that, what about the simple productivity implications of warming? Assuming it’s man-made
Another Argument for So-Called ‘Global Warming’ As a Driver of Growth Read More »
Economist Gordon Tullock (1922-2014) once quipped that there was an easy way to create safer conditions on American roads: rather than install seatbelts and air bags, attach a rather sharp, driver-facing spear to the steering wheel of each automobile. Tullock’s famous quip comes to mind as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) continues in
Unable to Protect Consumers, the CFPB Scapegoats the Banks Read More »
“The traditional argument against a rules-based monetary policy is that it requires Fed officials to specify too many contingencies ahead of time.” Those are the words of economist Jason Furman, chairman of Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers from 2013-17, and Harvard economics professor at present. The bet here is that Furman could be persuaded to
A 2025 Resolution For Fed: Have The Courage To Do Nothing Read More »
The view here is that mass deportation of Mexicans from the United States will ultimately result in quite a few more Mexicans searching for a way to get to the United States than before. It’s basic economics. Regardless of ideology, please read on. “I build their dream houses. That means I depend strictly on
Deportation of Mexicans Will Result In More Mexicans In the U.S. Read More »
“The federal government owns a little more than one-fourth of the total land area of the United States. The time is long overdue to consider whether that is the best economic arrangement.” Those are the words of the great Thomas Sowell. How to argue with Sowell? Think of the freedom and economic progress that
Conservatives Must Cease Calling For Tax-Revenue Increases Read More »
If you ever want to learn economics, just purchase books about entertainment and sports. It’s that simple. Considering antitrust alone, the whole profession could be put out of business by the memoirs and biographies written by actors and entertainment journalists. All of this came to mind while reading Tim Matheson’s (Animal House, Fletch, The
Book Review: Tim Matheson’s ‘Damn Glad to Meet You’ Read More »
“The greatest fever of all was aspiration, a belief in the sheer possibility to remake a life.” That’s what Evan Osnos wrote in Age of Ambition, his remarkable 2014 book about life in emerging China. Osnos reported that as of 2014 the Chinese were second only to Americans when it came to the purchase of
An Envious U.S. Political Class Protests the Chinese Eating Read More »
What should the interest rate be? The very question insults reason simply because economies are comprised of individuals, businesses and governments with wildly divergent pasts, presents and futures. An interest rate is a singular concept, not a number that a central planner can divine. What’s true about interest rates is similarly true about bank
The Arrogant Conceit of Bank Capital Requirements Read More »
