Laying Out a Giant Platter of Truth For You To Feast On
Immanuel Kant, for whom Ayn Rand called the most evil man in history, believed that reality “as it is in itself” is unknowable. It would seem from this absolute statement that…
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Essays
Writing by John Tamny and Parkview contributors, from the latest commentary to the collected archive.
1319 essays · Newest first
Christopher Waller’s Inflation ‘Prescience’ Didn’t Much Exceed Lawrence Summers’s
As always, rising prices can’t cause inflation any more than falling prices can cause deflation. Both are currency phenomena born of currency instability either in the direction of weakness or…
Nikki Haley’s TikTok Stance Is a Big Loser With Youth
Polls show younger Americans are strongly against a ban on TikTok. I guess arbitrarily banning a social media app because it originated in China is a bit too socialist for us.
Where You Went To School Isn’t the Source of Your Incompetence
The normally excellent Lance Morrow is the latest to try and tie greater historical meaning to education at Groton, Yale and Harvard. In his case, he’s trying to connect the latter to the Vietnam…
Guns Don’t Kill People, Neither Do Immigrants
In reality, one Jose Antoio Ibarra is being charged with committing an incredibly despicable act. Immigrants shouldn’t own his sickness any more than gun owners should own the acts of mass shooters.…
The Blind Spots of the Critics of China’s ‘Tanking Economy’
As poets write China’s economic obituary, actual U.S. businesses are rapidly expanding in China. Whom are you going to trust?
No, William Barr, Apple Does Not Violate Antitrust Law
Barr’s fear of Apple shouldn’t surprise us, while at the same time reminding us just how detached his analysis is from market realities. No, Apple does not violate antitrust law.
Democrats, Republicans, and Supply-Siders Misread Reagan Deficits
Reagan tax cuts did cause deficits, but not for the reasons expressed by Democrats, Republicans, and supply siders.
Capital One/Discover Is Crucially About Discovering the Future
Capital One and Discover aren’t merging to dominate the present, rather they’re combining in an effort to discover an always opaque future.
Book Review: Marc-William Palen’s Crucial ‘Pax Economica’
University of Exeter professor Marc-William Palen’s Pax Economica: Left-Wing Visions of a Free Trade World, is out. What a great book. While left wingers in the 19th century didn’t invent the natural…
Lawrence Summers’s ‘Inflation’ Miss Was the Norm Among Economists
As always, the internet is forever. Consider that with the quote that leads today’s write-up by oh-so eminent and intelligent economist Lawrence Summers. In 2022, he was more than adamant that years…
Fearful of Lefty Academics, Conservatives Arguably Ignore a Bigger Risk
While conservatives worry endlessly about lefty academics and pundits like them in the media, they’ve arguably taken their eyes off of the proverbial ball.
Funding of Ukraine’s War Effort In No Way Boosts Growth
The killing of Ukrainians by Russians, and Russians by Ukrainians could in no way stimulate growth in the United States. What annihilates human capital annihilates the knowledge that powers growth…
Humans Are Capital, Which Means There’s No ‘Crisis’ of Migrants
Is the crisis of the moment one of people who want better, or government trying to plan the market signal that is the arrival of people who want better?
Critics of ‘Isolationism’ Cherry-Pick the Worst Arguments For It
Critics of so-called “isolationism” claim a desire to stay out of conflicts like Ukraine are rooted in veneration for Donald Trump and/or Tucker Carlson, partisan disdain for Joe Biden, fear that the…
Can the Fed Increase the Rate of Interest Charged to Taylor Swift?
At the Wall Street Journal, Fed-watcher Timiraos writes that with government measures of inflation having “fallen much faster than expected,” nominal interest rates “adjusted for inflation” have…
Opposite What You’re Told, Rising Ignorance Is Very Bullish
AI is going to render exponentially more of us really stupid as we get to shed even more formerly essential knowledge. The deep in thought of today and tomorrow will go nuts, but people will be…
U2, Pauli ‘The PSM’ Lovejoy, and the Marvel That Is Las Vegas Sphere
That James Dolan is the money behind Las Vegas Sphere is a pretty loud reminder that few initially thought the idea worthy. To attend a concert there is to see what a miracle Dolan backed. Love or…
The Incredibly High Cost of Errant Capital Allocations
As always there are no price controls, there are just shortages. Place President Biden’s rhetorical attacks on “junk fees” in the price control category, along with the CFPB’s regulatory attacks.…
If Javier Milei Trusts the Markets, He Doesn’t Need to ‘Dollarize’
This will cause some heads to explode within the various free-market and interventionist religions, but market forces born of production decide which currencies circulate, not central banks or…
Instead of Being a Crazy Girlfriend, Why Not Try to Understand Putin?
We are ruled, indeed lorded over by the prissiest and most adolescent political class in the history of the world. Perhaps they have all been educated at our androgynous elite universities…
Only An Economist Could Believe In the Impossibility That Is Monetarism
If a recession is coming, or for that matter growth, money in circulation will reflect either scenario without regard to the central plans of economists and those who revere them.
Bruce Springsteen’s Mother ‘Scrimped’ To Get Him His First Guitar
Bruce Springsteen’s mother scrimped and saved to get him his first electric guitar. Which hardly makes him unique. His story is like most for the musicians of his era.
Bank Capital Requirements Are So Much More Expensive Than the Capital
When banks acquire capital expensively, they don’t just acquire cash. They put it to work, albeit in securities approved of by regulators. Highly liquid securities. Think government bonds, or more…