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Writing by John Tamny and Parkview contributors, from the latest commentary to the collected archive.
1053 essays · Newest first
Clear filtersAs has been said here before, the most important line in Henry Hazlitt’s Economics In One Lesson has rarely, if ever, been referenced. Hazlitt wrote, “What is harmful or disastrous for an individual…
“And on the tax front, it’s time for rich people like me to pay more.” As some may know, but exponentially fewer than he surely hoped, that’s what 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney…
The Federal Reserve is a full employment act for economists, both inside the central bank and outside of it. Please keep this in mind amid all the debates about what the Fed will do, how independent…
It was 1994, and the Republicans had just taken control of the House of Representatives. After the change Cato Institute co-founder Ed Crane received a call from Fannie Mae, one in which he was told…
“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities—brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.” – John W. Gardner Rich people are the most important buyers in the world. That’s why it’s…
Working recently in a manufacturing facility outside of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, Chandra Das entered a debate at the factory’s inspection table. Das, a Hindu, apparently made a negative…
The fraudulent number that is Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a substantially shrunken number relative to the true size of the U.S. economy. See the “surge” in GDP reported yesterday for evidence.…
No one just chooses to borrow money. What an obnoxious conceit, one that imagines lenders are blithe about those loaned to. More realistically, those with title to money decide who can and cannot…
“Increased cash flow allowed TCI to borrow more money and pay higher total interest costs on it, which we used to buy still more cable systems.” That’s how cable television visionary John Malone…
Bill Dally dropped out of high school. Something about history class. He didn’t want to sit through it. Dally subsequently went to work as an auto mechanic, though high test scores eventually secured…
At Luke Russert’s college graduation, Tim Russert (1950-2008) joked about the fake ID used by his son during college to get into bars. Apparently the ID was quite good. Laughter at Tim Russert’s…
“That’s really scary.” Those are the words of Neil Carey, a retired social worker who is 87. Carey is describing his occasional memory lapses that aren’t due to traditional Alzheimer’s. As Carey…
Conservatives need to relax. See their ranting about Netflix’s proposed purchase of Warner Brothers Discovery (WBD). Podcaster Benny Johnson described the possible deal as “the most dangerous media…
Why is Ray Dalio’s debt alarmism so wrongheaded? The view here is that successful investing (Dalio is brilliant at it) is incredibly difficult, while economics is blindingly simple. The investor in…
“Speed is the name of the game.” That’s how venture capitalist Ben Braverman recently explained investing to the New York Times. He was describing the extraordinary efforts he’s made to match capital…
Kyle Schwarber recently signed a 5-year, $150 million deal to stay with the Philadelphia Phillies. Which speaks to our exciting present and future. As a former college teammate once put it about…
The problem with economics is the economists. They arguably understand what powers economic growth the least. Consider “World Pays a Price for China’s Growth,” the latest piece by Wall Street Journal…
Social Security is no longer the Third Rail of politics. Which is perhaps too bad, though not for the reasons readers might imagine. For now, it’s worth celebrating what’s abundantly true: growing…
Blockbuster could have had Netflix for south of $100 million. Twice. It’s worth thinking about in consideration of Netflix’s present-day market cap of $437 billion. Of much greater importance, it’s…
Balanced budget orthodoxy in the United States will keep the poorest parts of the U.S. relatively impoverished. And not because of reduced federal spending. Quite the opposite. Peter Bauer…
Fed officials rate as much ridicule as does New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. Arguably central bankers rate more. To see why, stop and contemplate how politicians, pundits and economists have…
Falling test scores signal rising prosperity. The declines that have pundits up in arms are a signal of a much better future precisely because they signal soaring individual specialization. Which…
President Trump is happily overstepping the naivete that informs so much economic commentary. While the experts continue to look to the Federal Reserve to bring down prices via the tweaking of…
U.S. Postal Service workers used to be able to afford Manhattan’s Upper East Side. When a young Lee Harvey Oswald moved with his mother Marguerite to New York City in 1952, they lived for a time with…
