Read
Writing by John Tamny and Parkview contributors, from the latest commentary to the collected archive.
1053 essays · Newest first
Clear filtersJack Kemp (1935-2009) always felt Republicans should do well with minorities and immigrants. He saw the Republicans as the party of opportunity, and felt his message of growth should and would…
The Federal Reserve doesn’t need to adopt a “Monetary Policy Rule.” Not only would the central bank shed the pretense of rules-based constraints on its power during times of upheaval and uncertainty…
I was first introduced to David Lodge’s endlessly great novels when a college girlfriend gave me her copy of Nice Work. The book was assigned to her in a senior-year English literature class at…
Writing about antitrust law recently, the excellent Holman Jenkins observed that “At best it’s a criminal waste of talent. At worst, it’s deeply worrisome that any law school graduate aspires to…
Government spending never enhances economic growth precisely because governments only have money to spend insofar as they have taxable access to private economic activity. In other words, government…
It turns out back-scratching is a profession. And a well-paid one at that. So is sleeping, videogame playing, and college sorority consulting. As automation and globalization continue to lay waste to…
Central banks don’t “supply” dollars to cities, states and nations, rather dollars are an automatic effect of production in cities, states and nations. Contrary to what most economists believe,…
“Congress Didn’t Ban TikTok.” That’s the title of Mike Gallagher’s latest column in the Wall Street Journal. The former congressman from Wisconsin is correct that Congress didn’t ban TikTok, it’s…
One of the most powerful drivers of Mexican economic growth is economic activity that takes place outside of Mexico. Specifically, economic activity within the United States. Stop and think about…
Adam Smith’s observation that “the sole use of money is to circulate consumable goods” cannot be repeated enough. It explains so much, and in particular it explains why world leaders were so eager to…
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…
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…
One of the most hated ideas in human history is the toll. This hatred is best exemplified by the 19th Century “Three Billy Goats Gruff” fairy tale, where a troll under the bridge (who tries to…
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…
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,…
“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,…
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…
“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…
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…
“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.…
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.…
Repeat it over and over again: there’s no interest rate, and there’s no such thing as interest rates. There are individuals, and individuals face a myriad of borrowing costs as numerous as there are…
“At 5-foot-10, Henderson was smaller than many big leaguers, but he overcame his size with a combination of horse power, a savant-like ability to exploit deficiencies in pitchers, and an extreme…
Andy Kessler writes in his latest Wall Street Journal column that the U.S. “is strong precisely because we don’t all think the same way. New ideas come from new ways of thinking.” Kessler puts it so…
