It’s accepted wisdom in San Francisco that the path to successfully purchasing an apartment is an opening bid of 50% over asking price. It’s worth remembering as the right-leaning California Post expresses optimism about the city achieving budgetary balance. At first glance, it’s difficult to not find optimism in what so many correlate with […]
There’s Nothing “Optimistic” About San Francisco Balancing Its Budget Read More »
Social Security was a monstrous mistake. That’s paradoxically why it must not be “reformed.” Reform would unleash a spending frenzy from Congress on a series of small mistakes that have the potential to eventually become monstrous ones. See George Will’s recent column for evidence. About the origins of Social Security, Will writes that “Ninety-one years ago,
Whatever We Do, We Must Not Let Congress Reform Social Security Read More »
Americans consume “Russian oil.” What you’ve just read isn’t a sign of corruption stateside, rather it’s a signal of basic economics. Production begets imports from around the world always, and from every country, friend or foe. This includes Iran. The only barrier to this peace-enhancing state of play is that political classes can sap
Why Must Americans Pay for Lindsey Graham’s Ukraine Passions? Read More »
Soaring wealth inequality is the surest sign of falling prices. You can’t have the latter without the former. Look at the richest Americans, then and now. John D. Rockefeller mass produced kerosene and the gasoline that powered the formerly obscure cars made common by Henry Ford. Michael Dell put personal computers in every house,
“K-Shaped Economies” Signal Soaring Abundance for All Read More »
In his defense, Vivek Ramaswamy most likely didn’t write last week’s Wall Street Journal opinion piece. Still, if the advisers of his opponent for governor of Ohio (Amy Acton) grasp simple economics, they’ll make Ramaswamy own what denigrates enormous U.S. economic progress, and that ties investment success to government waste. Ramaswamy writes that the “greatest driver
Someone Remind Vivek Ramaswamy That Wealth Is Created, Not Printed Read More »
Spending cuts will not shrink the federal government. When politicians promise the opposite, they’re not telling the truth. “We must stop measuring compassion by the amount of money the government spends. We will cut spending, we will cut taxes, we will revolutionize welfare to put America on a better track.” Former Congressman Bill Archer,
Bill Archer’s Death Is Reminder That Spending Cuts Won’t Shrink Government Read More »
In 1948 South Korea had per capita income of $48, a level of earnings that placed its economics below those of sub-Saharan African countries. At the time one U.S. official concluded that “Korea can never attain a high standard of living.” The reason, he observed, was that “there are virtually no Koreans with the
Immigration, and the “Failed State” Immigration Fallacy Read More »
In the coming weeks, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to issue a new rule superseding a Biden-era interpretation of the Dodd-Frank Act that mandated banks provide data access to financial technology (or fintechs) at zero cost. But rather than simply repeal the mandate, the agency is reportedly considering a hybrid price control/market
Trump administration should avoid price controls Read More »
The people on the Mayflower were lower middle class, and largely British. Which means they were lower middle-class arrivals from a country that was very poor. As Niall Ferguson wrote in his 2004 book Empire, the England of the 17th century was far, far from the one of the 19th century. While economic measures are powerfully flawed on their
Like It or Not, People From “Shithole Countries” Created the United States Read More »
“Please God, give me one more oil boom. This time I promise not to piss it away.” It was a popular bumper sticker in Texas in the 1980s. It’s worth remembering as experts who’ve never built houses, and who’ve surely never borrowed the money necessary to build houses, tell us the solution to the
Housing, Like Oil, Is Not As Simple As Pundits Want It To Be Read More »
