December Business Conditions Monthly
The AIER Leading Indicators index posted a small gain in November but remains close to neutral, supporting a cautious outlook.
Robert Hughes – December 12, 2019
Initial Claims Rose Sharply but the Labor Market Remains Tight
Weekly initial claims jumped but the data tend to be quite volatile, especially around the holidays. Overall, the labor market remains tight.
Growth Is Good
In his 2018 book Stubborn Attachments, Tyler Cowen defends a thesis that is likely to be as unpopular as it is misunderstood: over the long run, differences in growth rates swamp just about everything. Therefore, increased economic growth is a moral im …
The FCC’s Treatment of Huawei Is a Tremendous Embarrassment
It’s said about Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson that he’s a particularly challenging opponent. With Jackson there’s no preparing for the run or pass; rather there’s preparing for the run, pass, along with the horrifying possibility that Jack …
Gas and Apparel Pull Everyday Prices Down in November
AIER’s Everyday Price Index fell 0.1 percent in November after posting a 0.4 percent increase in October. Overall, net changes in the Everyday Price Index remain modest.
Manual Labor Will Be Revived
In fact, one outcome of AI and automation may well be a revival of manual labor and of the traditional working class — maybe becoming more like an artisan class again.
Wasserman’s Twisted Tale About the Austrian School of Economics
If you approach the topic with a presumption that the Austrians were shilling for capital as understood in a Marxian-style dialectic, you miss the entire point of the school of thought and its contribution.
Why Passenger Railways are Terrible and Freight Railways are Amazing
American railways are the envy of the world. Many might shake a collective head at that statement. In the case of passenger rail that is an appropriate reaction. Since it was pieced together – a government-constructed Franken-rail system built of …
Small-Business Optimism Rose in November
Small-business confidence rose in November despite concerns over labor shortages.
The New History of Capitalism Has a “Whiteness” Problem
Thus do we arrive at the unenviable position where scholars in the New History of Capitalism genre are guilty of the very same faults that they invoke to dismiss critics of the 1619 Project.
Paul Volcker: Foe of the Gold Standard, Fan of Fiscal Profligacy
The recent death of Paul Volcker, Federal Reserve Chairman from 1979 to 1987, has generated the usual but undeserved encomiums from media outlets. Sebastian Mallaby at The Washington Post declares that Mr. Volcker was “the savior our economy …
Europe’s Green Deal Flirts With Central-Planning Disaster
The European Union is radically overhauling its economy in an attempt to combat climate change. Europe’s Green Deal appears slightly more modest than the proposed Green New Deal in the United States, but cost estimates still run as high as $13 trillion …
Trade Policy Should Not Be Contingent on the Behavior of Foreign Governments
In the making of trade policy, foreign governments should not be held to ethical standards higher than are the standards to which we hold our own government.
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