Government Can’t Police Itself
“I will always support more transparency and more oversight, if only because doing so is part of my job and makes that job easier– one of which I’m proud. But intoning ‘more transparency’ is no silver bullet for shrinking the size of government and for getting rid of bad programs. The only ‘substantive’ result of such proclamations is that they provide Congress a rationale for holding ever-more pointless hearings.” ~ Veronique de Rugy
Veronique de Rugy – August 8, 2020
Modern Monetary Theory is Playing With Fire
“Stephanie Kelton’s book is well-written and serves as an accessible insight into the world of Modern Monetary Theory. There are parts of the book that are essential pieces of economic knowledge that define the modern state, some that are questionable premises, and some that are blatant political talking points.” ~ Ethan Yang
Judy Shelton is Right About the Gold Standard
“When it comes to the gold standard, the experts have spent too much time reading their textbooks and not enough time studying actual history. Empirical questions require empirical answers, and no amount of armchair theorizing can settle how gold stacks up to fiat money. On this, Dr. Shelton is right and the commentariat wrong.” ~ Alexander W. Salter
Deceit and Demagoguery in Montgomery County, Maryland
“Politicians and bureaucrats who claim a right to outlaw all risks ignore the risk of tyranny. Gayles and other MoCo politicians sneer at their critics as if they were unwashed deplorables incapable of understanding ‘science.’ But their school shutdown policy is simply Political Science 101, using deceit and demagoguery to seize more power.” ~ James Bovard
Economic Freedom Is Essential for Managing Pandemics
“There is an important lesson for the future. If one desires the downward trends in the human and economic costs observed over the course of the 20th century to continue, one must push for a greater deal of institutional flexibility. That flexibility is what makes the market’s process of discovery work and makes us more resilient to future shocks.” ~ Vincent Geloso
AIER’s Leading Indicators Index Takes A Small Step Up in July
AIER’s Leading Indicators index increased to 8 in July. The result suggests a rapid recovery is unlikely and that full recovery is likely to be more drawn out, uneven, and uncertain.
Payrolls Grew By 1.8 Million in July But the Pace of Recovery Slowed, Raising Concerns
Nine million private U.S. jobs have been recovered over the last three months, less than half the 21 million lost during government shutdowns; the outlook remains extremely uncertain.
On “You Didn’t Build That”
“Unethical redistribution occurs to the extent that the taxes an individual pays are paid without his or her consent, for such ‘payment’ implies that the value of the benefits gotten from government by this taxpayer are less than the cost this taxpayer is forced to pay. Yet these complexities do nothing to justify the claim that provision by government of some goods and services creates among citizens indebtedness to the state.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
In Defense of Bitcoin Billionaires
“It’s refreshing to read an account of early Bitcoin – not the programming, the cryptography, or the scandals, but the dreamy futurists and their financiers.” ~ Joakim Book
The Mugging Of TikTok Should Embarrass Every Sentient American
“A Chinese company innovated, met the needs of people around the world, and President Trump responded by threatening a ban of the company before brokering a potential forced sale of the company to an American company. The whole world is watching, Americans. We deserve neither TikTok nor the very Chinese people who, if we’re honest, are trying to be like Americans used to be.” ~ John Tamny
The Gaslighting of the American People
“We can reject gaslighting and insist on regaining our rights, though whether we will forget this nightmare is debatable. Punishing our persecutors is certainly beyond us. A pity.” ~ Caroline Breashears
The Fiscal Centralization of Europe Will Not End Well
“Europe may be experiencing a ‘Hamiltonian moment,’ but the path towards a federal Europe will remain both long and tortuous. Political opposition to the European experiment has been growing as the perceived costs of membership of the EU begins to eclipse the benefits for some members of the Union.” ~ Colin Lloyd
Which Diseases Are on the Rise As We Fight COVID-19?
“Proponents of COVID-19 prevention measures are perfectly willing to discuss the lives that are saved at the expense of economic progress. But when will there be widespread recognition that these very same measures could cause millions of people around the world to contract––and die from––other preventable diseases? Are those lives somehow exempt from our tradeoff tally?” ~ Fiona Harrigan
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