Why Is the System Rigged?
It’s crazy season, that special time on the American calendar when aspiring candidates for the nation’s highest office try to outdo each other in an effort to attract more voters to their platforms. This time around, background support is provided by a …
Bruce Yandle – December 13, 2019
Holiday Spending Off to a Modest Start
Preliminary estimates suggest retail sales were modest in November implying slow growth remains the most likely path.
Do We Treat Children Worse than Dogs?
In a typical AOC fashion, she went on a rant about how the free market treated “women and people who give birth” (whomever those non-women giving birth are) worse than we treat puppies. Why?
Technology Has Made Flexible Work Possible, and That’s Wonderful
When I got my first summer job, my coworkers and I were paid the same hourly wage. Doing sales and booking in three languages for a shipping company, we spent our days mostly managing fares and talking to calling customers over the phone (this job has …
December Business Conditions Monthly
The AIER Leading Indicators index posted a small gain in November but remains close to neutral, supporting a cautious outlook.
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.
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