Daily economy news from the American Institute for Economic Research: data, stories, research, and articles touching on economics, politics, culture, education, policy, opinion, technology, markets, healthcare, regulation, trends, and much more.
Consumer Confidence Edged Lower in November
“Consumer attitudes fell back slightly as inflation fears continued to mount and new waves of Covid cases unsettled consumers. Continued expansion remains the likely course, but threats remain elevated.” ~ Robert Hughes
The Long Cycles in Markets and Political Order
“I found Dalio’s thesis much more persuasive than I had anticipated: some historical patterns are real, wave-like, and operate over long horizons. With skill, data, and humility, we can uncover the likely prospects for our own times.” ~ Joakim Book
New Senate Antitrust Proposal Empowers Radical Bureaucratic Overreach
“To protect our free markets, we should not be giving government overreach that much more of a chance to succeed. That’s simply falling into the pro-government trap.” ~ Kir Nuthi
The Chinese Financial Sector: On the Brink of Death
“The Chinese banking and real estate sectors are on the brink of death. The government will do everything possible to reorganize the former and to save the latter, but it is very possible that it will be incapable of succeeding.” ~ Daniel Fernández
What You Can Learn On a Long Walk to American Girl
“Shopping malls offer economic truths beyond their just being shopping locales. They’re in reality economic ecosystems that explain how economies work well outside their walls. A long walk to American Girl vivifies this truth with ease.” ~ John Tamny
Democracy Demands Transparency
“If complete and instantaneous disclosure proves impossible politically, the United States should return to a government with powers so limited that it need not be constantly audited, watched, or dreaded.” ~ Robert E. Wright
Is Free Trade Elitist?
“Intellectuals almost always feature prominently on any side of any debate over any issue. Free trade is nothing more, or less, than freedom and fairness. The notion that it is an elitist scheme is a grotesque canard.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
Economics and the Picture Show, Part Two
“Casablanca is a political econo-drama trading in the existential currency of life, death, and love couched in the aesthetic aspirations of art.” ~ Robert Edward Gordon
Supply Chains and the Shortage Economy
“Government control over supply chains would help make shortages permanent. Supply chains are too complex for anyone, including the managers of companies like Apple and Nike, to understand.” ~ Daniel Sutter
Americans Don’t Hate Work, They Hate the Workplace
“We can build alternative institutions and parallel economies that create opportunities for hard-working Americans who won’t be pushed around.” ~ Austin Stone
Doubling Down on Foolishness
“Plans to continue down that path at a far more rapid rate, as the Biden administration proposes, are doubling down on foolishness, yet may well occur unless Americans recognize them for what they are.” ~ Gary M. Galles
The Biden Crackdown on Thought Crimes
“Extremism has always been a flag of political convenience, and the Biden team, the FBI, and their media allies will fan fears to sanctify new government crackdowns. But what if government is the most dangerous extremist of them all?” ~ James Bovard
A Different Perspective: How Threat-Free Are Americans from Covid-19?
“It’s a risk decidedly lower than what people have been made to believe. This belief, unhealthy in and of itself, has given way to tolerating dangerous government edicts while forestalling a grounded approach to individual risk assessment and management.” ~ Jon Sanders
Getting Real About Taxes
“It is high time that the federal government recognizes the creepy tax effects of inflation and gets real about taxes. It should forget about taxing unrealized capital gains, compensate victims of its inflationary policies, and begin to inflation-index everything.” ~ Robert E. Wright
How Hayek Can Transform Our Ingratitude into Gratitude
“Understanding Hayek transforms our thinking into a rich appreciation of how individuals cooperate and bring forth the miracles of the modern economy. With the opening of eyes long closed, our ingratitude becomes gratitude.” ~ Barry Brownstein
The Gospel of a 99% Consensus
“It is not surprising to see an array of messiahs come up with genocidal plans to banish all evil, that is, reliable energy — the blood of modern, long, and prosperous life — in the name of the revealed ‘truth.'” ~ Robertas Bakula
A Series of Miracles
“Take a cue from Lincoln and appreciate the blessings that we do enjoy rather than pining for things we don’t. Take a cue from the best America has produced and say a prayer of thanks. Happy Thanksgiving.” ~ James R. Harrigan
Corporate Profits Hit a Record High in the Third Quarter
“Corporate profits hit a record high despite a tight labor market and rising input costs. Companies may be not only passing along higher costs to consumers, but also taking advantage of consumers’ willingness to pay higher prices and boosting profit margins.” ~ Robert Hughes
