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.
Inflation Fears Send Consumer Sentiment Sharply Lower in Early May
“Consumer sentiment sank in early May and is consistent with prior recessions. Inflation is a driver of weakening consumer attitudes and contributing to elevated risks. The outlook is highly uncertain.” ~ Robert Hughes
Rent Selling Countries are More Corrupt and Less Wealthy
“The real cronies are those who demand and supply interventionism. Despite their claims, they can’t get money out of politics, or reduce corruption, because they’re so eager to inject politics into money-making.” ~ Richard M. Salsman
Rescuing “Virtue and Talents” Amidst the War on Tests
“Perhaps the solution to our current quagmire has been hidden in plain sight the whole time—embrace standards and return to merit-based admissions. MIT gets it and more should follow.” ~ Wenyuan Wu
The Federal Reserve’s Moving Target
“If persistent deviations from the Federal Reserve’s target can be costly in terms of resource misallocation, imagine the costs associated with simultaneous fluctuations in both inflation and its target for inflation.” ~ Joshua Hendrickson
Hatred Will Destroy You: What the Holodomor Teaches Us Today
“When any person harbors hatred, their own humanity is destroyed. In Grossman’s words, ‘looking at his victim as other than human, he ceases to be human himself. He executes the human being inside his own self; he is his own executioner.’” ~ Barry Brownstein
Weekly Initial Claims Have Started to Trend Higher but Remain Below the Pre-Pandemic Level
“Weekly initial claims have trended slightly higher recently but continue to suggest a very tight labor market. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, renewed lockdowns in China, sustained elevated price increases, and a new Fed tightening cycle remain risks to the outlook.” ~ Robert Hughes
Can We Revive the Old Constitution?
“The New Deal constructed numerous federal departments and agencies to regulate the private sector for general, nebulous ends. In effect, we received a new constitution.” ~ Richard M. Reinsch II
AIER Leading Indicators Index Dips Back Below Neutral
“AIER’s Leading Indicators Index fell eight points to a below-neutral 46 in April. Rising prices, a new Fed tightening cycle, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and new lockdowns in China are risks to the economic outlook. Caution is warranted.” ~ Robert Hughes
When Should the Federal Reserve Have Moved on Inflation?
“Last month, I joined Caleb Brown on the Cato Daily Podcast. We discussed how inflation—and our understanding of inflation—evolved over the last year, when the Fed should have moved on inflation, and how much grace the Fed deserves when we evaluate its monumental miss.” ~ William J. Luther
Operation Climate-Change Choke Point
“The Fed—an institution that, time and again, has proven that it cannot forecast the inflation rate or GDP growth over the next three months let alone years into the future—gets to decide what level of individual bank losses are ‘accurate’ in these hypothetical climate apocalypse scenarios.” ~ Paul H. Kupiec
Food Prices Send AIER’s Everyday Price Index Up 0.5 Percent in April
“AIER’s Everyday Price Index rose again in April led by food prices. Sustained price pressures, a new Fed tightening cycle, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and lockdowns in China are threats to the economic outlook.” ~ Robert Hughes
Twitter: The Tale of the Tape
“These times of polarization pose real challenges to mass marketers. Companies such as Twitter and Disney offend the sensibilities of the mass market at their own peril. And their recent stock prices suggest they could do better.” ~ Clifford F. Thies
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: The Case for Compromise
“Perhaps it’s time for CTFK to return to the negotiating table to reduce the number of people who smoke by guaranteeing adults access to safer tobacco alternatives, including flavored vapor products.” ~ Kim Murray
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“Twitter users who have grown accustomed to surrendering their critical thinking to warning labels placed on others’ Tweets may need a period of adjustment. A new batch of pro-free-speech labels might just do the trick.” ~ Jon Sanders
The Folly of Debt Cancellation
“Discharging foreign debt undermines financial institutions, distorts prices, redistributes resources, and impairs the integrity of all parties. It also risks becoming the default practice, as political choices undertaken under exigent circumstances all too frequently do.” ~ Peter C. Earle
Modern Day Bills of Exchange
“Bitcoin, or cryptocurrency more generally, allows us to look at issues related to exchange, money, payments, and finance through a new lens.” ~ Joshua R. Hendrickson
Your Argument Implies…
“Because no protectionist can possibly explain how prosperity is increased by arranging for resources to be so wasted, every protectionist argument in the end is an instance of illogical stupidity, pure and simple.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
Government-Induced Inequality
“As usual, history could guide us, if only we would allow it. Before the rise of the nanny state, free markets naturally drew resources, including human resources, to their most highly valued use.” ~ Robert E. Wright
