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.
Monetary Control: Central Banks Today
“The Fed’s operating framework systematically tends towards the abuse of life, liberty, and property. If we want to fix this, we need to take a much closer look at the relationship between money and freedom. Only if we understand this relationship, philosophically, economically, and historically, will we be in a position to fix what’s gone wrong with our monetary institutions.” ~ Alexander W. Salter
Weekly Initial Claims for Unemployment Benefits Continue to Trend Lower
“Initial claims for unemployment benefits continue to trend lower, suggesting a strengthening labor market and improving economic outlook.” – Robert Hughes
Canadian Doctors Are Being Censored
“This move is fundamentally opposed to the values of liberal democracy which have now been jeopardized on a global scale. With the lights of an enlightened and modern civilization going out across the world, it would be fair to ask, will they ever be turned back on in our lifetime?” ~ Ethan Yang
The Many Errors of the Dred Scott Decision
“The Dred Scott Decision reworked the history of the country to fit a narrative. It was factually wrong in stating that the country was founded on racism. The country was founded on the ideals of freedom and equality, and the continuation of slavery in half of the country was a contradiction of those ideals. Most of the Founders hoped for a peaceful resolution of that contradiction; but, as we know, slavery was only ended by a civil war.” ~ Clifford F. Thies
The Economic Revelations of Buddhism
“Matthew D. Milligan, visiting fellow at AIER and Ph.D specialist in epigraphy and material culture joins Aleksandra Przegalinska for an inside look at the intersection of religious cultures and market entrepreneurialism in the sphere of Buddhism and beyond.” ~ AIER
Assessing Potential for Higher Inflation
“Monetary policy is intentionally supporting fiscal policy and supporting levels of indebtedness from the Federal government that are unprecedented. The result has been an explosion of M2 that increases the risk of inflation. There is a fair chance that policymakers will succeed. But, for the possibility of success, they risk a monetary-fiscal crisis.” ~ James L. Caton
Everyday Prices Rise 6.1 Percent from a Year Ago
“AIER’s Everyday Price Index posted the largest yearly rise since 2011. Many prices across the economy are still reflecting distortions from government lockdowns that have caused a wide range of materials shortages, logistical, supply chain, and labor problems. As these issues are worked out, price pressures are likely to ease.” – Robert Hughes
Regulatory Capture, Teacher Unions, and CDC Abuse
“There is no doubt that this unprecedented and deviant child experiment has inflicted significant harm on its human subjects. Thus, while some might say that it is wrong to demonize public health officials, we say that their actions, especially as they relate to children, have been demonic. Regulatory capture of the CDC by teachers unions is a scandal of epic proportions.” ~ Donald S. Siegel & Robert M. Sauer
What Happened to All Those Jobs?
“We have far fewer jobs than we expected to have and, at the current tepid recovery, a decade’s journey to return to the health we had just prior to Covid-19. This is, of course, bad enough. Sober reflection, though, should lead quickly to the conclusion that the ruling class in Washington will manage to do even more to harm the economy in the meantime. It’s what they do, after all.” ~ Antony Davies & James R. Harrigan
Big Brother Depends on Little Brothers
“Resistance starts gently by recognizing our own mental processes that make us vulnerable to the current of conformist thought. With mental alertness we attune ourselves to spiritual strength. With self-study, we prepare for peaceful exchange of ideas with those currently choosing to be little brothers. There is still enough freedom in America that without the support of little brothers, Big Brother will find it has no power of its own.” ~ Barry Brownstein
Hayek’s Still Relevant Response to Today’s Paternalist Planners
“Majorities can be as intolerant and tyrannical as the worst absolute monarchs of the past, if not even more so. What has failed, in Hayek’s view, has not been the idea of democracy as such, but the particular form of democracy that developed over the last two hundred years, under which fewer and fewer corners of individual life are safe from what coalitions of special interest groups that form majorities on Election Day can impose on the rest of society.” ~ Richard M. Ebeling
Job Openings Hit a Record High in March
“Job openings hit a record in March, supporting a positive economic outlook.” – Robert Hughes
Focused Protection Would Have Been the Right Pandemic Response
“As the United States nears the hopeful end of its public health crisis, the mounting evidence domestically and abroad seems to suggest that harsh lockdown policies were not only overkill, they were counterproductive. In light of this information, it is increasingly apparent that a strategy of focused protection which respects the voluntary functions of society while taking reasonable steps to accommodate vulnerable populations would have been the most optimal pandemic response.” ~ Ethan Yang
The Buchanan Thesis
“Those of us who decry large and intrusive government should demand that government annually balance its budget. The tighter the constraint on government’s access to resources, the freer and more prosperous the people will be.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
AIER Leading Indicators Index Suggests Continued Economic Growth
“AIER’s Leading Indicators Index came in at 88 in April while the Roughly Coincident Indicators index remained at a perfect 100 reading for a second month. The distribution of vaccines and cessation of restrictive government lockdown policies remain the driving force behind the economic recovery. While risks associated with the spread of Covid-19 variants linger, the economic outlook is tilted to the upside. Other risks in the short term include shortages of materials, rising prices, and lingering logistical issues.” – Robert Hughes
The Lumber Market Delirium
“A sordid cocktail of Covid lockdowns and expansionary monetary policy have led to explosive conditions in long-docile lumber markets.” ~ Peter C. Earle
Free Expression
“Government can punish those found after due process to have willfully abused tools like speech (or firearms) to the detriment of others but it cannot Constitutionally limit the availability of such crucial tools simply because some people might use them to cause harm. The best policies reduce asymmetries of information or power rather than exacerbate them and that usually means freeing expression, not excluding ideas or the people who espouse them.” ~ Robert E. Wright
Biden’s “America the Beautiful” Vision Ignores Feds’ Dreadful Record
“Biden’s ’30 by 30′ will likely become simply another pork barrel environmental program which deluges their friends and donors with subsidies. But there is no reason to expect ‘America the Beautiful’ to be less of a debacle than FDR’s farm programs, Eisenhower’s Soil Bank, or the Conservation Reserve Program. If political hot air was all that was required to achieve ‘America the Beautiful,’ the United States would have become paradise long ago.” ~ James Bovard
