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.
Weekly Initial Claims Continue to Trend Higher
“Weekly initial claims fell, but the rising trend in the four-week average and increasing job cut announcements are a warning. Rapid price increases and aggressive Fed tightening remain major risks for the economic outlook.” ~ Robert Hughes
Taxes, Spending, and Powerball Winnings
“A system that rewards our elected officials for spending today, without regard to the future costs, inevitably leads to one conclusion: ever-growing public debt. The current debt crisis is no mystery.” ~ David Hebert
Mental Health Is In Crisis. What Is the Answer?
“The first step toward fixing it is not letting it get worse. Given the US government’s track record of harming perhaps those who need our help the most, I think it would be foolish to trust them now.” ~ Raymond J. March
Private-Sector Job Openings Remain High Despite Falling in October
“Private-sector job openings fell in October but remain high, suggesting continued resilience. However, the outlook remains highly uncertain.” ~ Robert Hughes
Third Quarter GDP Revised Higher but Pockets of Weakness Persist
“Headline real GDP growth was revised higher in the third quarter, but domestic demand remained weak. Caution is warranted.” ~ Robert Hughes
There’s No Natural ‘Carrying Capacity’ for the Human Population: An Essay Inspired by the Happy News that the Human Population Has Reached Eight Billion
“We don’t obtain resources from an existing stock created for us by nature, leaving fewer resources available for use tomorrow each time we withdraw some amount for our use today. Instead, resources are ultimately fruits of the human mind and effort.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
Privacy in the Digital Era: Who Controls Private Data?
“To preserve freedom for posterity, liberty minded policy makers should be working to stymie the government’s ability to capture and control data in the digital commons.” ~ Leslie Corbly
Yes, an Academic Free-Speech Conference Needed Protection from the Mob
“Universities themselves should be viewed as places where members of an academic community gather to discuss ideas of the day. They should generally not take stands on issues.” ~ Richard K. Vedder
Consumer Expectations Remained at Recessionary Levels in November
“Consumer confidence fell again in November with consumer expectations at recessionary levels. An aggressive Fed tightening cycle, elevated price pressures, and the fallout from the Russian war in Ukraine remain risks for the economic outlook.” ~ Robert Hughes
When Lenin Read a Book on Marx
“It is no small irony that Hobsbawm’s qualitative investigation of Marx’s dissemination and spread now finds empirical validation in the unlikeliest of sources: our econometric analysis of the Soviet revolution’s effects on Marx’s citation patterns after 1917.” ~ Phillip W. Magness
Chipping Away at Corporate Welfare
“Not only does increasing economic freedom cost far less than subsidizing chip manufacturing, it will aid US manufacturers in all areas, including the increasingly important telecom sector.” ~ April Liu & Robert E. Wright
The Case for Bringing Back Neckties (and Classical Liberalism)
“Liberalism—or, to clarify, classical liberalism, which developed a few centuries ago and cherishes free markets, limited government, and flourishing social institutions—is (like the necktie) a bit out of favor.” ~ Bruce Rottman
I, Travel: In Wonder at the Achievements of a Free Society
“At the beginning of his classic essay “I, Pencil,” Leonard E. Read quoted G.K. Chesterton as saying, ‘we perish for want of wonder, not for want of wonders.’ Commercial society is a wonder that produces other wonders, and we should wonder at it.” ~ Art Carden
Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply: Keep It Simple, Stupid!
“This simple model is a good first approximation to aggregate economic performance. Economists know this. Unfortunately, they sometimes ignore it for partisan reasons.” ~ Alexander William Salter
How Media Bias Caused the Moral Panic Surrounding Climate Change
“The political effort to limit economic growth by reducing the use of fossil fuels and changing the face of agriculture—will have a far greater long-term effect than the recent pandemic on people’s lives in the United States and worldwide.” ~ Peter J. Wallison
Hertz So Good
“When businesses misbehave, they count on the customer not fighting back, grumbling, and complaining that they’ll never do business with them again. One way this stops – perhaps the only way it stops – is if customers use the legal system to fight back.” ~ Chris W. Surprenant
Fiscal Crises in American Cities
“There’s always a trade-off to overspending and unbalanced budgets. The sooner local governments realize that and reel in their spending, which is the ultimate burden of government, the sooner financial crises will be averted.” ~ Vance Ginn
2022: The Year the “Lodger Evil” Came to Kansas and Made Housing Less Affordable
“If we’re serious about more affordable housing, we will cut the red tape by doing away with building restrictions and parking requirements. Until then, chatter about ‘affordable housing’ is just a lot of words.” ~ Art Carden
