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.
Real Disposable Income and Real Consumer Spending Fell in May
“Personal income rose in May, but real disposable income and real consumer spending fell. The outlook for the economy remains highly uncertain.” ~ Robert Hughes
Average Weekly Initial Claims Rose for a Fourth Consecutive Week
“Weekly initial claims fell, but the four-week average continues on a modest upward trend. Sustained elevated price increases and an intensifying Fed tightening cycle remain risks to the outlook.” ~ Robert Hughes
The Perpetual Tragedy of New York’s Rent Control
“If the city keeps reducing real rents by capping increases below the inflation rate (as it is doing now), and if inflation continues for more than a few years, we will see building abandonments once again.” ~ Raymond C. Niles
Inflation and Time
“The monetary regime that we have had since Richard Nixon closed the gold window is one of persistent price inflation. A comparison of money prices today and money prices in 1971 are essentially meaningless.” ~ Joshua R. Hendrickson
You Should Care About Martin Van Buren
“Martin Van Buren may not be everyone’s favorite President, but he is worth studying. After all, an estimated 28 percent of Americans identify with the Democratic Party. People should at least know how their political party came to be and why it endured.” ~ Garion Frankel
Better Explanations for Inflation
“We have enough information to conclude policy mistakes, especially on the demand side, go a long way toward explaining today’s inflation.” ~ Alexander William Salter
The Death of Separationism and the Life of School Choice
“Carson v. Makin energizes a political movement that is essential to improving the human capital of the next generation as well as sustaining the ideological and religious diversity that makes for a pluralist society.” ~ John O. McGinnis
The “Unlivable” World of Global Warming Is Much Wealthier Than Today
“If one truly believes the very existence of humanity is at stake, no regulation goes too far, and no social control is too strict, in order to save our species. And that is a price none of us should have to pay.” ~ James E. Hanley
Inflation Fears Continue to Drag Consumer Expectations Lower
“Consumer expectations sank again in June, as fears of high inflation grow. Elevated price pressures, fallout from Russian aggression in Ukraine, and an intensifying Fed tightening cycle increase risks for the economic outlook.” ~ Robert Hughes
Fact vs. Faith: Science in an Age of Unreason
“Critical research has itself become taboo which, in turn, means that policy makers are making decisions based more on ideologically-driven political pressure than scientific fact.” ~ John Staddon
Studying Economics Instills Gratitude
“Grateful hearts want to see the sort of prosperity they have enjoyed extended to others near and far. Fortunately, economics also offers the prosperity recipe—if only we have ears to listen.” ~ Caleb S. Fuller
More On Nancy MacLean’s Egregious ‘Scholarship’
“MacLean continues to tell fantastically false fables about prominent classical-liberal scholars, many of whom are now dead and, hence, unable to defend themselves from being falsely portrayed by MacLean as cartoonish villains.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
Setting the Record Straight on “Setting the Record Straight on the Libertarian South African Economist W.H. Hutt and James M. Buchanan”
“MacLean et al. have in fact set nothing straight, and their argument, far from being ‘irrefutable,’ wrecks itself upon the rocks of at least one major citation error, selective use of documents, and willful misreadings of Hutt’s words devoid of their original context.” ~ Phillip W. Magness & Art Carden
Durable-goods Orders Remained Strong in May
“Manufacturers’ new orders rose again in May and remain near record highs. Continued strength for business investment is a positive sign for the economic outlook but risks remain elevated.” ~ Robert Hughes
Athens and Jerusalem Revisited
“Perhaps it’s time to trust what seems self-evident, and stop being afraid to look for guidance in a tradition that has proved reliable for so many for so long.” ~ Juliana Geran Pilon
Public Schools Are Using Inflation To Extort Taxpayers
“While there isn’t much that can be done in the short term to mitigate public school excess, taxpayers should at least be aware that public schools are using inflation as an excuse to extort them.” ~ Garion Frankel
Tribalism’s Big Lie
“Over the past 200 years, explosive economic growth and advances in material well-being came as we transcended tribal thinking. Embrace the reality of a common humanity shared with all. We descend into primitive tribal thinking at our peril.” ~ Barry Brownstein
The Lineaments of the Ancient Constitution
“The American Founders recognized that, although they were separating from England, they were also extending an English past that had withstood trials and tribulations, establishing sound institutions that affirmed and protected prescriptive rights and liberties.” ~ Allen Mendenhall
