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.
Garet Garrett, the Great
“We could easily consider his first name an anagram for what his stance against the New Deal was, g-r-e-a-t, while also recognizing that some of his views resemble a dusty old attic.” ~ Robert E. Wright
Headline Inflation Falls, But Core Inflation Remains Elevated
“At this point, it seems likely Fed officials will move forward with a 25 basis point hike. But how high they will push rates this year and how long they will keep rates high remain open questions.” ~ William J. Luther
Choosing to Remain in the Global Market Economy
“People who have actually experienced the ‘security’ that comes from insulation from market forces understand that the price they pay for this ‘security’ is far too high.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
Four Ways to Get What You Want
“For most of our existence, life was solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short for pretty much everybody. Then we became a society of traders rather than a society of raiders.” ~ Art Carden
4th Quarter 2022 GDP Shows Growth, but Deteriorating Fundamentals
“The US economy grew in the 4th quarter of 2022, but caution is warranted. Money supply growth has turned negative, consumer and business confidence are in decline, and economic fundamentals are softening broadly.” ~ Peter C. Earle
How Two Corn Cobs Upended A Foreign Aid Model in Zimbabwe
“It may not be the silver bullet to defeat food insecurity across Africa, but it shows that solutions to thorny problems can start with something as simple as two corn cobs, rather than expensive approaches that result in lifelong dependency on other nations.” ~ Craig J. Richardson
But Who Will Build the Roads: A Parable
“Maybe, others one day will join the call once they hear how much cash could be recouped and costs and delays avoided by returning to the path once heavily traveled, the one where travelers, not Leviathan, decide how best to travel hither and thither.” ~ Robert E. Wright
What Accounts for All This Stuff?
“For anyone who is aware of the indescribable complexity and enormous productivity of the global market economy, nothing does more to drain credibility from capitalism’s critics than these critics’ apparent ignorance of this complexity and productivity.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
Obstacles to Freedom Can Be the Way to Freedom
“If we set our purpose to learn from obstacles, today, there is no better opportunity to choose freedom over violence. Thankfully, Read, Aurelius, and Emerson point the way; the more significant the obstacles, the greater the potential change.” ~ Barry Brownstein
Rising Use of the Fed’s Discount Window Raises Questions
“The fact that the amounts being borrowed at the discount window are rising in an oscillatory fashion with progressively higher ‘highs’ and higher ‘lows’ hints, while not conclusively, that the amounts being borrowed are increasing as the Fed increases rates.” ~ Peter C. Earle
Davos and the Holy Grail of Equity
“At what point will their good intentions lead to tyranny? Did we learn nothing from the pandemic, when government overreach led to economic, health, and educational disasters?” ~ Caroline Breashears
A Dispatch From the Corporatized Dystopia: Bring on the Chains!
“If there’s still money to be made, consumers are voting for more, and it is not my prerogative, nor yours, or Bernie Sanders’, or anyone else’s to suppress those votes.” ~ Art Carden
Letting Chinese Nationals Buy Real Estate is a Human Rights Issue
“The inability to seize some of the wealth of a small minority of Chinese people makes the world a slightly better place than it otherwise would be.” Vincent Geloso
Enrollment Declines Increase Pressure on ‘Woke’ Higher Ed
“Lower enrollment and tuition dollars will force university leaders to make tough decisions on what they value the most. Will they roll back DEI offerings, or will funding toward research and education see the effects?” ~ David Waugh
Beware the Soft Landing Narrative (Video)
“Earle thinks a more charitable version of the Fed’s handling of monetary policy over the last three years might emerge, resulting in less public skepticism about the limits of monetary policy.” ~ AIER
Debt Ceiling Theater, The 2023 Revival
“We deserve exactly the government we have insisted upon for all these years. We also deserve the heavy price that will come for our own irresponsibility in repeatedly re-electing this troupe. No partisan theater will ever sugarcoat that.” ~ Antony Davies & James R. Harrigan
Take Your Foot off the Gas
“If environmental zealots in the Biden administration were to get their way, then something would have to answer the call for such a huge increase in electricity demand. Do they have an answer for this challenge?” ~ Jon Sanders
On the Primacy of the Consumer-Welfare Standard
“Production is a means; consumption is the end. The consumer-welfare standard is nothing more, nor less, than an understanding and acceptance of this fundamental economic reality.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
Garet Garrett, the Great
“We could easily consider his first name an anagram for what his stance against the New Deal was, g-r-e-a-t, while also recognizing that some of his views resemble a dusty old attic.” ~ Robert E. Wright
Headline Inflation Falls, But Core Inflation Remains Elevated
“At this point, it seems likely Fed officials will move forward with a 25 basis point hike. But how high they will push rates this year and how long they will keep rates high remain open questions.” ~ William J. Luther
Choosing to Remain in the Global Market Economy
“People who have actually experienced the ‘security’ that comes from insulation from market forces understand that the price they pay for this ‘security’ is far too high.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
Four Ways to Get What You Want
“For most of our existence, life was solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short for pretty much everybody. Then we became a society of traders rather than a society of raiders.” ~ Art Carden
4th Quarter 2022 GDP Shows Growth, but Deteriorating Fundamentals
“The US economy grew in the 4th quarter of 2022, but caution is warranted. Money supply growth has turned negative, consumer and business confidence are in decline, and economic fundamentals are softening broadly.” ~ Peter C. Earle
How Two Corn Cobs Upended A Foreign Aid Model in Zimbabwe
“It may not be the silver bullet to defeat food insecurity across Africa, but it shows that solutions to thorny problems can start with something as simple as two corn cobs, rather than expensive approaches that result in lifelong dependency on other nations.” ~ Craig J. Richardson
But Who Will Build the Roads: A Parable
“Maybe, others one day will join the call once they hear how much cash could be recouped and costs and delays avoided by returning to the path once heavily traveled, the one where travelers, not Leviathan, decide how best to travel hither and thither.” ~ Robert E. Wright
What Accounts for All This Stuff?
“For anyone who is aware of the indescribable complexity and enormous productivity of the global market economy, nothing does more to drain credibility from capitalism’s critics than these critics’ apparent ignorance of this complexity and productivity.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
Obstacles to Freedom Can Be the Way to Freedom
“If we set our purpose to learn from obstacles, today, there is no better opportunity to choose freedom over violence. Thankfully, Read, Aurelius, and Emerson point the way; the more significant the obstacles, the greater the potential change.” ~ Barry Brownstein
Rising Use of the Fed’s Discount Window Raises Questions
“The fact that the amounts being borrowed at the discount window are rising in an oscillatory fashion with progressively higher ‘highs’ and higher ‘lows’ hints, while not conclusively, that the amounts being borrowed are increasing as the Fed increases rates.” ~ Peter C. Earle
Davos and the Holy Grail of Equity
“At what point will their good intentions lead to tyranny? Did we learn nothing from the pandemic, when government overreach led to economic, health, and educational disasters?” ~ Caroline Breashears
A Dispatch From the Corporatized Dystopia: Bring on the Chains!
“If there’s still money to be made, consumers are voting for more, and it is not my prerogative, nor yours, or Bernie Sanders’, or anyone else’s to suppress those votes.” ~ Art Carden
Letting Chinese Nationals Buy Real Estate is a Human Rights Issue
“The inability to seize some of the wealth of a small minority of Chinese people makes the world a slightly better place than it otherwise would be.” Vincent Geloso
Enrollment Declines Increase Pressure on ‘Woke’ Higher Ed
“Lower enrollment and tuition dollars will force university leaders to make tough decisions on what they value the most. Will they roll back DEI offerings, or will funding toward research and education see the effects?” ~ David Waugh
Beware the Soft Landing Narrative (Video)
“Earle thinks a more charitable version of the Fed’s handling of monetary policy over the last three years might emerge, resulting in less public skepticism about the limits of monetary policy.” ~ AIER
Debt Ceiling Theater, The 2023 Revival
“We deserve exactly the government we have insisted upon for all these years. We also deserve the heavy price that will come for our own irresponsibility in repeatedly re-electing this troupe. No partisan theater will ever sugarcoat that.” ~ Antony Davies & James R. Harrigan
Take Your Foot off the Gas
“If environmental zealots in the Biden administration were to get their way, then something would have to answer the call for such a huge increase in electricity demand. Do they have an answer for this challenge?” ~ Jon Sanders
On the Primacy of the Consumer-Welfare Standard
“Production is a means; consumption is the end. The consumer-welfare standard is nothing more, nor less, than an understanding and acceptance of this fundamental economic reality.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
