More Human Capital Requires More Economic Freedom
Vincent Geloso
September 18, 2024
“Freer economies are able to make human capital (and self-improvement) more enticing for workers.” ~Vincent Geloso
Daily Economy
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.
The Dangerous Reinterpretation of Freedom
Barry Brownstein
September 18, 2024
“When freedom from coercion is no longer a shared societal goal, history teaches that unimaginable horrors can be just around the corner.” ~Barry Brownstein
Break Out of Bad Therapy: Gen Z’s Road to Resilience
Katelyn Shelton
September 17, 2024
“A confused society cannot coalesce upon what a ‘fact’ even is, much less a vision of the common good.” ~Katelyn Shelton
Ten Lessons of the Economic Way of Thinking
Donald J. Boudreaux
September 17, 2024
“Humans do not obtain god-like knowledge, wisdom, or goodness by acting politically.” ~Donald J. Boudreaux
Welfare is a Jealous Polygamist
Michael Munger
September 16, 2024
“Benefits are contingent, and the contingencies — no jobs, no marriage — are detrimental to women long term, and disturbingly similar to the restrictions a polygamist would impose.” ~Michael Munger
Taylor Swift, Politics, and the Value of Friendship
Jon Miltimore
September 16, 2024
“During the silly season of presidential elections, which often brings out the worst in us, it’s important to remember that true friendship is worth more than political pride.” ~Jon Miltimore
How to Really End ESG
Russell Greene
September 13, 2024
“It’s incumbent upon ESG critics to advocate an alternative vision, not merely to fall in line with convention.” ~Russell Greene
Tariffs ‘Protect’ Insiders, While Americans Pay the Price
Vance Ginn
September 13, 2024
“The best way to address unfair trade practices is not through blanket tariffs but by expanding trade with allies and non-hostile nations.” ~Vance Ginn
From ‘Taxachusetts’ to ‘City Upon a Hill’
Thomas Savidge
September 12, 2024
“Tax and spending reform takes more than ‘electing the right people.’ It must be politically profitable for the wrong people to make the right choices.” ~Thomas Savidge
Selling a House in Jersey: a Personal Story of Transaction Costs
Paul Mueller
September 12, 2024
“Sellers see fewer dollars from their sales while dealing with time-consuming headaches. Buyers see higher home prices.” ~Paul Mueller
AIER’s Everyday Price Index Eases Marginally in August 2024
Peter C. Earle
September 11, 2024
“Inflation in the United States will end 2024 above the Fed’s target range.” ~Peter C. Earle
Moderate Inflation Affirms Fed’s Path to Easing
Alexander W. Salter
September 11, 2024
“The Fed should ignore the political noise and follow the data. Central bankers failed to curb inflation, but that doesn’t mean they should deliberately make the opposite mistake now.” ~Alexander W. Salter
Unity in Disunity
Gary Galles
September 11, 2024
“When ‘unity’ means government policies will substitute for choices we would make for ourselves, it means domination, even though we do not want to be dominated.” ~Gary Galles
Remembering the Truly Forgotten
Peter C. Earle
September 11, 2024
“Money and finance are the font and essence of modernity. I honor and praise the memory of the professionals who worked in the World Trade Center.” ~Peter C. Earle
Overhaul for the Uninsured?
James Capretta
September 10, 2024
“Full reliance on a public budgeting system for providing access to medical care is a certain prescription for millions of disappointed patients.” ~James C. Capretta
Kroger Invests $1B in Antitrust Defense
Noah Gould
September 10, 2024
“Consumers would be better served if companies could spend more time on improving their services and less on fending off litigation.” ~Noah C. Gould
Lose the Political Informality
Donald J. Boudreaux
September 9, 2024
“Politicians’ first-name basis… is a mercenary maneuver to gain our confidence on the cheap. It is literally a con game.” ~Donald J. Boudreaux
Harris’s ‘Joy’ Would Cost US Dearly
Alexander W. Salter
September 9, 2024
“Economists have a duty to point out just how destructive these proposals are.” ~Alexander W. Salter
Beijing’s Sovereign Claims for Tibet
Christopher Lingle
August 28, 2024
“Chinese policy ignores the reality that Tibetans care more about their own distinctive culture, history, and identity than they care about expressing loyalty to Beijing. Perhaps this is what is most galling to China’s leaders.” ~Christopher Lingle
Interventions, Easy Money Run Amok
Richard Morrison
August 27, 2024
“An obvious set of perverse incentives simply stimulate more risk-taking by corporate management and investment firms in the future, resulting in even bigger future bailouts down the road. At a certain point this strategy of holding the wolf by the ears will become untenable.” ~Richard Morrison
Entitlement Collapse is Worse Than it Looks
David Rose
August 27, 2024
“Voters need to understand that by not pressuring politicians to deal with entitlements now, we might end up with a substantial amount of the means of American production being owned by the government. This will harm our society incalculably.” ~David C. Rose
‘Trivial’ Tariff Would Cost the Poor Billions
Bryan Riley
August 26, 2024
“If the de minimis exemption were eliminated, people living in the poorest zip codes would face average tariffs of 12.1 percent.” ~Bryan Riley
Texas Must Lead with Universal ESAs
Vance Ginn
August 26, 2024
“Only 24 percent of eighth graders are proficient in math and 23 percent in reading. Texas’s public education system is failing kids. The time for bold action is now: Texas must embrace universal education savings accounts.” ~Vance Ginn
Favor Monopolies over Federal Meddling
Kimberlee Josephson
August 23, 2024
“Thus, the monopoly status of a firm is not a problem if consumers are happy and entrepreneurs aren’t hampered. Moreover, competition is of no use if greater value can’t be attained or cost savings can’t be accrued.” ~Kimberlee Josephson
How ‘Equalizing’ School Finance Hurts Students and Taxpayers
Jason Sorens
August 23, 2024
“New Hampshire is the most fiscally decentralized state in the country, with about two-thirds of the total tax burden being municipal…Households have a lot of choice about where to live, and they exercise it.” ~Jason Sorens and Judge Glock
More Money Can’t Solve Poverty
Nikolai Wenzel
August 22, 2024
“From a high of almost 35 percent after World War Two, the poverty rate had already fallen to 19 percent in 1964. It continued its downward trend over the next few years, then has stagnated between 10 percent and 15 percent ever since.” ~Nikolai Wenzel
Dear CFPB: Your Cure Is Worse Than the Disease
Peter C. Earle
August 22, 2024
“…Limiting access to credit through these regulations and reducing competition in credit markets would do far greater damage to Americans hoping to access credit.” ~Peter Earle and Thomas Savidge
AIER Explainer Series Demystifies Public Debt
Thomas Savidge
August 21, 2024
“The debt problem is a spending problem, not a revenue problem. Research shows that raising taxes covers barely a fraction of the outstanding debt.” ~Thomas Savidge and Ryan Yonk
DOJ Ruling on Google Ignores the Reality of Exclusive Contracts
Spence Purnell
August 21, 2024
“Consumers clearly have options when it comes to search, but because they consistently choose one product over the other does not mean that the exclusive contracts indicate anticompetitive behavior.” ~Spence Purnell
Industrial Policies Aren’t Working
Donald J. Boudreaux
August 21, 2024
“If other governments insist on harming their countries’ economies with such interventions, that’s their business. We can pity the citizens of those countries.” ~Donald J. Boudreaux
Business Conditions Monthly June 2024
Peter C. Earle
August 20, 2024
“While the Federal Reserve’s progress in controlling inflation may provide the latitude needed to begin rate cuts aimed at supporting employment…the United States has either entered, or is on the verge of entering, a recession.” ~Peter C. Earle
Public Goods in a Free Society
Joakim Book
August 20, 2024
“Even under this supposed solution to a market failure, we’re getting less public goods than we get shafted for. Like many other well-intentioned public finance policies, in time they turn into pure money grabs.” ~Joakim Book
The Permanent Temptation of All Governments
Alex Pollock
August 20, 2024
“The math of 2 percent compound shrinkage demonstrates that the Fed wants to depreciate the dollar’s purchasing power by 80 percent in each average lifetime. Somehow the Fed never mentions this.” ~Alex Pollock
People Without Meaningful Lives Seek Power Over Others
Barry Brownstein
August 19, 2024
“Mass movements attract followers who fail to make meaning in their lives, and seek a borrowed meaning from a destructive leader.” ~Barry Brownstein
A Recession the Yield Curve Predicted (Again)
Richard Salsman
August 19, 2024
“We get the signal that another recession will arrive within 12-18 months, then we get the signal that says recession is imminent. The door knocks are getting harder and louder. Something’s out there.” ~Richard M. Salsman
How the Ukraine War Will End
Andrew Byers
August 16, 2024
“The United States should begin working with Ukraine to help it determine what its political future will be. Having Ukraine become a new Cold War-era Austria or Finland is probably the best outcome for a tragic situation.” ~Andrew Byers
