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.
Housing Activity Slowed in September but Remains Brisk
“Housing activity continues to recede from the late 2020 surge but remains brisk. Rising home prices and mortgage rates will work to ease demand while secular shifts in housing preferences due to new remote work options may provide some support.” – Robert Hughes
Do Employers Exploit Workers with Low Wages?
“Any business worth working for will be sensitive to the opportunity costs of their best employees and will reward them accordingly. Employers that consistently keep wages low for their best workers will see them abandon ship quickly.” ~ Anthony Gill
Deregulation of Consenting Adults
“The Woke need to wake up, look, and listen. America doesn’t want New Zealand’s criminalization of Covid but it should adopt its decriminalization of sex work, including outright prostitution.” ~ Robert E. Wright
The Hume-Rousseau Affair
“The blow-up between two of Europe’s most illustrious intellectuals was an affaire célèbre throughout Europe at the time. The two protagonists could not have disagreed more in their moral and political tendencies and influence.” ~ Daniel B. Klein
Lingering Effects from Covid and Hurricane Ida Hurt Industrial Output in September
“Industrial output fell in September as the lingering effects of Covid and Hurricane Ida restrain production. It may take some time for the effects to dissipate.” – Robert Hughes
The Route of (Least) Resistance
“Refuse to let political issues invade the areas of our lives that we cherish; politics and political disagreements don’t belong there, and our lives are too important to let them be ruled by (mostly contrived) political disagreements.” ~ Joakim Book
The FDA’s War Against the Truth on Ivermectin
“The FDA spreads lies and alarms Americans while preventing drug companies from providing us with scientific explorations of existing, promising, generic drugs.” ~ Charles L. Hooper & David R. Henderson
The Crime Dividend of Pandemic Policies
“The tradeoffs of pandemic policies were apparent early on, and now include mounting levels of fraud, theft, and violence. Although it is unlikely, hopefully that revelation will inform future policy choices.” ~ Peter C. Earle
Facebook Should Stage Regular Outages to Awaken Its Clueless Critics
“Yes, it’s no fun when access is cut off to what routinely pleases you. In that case, maybe Facebook should stage occasional outages as a way of waking up its hapless critics to how much the company’s alleged victims enjoy its free offering.” ~ John Tamny
The Distorted Market for Woke Capitalism
“The process of awakening corporate America from wokeness will need to be as much a cultural enterprise as it is an exercise in returning business to its proper function in the economy and society more generally.” ~ Samuel Gregg
In Defense of Bank Deposits: An Open Letter to Professor Omarova
“I can’t help thinking that someone placed in charge of a quarter of the nation’s banks ought to recognize the valuable services they perform, and recognize them well enough to be willing to oppose any plan that would prevent them from continuing to perform those services.” ~ George Selgin
Liberty in Peril
“Liberty is certainly in peril — what’s left of it. Can anything rekindle the love that Americans once had for liberty and reverse the upward ratchet of government control?” ~ George Leef
Inflation and Consumer Welfare: Don’t Forget the Supply Side!
“Let’s keep our eye on the supply side. We should be making every effort, policy-wise, to ease restrictions on production and exchange. That will help both in the short run and the long run.” ~ Alexander W. Salter
Marijuana Legalization: Corporate America Now Leading the Way
“Although government plays a role in confronting abuse, civil institutions have an even more important role in creating informal rules for drug use. We increasingly see this process at work, illustrating an important expansion of liberty in Americans’ lives.” ~ Doug Bandow
Money and the Constitution
“The dubious constitutionality of the Federal Reserve System set up in 1912 might have been overlooked if it had provided price stability, lower unemployment, or enhanced economic growth.” ~ Robert F. Mulligan
Time for Washington to Stop Sanctioning the World: US Arrogance Leaves Trail of Innocent Victims Behind
“America’s sanctions policy is both costly and cruel, with the gains rarely worth the resulting human harm. The Biden administration should review current policy and sharply limit the use of economic sanctions.” ~ Doug Bandow
Five College Campus Myths
“Many college students and young people are remarkably receptive to economic theory, but lack the experience with mainline economic education and research to come to sound economic conclusions on their own.” ~ David Gillette & Lauren Frazier
Pennsylvania’s Road to Serfdom (and Freedom’s to Perdition)
“Pennsylvania’s updated ‘climate action plan,’ as were all previous plans, is a recipe for economic disaster and society’s mutual demise. Never has such ‘forward thinking’ been so utterly backward and ignorant.” ~ Colin McNickle
