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.

AIER’s Editorial Policy.

NJ’s Plastic Bag Ban Backfires Horribly

“Ignoring the secondary consequences of a policy and focusing solely on its primary intended consequences is what separates a bad economist from a good one.” ~Jon Miltimore

The Manure Lobby: Farmer Fury in Europe

“When a motivated and adequately organized group combines to concentrate its lobbying power on government, it generates foreseeable incentives for the ruling legislatures.” ~Paul Schwennesen

Dollarization in Argentina: A Missed Opportunity

“The delayed implementation of dollarization in Argentina presents challenges that could have been avoided had Milei honored his promise to abandon the peso straightaway.” ~Nicolás Cachanosky

A Tale of Two Economies

“There are three possible resolution scenarios to federal government borrowing and spending — none of them good for economic growth in the near term.” ~Paul Mueller

Seize the Means of Production in a Few Easy Steps

“Slow-motion corporate raiding just doesn’t stir the blood like waving a flag and raising a fist at the barricade or building a guillotine outside Jeff Bezos’s house.” ~Art Carden

US Can Thwart the CBDC Onslaught

“The argument that lagging digital dollar development is necessarily bad for Americans ignores a long history of US government promises about gathered data and its use.” ~Peter C. Earle

Rules over Discretion Provide a Path Forward

“Averting an impending fiscal crisis requires substantial debate about these issues rather than the current partisan-fueled fire drill over continuing resolution funding.” ~Vance Ginn

The flag of the American Federal Reserve System waving in the wind with the flag of the United States Washington DC March 2022

Time to Tame the “Apolitical” Fed?

“The Fed’s self-conception as an apolitical technocracy blinds it to the degree to which it has weighed in on fundamental political issues, which instead ought to be deliberated in Congress.” ~Alexander W. Salter

Can Adam Smith Save Gen Z?

“Convincing this generation of college students requires making the positive argument for the free market, restoring to prominence the real case Adam Smith made for markets, individual liberty, and restrained government against the backdrop of official state control.” ~Blake Ball

Inflation Already Ruined Your Super Bowl Party

“The persistent inflation of the past three years saw spikes in tickets and hotel rooms, but also in the seemingly more affordable alternative: hosting or attending Super Bowl parties at home.” ~Peter C. Earle

The Fed Says Its Record Losses Don’t Matter

“While not a groundbreaking revelation for any central bank, the lack of concern about the economic and institutional implications of monetizing financial obligations is cause for concern.” ~Nicolas Cachanosky

Milei’s Bid for Freedom

“Rather than simply bemoan the poor policies of Peronist statism, Milei laid out precisely why the alternative to statism — liberated markets — can offer so much more.” ~Paul Schwennesen

Debt and Unfunded Liabilities

“Unfunded liabilities stress state and local budgets and signal painful future tax increases just as much as bond obligations. Government debt is growing rapidly at all levels.” ~Tom Savidge

Create Wealth Without Making Anything

“Sellers at vintage markets and flea malls are creating value every bit as much as their friends and neighbors working in the coal mines or in the mills. They’re transforming lower-value assets to higher-value uses.” ~Art Carden

Not a Very Virtuous Virtue Signal

“Calling the extraction of resources from one group to give to others an investment, rather than wealth redistribution that reduces others claims on their own property, is a massive misrepresentation.” ~Gary M. Galles

NJ’s Plastic Bag Ban Backfires Horribly

“Ignoring the secondary consequences of a policy and focusing solely on its primary intended consequences is what separates a bad economist from a good one.” ~Jon Miltimore

The Manure Lobby: Farmer Fury in Europe

“When a motivated and adequately organized group combines to concentrate its lobbying power on government, it generates foreseeable incentives for the ruling legislatures.” ~Paul Schwennesen

Dollarization in Argentina: A Missed Opportunity

“The delayed implementation of dollarization in Argentina presents challenges that could have been avoided had Milei honored his promise to abandon the peso straightaway.” ~Nicolás Cachanosky

A Tale of Two Economies

“There are three possible resolution scenarios to federal government borrowing and spending — none of them good for economic growth in the near term.” ~Paul Mueller

Seize the Means of Production in a Few Easy Steps

“Slow-motion corporate raiding just doesn’t stir the blood like waving a flag and raising a fist at the barricade or building a guillotine outside Jeff Bezos’s house.” ~Art Carden

US Can Thwart the CBDC Onslaught

“The argument that lagging digital dollar development is necessarily bad for Americans ignores a long history of US government promises about gathered data and its use.” ~Peter C. Earle

Rules over Discretion Provide a Path Forward

“Averting an impending fiscal crisis requires substantial debate about these issues rather than the current partisan-fueled fire drill over continuing resolution funding.” ~Vance Ginn

The flag of the American Federal Reserve System waving in the wind with the flag of the United States Washington DC March 2022

Time to Tame the “Apolitical” Fed?

“The Fed’s self-conception as an apolitical technocracy blinds it to the degree to which it has weighed in on fundamental political issues, which instead ought to be deliberated in Congress.” ~Alexander W. Salter

Can Adam Smith Save Gen Z?

“Convincing this generation of college students requires making the positive argument for the free market, restoring to prominence the real case Adam Smith made for markets, individual liberty, and restrained government against the backdrop of official state control.” ~Blake Ball

Inflation Already Ruined Your Super Bowl Party

“The persistent inflation of the past three years saw spikes in tickets and hotel rooms, but also in the seemingly more affordable alternative: hosting or attending Super Bowl parties at home.” ~Peter C. Earle

The Fed Says Its Record Losses Don’t Matter

“While not a groundbreaking revelation for any central bank, the lack of concern about the economic and institutional implications of monetizing financial obligations is cause for concern.” ~Nicolas Cachanosky

Milei’s Bid for Freedom

“Rather than simply bemoan the poor policies of Peronist statism, Milei laid out precisely why the alternative to statism — liberated markets — can offer so much more.” ~Paul Schwennesen

Debt and Unfunded Liabilities

“Unfunded liabilities stress state and local budgets and signal painful future tax increases just as much as bond obligations. Government debt is growing rapidly at all levels.” ~Tom Savidge

Create Wealth Without Making Anything

“Sellers at vintage markets and flea malls are creating value every bit as much as their friends and neighbors working in the coal mines or in the mills. They’re transforming lower-value assets to higher-value uses.” ~Art Carden

Not a Very Virtuous Virtue Signal

“Calling the extraction of resources from one group to give to others an investment, rather than wealth redistribution that reduces others claims on their own property, is a massive misrepresentation.” ~Gary M. Galles