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.
On Comparative Advantage and International Capital Mobility
“If each country specializes in its comparative advantage and trades with the other, the people of both countries gain.” ~Donald J. Boudreaux
You Are Making a Difference. You Just Have To Know How to Look At It.
“Someone who designs a better salad bar or who lays out a better floor plan for a grocery store might not think he’s feeding the poor, clothing the naked, or fighting food insecurity. But he is.” ~Art Carden
Chris Rock Portrays the Tragicomedy of the Minimum Wage
“Much has improved in race relations since Martin Luther King. But the same cannot be said of the laws governing labor markets.” ~Scott Drylie
Can BRICS Displace the Dollar?
“The noise from BRICS about creating their own reserve currency and abandoning the dollar is little more than noise. As irresponsible as the Fed has been, BRICS policymakers apparently want to inflate faster than even the Fed will allow.” ~Robert F. Mulligan
Property in Words: Not Even Under Suspicion
“Respect for the creators of ideas, and the words through which those ideas are conveyed in the literature, is the highest value we have in the academy.” ~Michael Munger
The Beginning of the Modern World: It Was Always the Dutch
“The Dutch Republic was a common destination for a brain-drain of innovators from elsewhere: merchants from the south, bakers from Germany, Portuguese and Spanish Jews.” ~Joakim Book
Tucker Carlson’s Dollar Store Takedown
“The best way to help those with lesser means is to provide them with more options. Dollar stores don’t create low-income households, they serve them.” ~Kimberlee Josephson
Happy New Year! Have Some Inflation
“After a rough couple of rounds, inflation has come out swinging. It doesn’t have the legs for a knockout punch, but it remains a troublesome opponent.” ~Alexander W. Salter
AIER’s Everyday Price Index Ends 2023 with Third Consecutive Monthly Decline
“The recent reduction in disinflationary pressures related to core goods, which had been a significant factor in easing price pressures in recent months, seems to have diminished.” ~Peter C. Earle
A Short Guide to ESG: Philosophical Problems
“At the end of the day, much of the Environmental, Social, and Governance movement rests on a pretense of knowledge. What’s worse, it puts the interest of the ‘collective’ over the wellbeing of individuals.” ~Paul Mueller
Review: Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative
“Friedman wasn’t a contrarian, but a firm believer in following the facts wherever they led. This ‘positive economics’ approach would underpin his later contributions for which he was most known.” ~Michael N. Peterson
Please Stop Helping Me! A Homeless Economist Faces Unintended Consequences
“Any decent student in a micro-principles class can tell you that interventions have unintended consequences. Here are some of the ‘protections’ from which I am suffering.” ~Nikolai Wenzel
Inflation Hit Some States Harder
“States with better regulatory policies enjoy a lower cost of living and attract workers and investment. The most important regulatory policy is the freedom to build, that is, a lack of burdensome zoning regulations that make housing scarce and costly.” ~Jason Sorens
Remembering James Gwartney, 1940-2024
Gwartney will be remembered as a master economic educator and founder of the Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) index, which is published by Canada’s Fraser Institute.
22 States Raised the Minimum Wage: What Does This Mean for Low-Skilled Workers?
“Governments inadvertently eliminate many of these essential entry-level jobs by advocating for higher minimum wages. This lost first rung has profound consequences, especially for vulnerable groups.” ~Vance Ginn
Business Conditions Monthly November 2023
“In light of expectations of falling demand and the increased vulnerability of the US economy to geopolitical shocks, our prediction of a US recession by September 2024 stands.” ~Peter C. Earle
The Cheap Populism of Bashing CEO Pay
“The time needed to accumulate skills and experience is considerable and few people want to have the downsides of being a CEO. Demand for such skill is increasing faster than supply, which results in growing CEO pay. It’s basic economics.” ~Vincent Geloso
Are CEOs overpaid?
“Behavioral economics contributes the insight that different kinds of compensation incentivize, reward, and support different kinds of behavior, so a range of justifications for executive compensation may come into play and need to be considered by directors and the compensation committee.” ~Robert Mulligan
On Comparative Advantage and International Capital Mobility
“If each country specializes in its comparative advantage and trades with the other, the people of both countries gain.” ~Donald J. Boudreaux
You Are Making a Difference. You Just Have To Know How to Look At It.
“Someone who designs a better salad bar or who lays out a better floor plan for a grocery store might not think he’s feeding the poor, clothing the naked, or fighting food insecurity. But he is.” ~Art Carden
Chris Rock Portrays the Tragicomedy of the Minimum Wage
“Much has improved in race relations since Martin Luther King. But the same cannot be said of the laws governing labor markets.” ~Scott Drylie
Can BRICS Displace the Dollar?
“The noise from BRICS about creating their own reserve currency and abandoning the dollar is little more than noise. As irresponsible as the Fed has been, BRICS policymakers apparently want to inflate faster than even the Fed will allow.” ~Robert F. Mulligan
Property in Words: Not Even Under Suspicion
“Respect for the creators of ideas, and the words through which those ideas are conveyed in the literature, is the highest value we have in the academy.” ~Michael Munger
The Beginning of the Modern World: It Was Always the Dutch
“The Dutch Republic was a common destination for a brain-drain of innovators from elsewhere: merchants from the south, bakers from Germany, Portuguese and Spanish Jews.” ~Joakim Book
Tucker Carlson’s Dollar Store Takedown
“The best way to help those with lesser means is to provide them with more options. Dollar stores don’t create low-income households, they serve them.” ~Kimberlee Josephson
Happy New Year! Have Some Inflation
“After a rough couple of rounds, inflation has come out swinging. It doesn’t have the legs for a knockout punch, but it remains a troublesome opponent.” ~Alexander W. Salter
AIER’s Everyday Price Index Ends 2023 with Third Consecutive Monthly Decline
“The recent reduction in disinflationary pressures related to core goods, which had been a significant factor in easing price pressures in recent months, seems to have diminished.” ~Peter C. Earle
A Short Guide to ESG: Philosophical Problems
“At the end of the day, much of the Environmental, Social, and Governance movement rests on a pretense of knowledge. What’s worse, it puts the interest of the ‘collective’ over the wellbeing of individuals.” ~Paul Mueller
Review: Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative
“Friedman wasn’t a contrarian, but a firm believer in following the facts wherever they led. This ‘positive economics’ approach would underpin his later contributions for which he was most known.” ~Michael N. Peterson
Please Stop Helping Me! A Homeless Economist Faces Unintended Consequences
“Any decent student in a micro-principles class can tell you that interventions have unintended consequences. Here are some of the ‘protections’ from which I am suffering.” ~Nikolai Wenzel
Inflation Hit Some States Harder
“States with better regulatory policies enjoy a lower cost of living and attract workers and investment. The most important regulatory policy is the freedom to build, that is, a lack of burdensome zoning regulations that make housing scarce and costly.” ~Jason Sorens
Remembering James Gwartney, 1940-2024
Gwartney will be remembered as a master economic educator and founder of the Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) index, which is published by Canada’s Fraser Institute.
22 States Raised the Minimum Wage: What Does This Mean for Low-Skilled Workers?
“Governments inadvertently eliminate many of these essential entry-level jobs by advocating for higher minimum wages. This lost first rung has profound consequences, especially for vulnerable groups.” ~Vance Ginn
Business Conditions Monthly November 2023
“In light of expectations of falling demand and the increased vulnerability of the US economy to geopolitical shocks, our prediction of a US recession by September 2024 stands.” ~Peter C. Earle
The Cheap Populism of Bashing CEO Pay
“The time needed to accumulate skills and experience is considerable and few people want to have the downsides of being a CEO. Demand for such skill is increasing faster than supply, which results in growing CEO pay. It’s basic economics.” ~Vincent Geloso
Are CEOs overpaid?
“Behavioral economics contributes the insight that different kinds of compensation incentivize, reward, and support different kinds of behavior, so a range of justifications for executive compensation may come into play and need to be considered by directors and the compensation committee.” ~Robert Mulligan