Pertinent Category: Archive

Fintech Wave Could Flood “Too Big to Fail”

– June 7, 2017

Fintech companies may become victims of their own successes as they increasingly come into regulatory crosshairs, but substandard economic growth rates and increasing banking sector concentration make a strong case for shifting in the direction toward …

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The Excelsior Scholarship: Who Gets a Free Ride?

– June 2, 2017

In an earlier piece about student aid and student debt, I cited many studies that found increasing government-loan availability was the biggest contributor to the rising cost of college in recent years. Many students benefit from subsidized loans, but …

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Pope Francis’s Misunderstanding of Libertarianism

– May 30, 2017

Pope Francis delivered a blistering attack on libertarianism in April. But, critics say, Francis, the Argentina-born Jesuit who became pope in 2013, confused libertarianism, which is characterized by noncoercive politics, with libertinism, which is ass …

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Banking Regulation and Competition in the Eyes of Volcker

– May 30, 2017

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker is still regarded as a sage on Wall Street and beyond, but his contention that banking-sector competition hasn’t lessened is flat-out wrong, some say. The Dodd-Frank banking law, instituted two years after t …

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Free Competition Is Voluntary Cooperation

– May 30, 2017

From the viewpoint of anyone who is considering all the economic activities of a social group, “free competition” is another name for voluntary cooperation. This may seem a surprising statement, especially in modern times when many advocates of coopera …

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The Subprime Auto Bubble Is Losing Air

– May 23, 2017

The economy has added over 15 million jobs since the recession. When Americans get jobs, they tend to need cars. Finance companies and banks have been more than willing to provide auto loans. But auto-lending standards have not been as strict as in oth …

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May Business Conditions Monthly

– May 22, 2017

Economic data over the past month show mostly favorable underlying trends. The labor market remains the cornerstone of the expansion, with job creation and wage gains boosting aggregate personal income. Consumer spending continues to trend higher with …

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AIER Teaches Tomorrow’s Economists

– May 22, 2017

AIER’s founder Colonel E.C. Harwood emphasized the importance of what he called ‘field work’ in any research project. He embraced John Dewey’s educational philosophy, Dewey being a pioneer of constructivist learning, or learning by doing — what nowadays the education literature calls experiential learning.

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Texas Gold’s Homecoming May Be New Dawn for Alternative Currencies

– May 22, 2017

Texas declared it wants to repatriate its gold, sending beams through the monetary world. Is this the long-awaited new day for alt-currency devotees or another false dawn? The Lone Star State is in the process of creating a gold-bullion depository that …

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Repeal the Corporate Income Tax

– May 19, 2017

An especially controversial feature of President Trump’s proposed tax reform is a cut in the corporate income tax. The current tax is progressive, with rates ranging from 15 to 35 percent on income minus deductions. The Trump tax would have a single rate of 15 percent and would eliminate some deductions.

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Repeal the Obamacare Taxes

– May 17, 2017

The American Health Care Act, the House bill intended to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), is frequently opposed on the grounds that it cuts taxes for the rich. This may seem like an odd criticism of a purported health-insurance r …

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Constitutional Amendment Only Tool Powerful Enough for “Too Big to Fail”

– May 16, 2017

An economics scholar, Dan Thornton, sees a constitutional amendment as the only way to stop the U.S. government from engaging in “too big to fail” bailouts, but the idea appears too noble to pass. Big-government types won’t go for it for myriad reasons …

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