Topic: Economic Education

Economics of Liberty

– August 2, 2021

“Freedom Fest 2021 was fun and instructive. Liberty lovers can discuss important policy matters face-to-face to great effect but some need to delve a bit deeper into the economic theories discussed at places like AIER if they really want to improve the world.” ~ Robert E. Wright

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Bringing Money Under the Rule of Law

– August 1, 2021

“The problem, of course, is that the Fed has always been under constant political pressure, but even when it is acting independently, its adventurism can and has ended poorly. To combat this, the authors argue that the Fed should be bound by explicit rules that constrain it from exercising broad discretion.” ~ Ethan Yang

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What’s in a Name? Quite a Lot, Actually

– July 31, 2021

“After studying economics, I started to understand what brand names do. Social phenomena persist because they solve problems, and brand names solve significant information problems. I think critics of brand names and marketing would do well to give consumers the benefit of the doubt.” ~ Art Carden

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A Conversation on Keynes, Morality, and the Economy

– July 31, 2021

“On this episode of the Authors Corner, Ethan sits down with AIER Visiting Fellow, Dr. Victor Claar to speak about his recent research and publications on the ideas of John Maynard Keynes and their long-term impact on how we view economics from a moral perspective.” ~ AIER

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Is Our Current Inflation Temporary? Look at the Numbers

– July 31, 2021

“John Williams, the New York Fed President, is expecting 3% inflation this year. I’m expecting inflation in 2021 to be above 5%. In six months, we’ll be able to look at the actual numbers and see whose estimate was closer.” ~ Randall G. Holcombe

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Is Inflation Really a Problem?

– July 29, 2021

“Inflation has real costs when it’s unpredictable. We want monetary institutions to keep generalized price increases on a steady, anticipable path. Since central banks often go out of their way not to be understood, we might have a valid complaint against them after all.” ~ Alexander W. Salter

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$9 Reading Glasses, $16 Sunscreen, and the Genius of Economic Growth

– July 28, 2021

“‘Green’ is generally expensive. That’s ok, but we generally will only swallow big expenses like $16 sunscreen if we feel we have the means to swallow these expenses. In short, ‘green’ living and energy are most likely to thrive in a real market if and when Americans have the means to pay more for what’s ‘cleaner.'” ~ John Tamny

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The Invisible Hand Relies Upon Visible Prices

– July 28, 2021

“Prices are among the visible results of the invisible hand’s successful operation, as well as the single most important source of this success. The market’s invisible hand, in short, alone makes possible – yet equally depends upon – visible market prices.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

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Prices Have Work To Do, Even in Pandemics

– July 26, 2021

“It has been the government’s failure to not let market prices work at all and instead address the pandemic with command-and-control policies that have created shortages, thwarted innovation, and distributed vaccines based not on what will most internalize the spillover benefits of vaccination but based on political considerations about who should enjoy the private benefits of vaccination.” ~ Art Carden

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Is Inflation Merely Catching Up?

– July 25, 2021

“The price level today is greater than what it was expected to be in the absence of a pandemic and what the Fed implicitly said it would be given its two-percent inflation target. The price level has more than caught up with expectations. The question, now, is whether it will continue to grow so rapidly, remain elevated, or subside.” ~ William J. Luther

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Monetary Policy Since the Great Recession

– July 25, 2021

“The U.S. economy has now entered unexplored territory, though this territory has unhappy similarities with Revolutionary-era hyperinflation, Civil War inflation of the 1860s, and the stagflation of the 1970s. None of these historical experiences were something anybody would want to relive.” ~ Robert F. Mulligan

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The Asymmetry of Bitcoin Scams Is All Very Sad

– July 24, 2021

“When losses come from risk-taking for which you stood to benefit, it’s not sad if you happened to lose. That was a possible outcome, and whether you properly understood it or not is beside the point. With Skin in the Game, there’s nothing sad about making losses.” ~ Joakim Book

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