Topic: Economic Education

Economic Education, Energy, Environmentalism

The Difference Between Copper and Cucumbers

– February 15, 2021

“Most of the raw materials that we ever brought out of the Earth’s crust are still with us, capable of being used and then turned into something else when that better fits our needs and wants. Cucumbers and renewable crops don’t have that quality. If anything, Circular Economy proponents should be horrified by cucumbers, not copper.” ~ Joakim Book

Economic Education, Free Trade, History

Gordon Tullock: A Birthday Appreciation

– February 13, 2021

“Long after many influential economists have been relegated to footnotes or forgotten, I believe people will still be reading and citing Tullock’s work, and not as historical curiosities, either. They will be reading and citing the work of a scholar who made timeless contributions to how we understand the world.” ~ Art Carden

Crisis, Economic Education, Monetary Policy

Monetary Policy in a Pandemic

– February 12, 2021

“The Fed’s new lending programs were not very helpful, and they come at a potentially high cost. Insofar as they were designed to allocate credit, as opposed to merely providing liquidity, they amount to an expansion of the Fed’s mandate. And, although the extent of the Fed’s credit allocation was limited this time, it has set a dangerous precedent, which risks subjecting the Fed to even more political influence going forward.” ~ William J. Luther

Cryptocurrency, Currency, Economic Education

A Currency that Rises in Value Will Change Everything

– February 12, 2021

“Maybe widespread ownership and use of Bitcoin and other cryptos can make a cultural and economic contribution to converting us from profligate to thrifty in the way our great-great grandparents could celebrate. After all, it was they, and the gold standard under which they lived, that set us on the course to building a modern and prosperous way of life that inflationary paper currency has done so much to reverse.” ~ Jeffrey Tucker

Economic Education, Healthcare, Policy

A Vaccine Auction

– February 12, 2021

“As long as the problems of efficiency and distributive justice are separable, one can leave vaccine allocation to a (thoughtfully designed) market while leaving it to elected officials to debate and pursue, at their own pace, the kind of distributive justice that they think their constituents deserve.” ~ Romans Pancs

Economic Education, Environmentalism, History

Julian Simon: Important Enough to Name Your Kids After

– February 12, 2021

“Simon was a model mind and an outstanding intellectual citizen. He thought through the theory and formulated his hypotheses very carefully. He tested his hypotheses against the data. Importantly, he took real and consequential action based on his beliefs–at great risk to his own reputation, but to the everlasting benefit of the rest of us.” ~ Art Carden

Economic Education, Government, Policy

Is the Public Interest Really In the Public’s Interest?

– February 11, 2021

“The fact that something is popular doesn’t mean it is right or even beneficial. A better way forward is to simply lay out arguments in full, detailing why and how such proposals would result in the best outcomes for the most people while being prepared to own the consequences. This discussion should be accepting of contributions from all backgrounds and specializations and be open to hearing all solutions, state or market-based.” ~ AIER Staff

Crisis, Economic Education, Free Markets

Price-gouged and Happy About It

– February 9, 2021

“When the anti–price gouging law is in effect, being able to buy a necessity here is a matter of timing: being on store premises at or shortly after a shipment arrives. Then you can buy it, and not even at the market price, but at the pre-emergency price enforced by the government. Everyone else is out of luck.” ~ Jon Sanders

Economic Education, Environmentalism, Regulation

“Sustainability” Misses the Point

– February 7, 2021

“By standard definitions, what we are doing is ‘unsustainable,’ but most human activities are. Over some time period every activity is unsustainable, but that’s not an indictment, practically or morally, of doing them. When the environment is harming humans (the default position of life), we should offer those humans the best available protection against that – with or without a worsening climate.” ~ Joakim Book

Economic Education, International, Policy

A Nuanced Approach to China Part 2

– February 7, 2021

“Chinese economic prosperity does directly contribute to its authoritarian goals, but trade wars and isolation have not done anything to remedy the situation. Rather a strategy of economic integration will likely lead to not only mutually beneficial outcomes, but also greater leverage in the future if the need to take action arises.” ~ Ethan Yang

Crisis, Economic Education, Economic Growth

Lockdowns Have Depleted Capital in All Forms

– February 6, 2021

“Outside of a major war, it is hard to recall a time when government policies have so seriously roiled business practices, economic structures, and personal lives as much as lockdowns have, not only in the US but all over the world. The consequences will be felt for many years in the future.” ~ Jeffrey Tucker

Economic Education, Financial Markets, Monetary Policy

Monetary Policy is Pushing Americans, Kicking and Screaming, Up the Risk Curve

– February 6, 2021

“Gamestop is only a symptom. The size and frequency of monetary policy interventions is pushing investors further and further up the risk curve.” ~ Peter C. Earle