Topic: Economic Education

Central Banking, Economic Education, Economic Theory

That Mystical Monetary Theory

– February 5, 2021

“The MMT mistake lies in believing that any alleged shortfall in money or supply of U.S. Treasuries is big enough to finance their entire policy wish list for the foreseeable future. It also assumes that any potential labor or capital goods not currently used can be effortlessly moved to whatever production line politicians desire, without causing prices or wages to increase.” ~ Joakim Book

Economic Education, Financial Markets, Regulation

Robinhood and Redditors: Who’s Robbin’ Who?

– February 5, 2021

“We don’t need more regulation; we need better regulation. We need the rule of law not only in monetary institutions but in financial markets too. We need to replace the ‘regulatory leviathan’ in financial markets with ‘a regulatory constitution.'” ~ Roger Koppl

Economic Education, Free Markets

Economic Illiteracy Is No Virtue

– February 4, 2021

“Leading a misguided crusade ‘to reign in the market’ or to smash capitalism for the working class is not only a recipe for failure according to history, it completely fails to understand what economics is all about. Just because you don’t care about economics does not mean that the world suddenly bends to your wishes. As the late economist, Walter Williams used to say: ‘Politicians exploit economic illiteracy.'” ~ Ethan Yang

Crisis, Economic Education, Government

There Are No Experts On That for Which We Really Need Experts

– February 4, 2021

“The pandemic has revealed a shortcoming in our ever more technocratic approach to addressing social problems: there are more and different kinds of problems than there are kinds of experts. The division of scientific expertise according to discipline, field, and sub-field does not encompass, much less map onto, all of the problems for which we might want experts.” ~ Scott Scheall & Parker Crutchfield

Crisis, Economic Education, Science

How Much Does Cleaning Everything Really Help?

– February 3, 2021

“These issues all boil down to opportunity cost. The time and resources directed towards extra cleaning could be used for an alternative activity that would reap higher benefits for the business, especially in the midst of economic turmoil.” ~ Amelia Janaskie

Crisis, Economic Education

The Political Economy of Mass Panic

– February 2, 2021

“The demand for action creates the pressure to avoid being perceived as weak and indecisive on the part of politicians, while the information asymmetry between the visible, concentrated and identifiable benefits of “action” and delayed, speculative and more distributed costs of action, makes irrational and ineffective but ritualistic policies much more likely. Policies adopted to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic illustrate very painfully these truths.” ~ Ivan Jankovic

Economic Education, History, Policy

Did Market Failures Require A Lockdown Response?

– February 2, 2021

“Economists and policymakers must ask the question: what are people actually doing in the status quo to manage the harm? We may find that what, on its face, appears to be a failure is actually preferable to the reasonable and feasible alternatives.” ~ Jon Murphy

Crisis, Economic Education, History

Business Should Fight Back Against Controls

– February 1, 2021

“The full spirit and many of the practical steps that Manne recommended to business people nearly 50 years ago as rational responses to the unwarranted hysteria over fuel shortages apply today to the unwarranted hysteria over Covid-19. Today, I recommend such resistance, and not only by business people, but by all individuals.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

Economic Education, Financial Markets

GameStop, Bitcoin, and the Federal Debt

– February 1, 2021

“The flash mobs, coordinated as they are by social media, have created disturbing and disruptive bubbles and may continue to do so. Bitcoin is probably not in a bubble. Above all, let’s not forget the ominous longer-term debt bubble.” ~ Warren C. Gibson

Books, Economic Education, History

Robert Higgs: A Birthday Appreciation

– February 1, 2021

“Higgs’s virtuosity as an economic historian stems from clear and careful analytical thinking combined with an understanding of what the state is and what the state is not. He is not a romantic about war and the state, to put it lightly, and he has never shied away from calling a government exactly what it is: an organization that gets what it wants by threats and violence.” ~ Art Carden

Central Banking, Economic Education, Monetary Policy

Incentive Problems with Discretionary Central Banking

– January 31, 2021

“Discretionary central banking creates bad incentives. To overcome bad incentives, we must take away the discretion. The Fed, so long as it exists, should follow a rule.” ~ Alexander W. Salter

Economic Education, Financial Markets, Free Markets

How to Navigate the Stock Market Madness

– January 31, 2021

“There is nothing wrong with partaking in recent fad investing trends; some of them even seem quite promising. However, just like anything else, being prepared and knowledgeable will ensure your success is long-term and not just the prelude to disaster.” ~ Ethan Yang