Topic: Economic Education

Economic Education, Fiscal Policy, Government

State and Local Governments Should Not Get a Bailout – either from Congress or the Federal Reserve

– November 13, 2020

“A Biden Administration likely will be able to give states and localities a bailout, even if Congress doesn’t approve a new ‘stimulus,’ and even if the Trump Administration doesn’t extend the Federal Reserve’s authority. But at least the incoming Biden people would have to jump through a few hoops.” ~ Daniel J. Mitchell

Central Banking, Economic Education, Monetary Policy

The Fed Has A Commitment Problem

– November 12, 2020

“The whole point of a central bank is competently administering monetary policy. Right now, the Fed is failing at this basic task.” ~ Alexander W. Salter

Crisis, Economic Education, Science

Tyler Cowen Is Wrong About Great Barrington Declaration on Lockdown Policies

– November 12, 2020

“Lockdowns are being re-imposed across Europe, and we’re in increasing danger of seeing them re-imposed in parts of the United States. Ironically, if policy makers heed the advice in the Great Barrington Declaration, which Tyler disagrees with, then the lockdowns would be behind us.” ~ Benjamin Powell

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Economic Education

Who to Believe? What to Believe?

– November 12, 2020

“The real world is complex and most of us do not have the information, or the information processing capabilities, to make sense out of much of it. So instead of jumping on intellectual bandwagons and opining that Y is the best color, or masks work because … they do!, or somebody on TV says so, try just watching, listening, thinking, and asking questions, especially about alternatives.” ~ Robert E. Wright

Books, Economic Education, Government

David Skarbek on Prison Order

– November 11, 2020

“At best Skarbek has illustrated how governance institutions can be analyzed, providing us with a fascinating case study of prison life in a dozen settings. A bit more charitably, governance theory applied to prisons is not falsified by the examples he uses. Whether he has proven the usefulness of the theory, or its ability to explain the observed world, is much less clear.” ~ Joakim Book

Economic Education, Free Markets, Government

What Drives Progress: The State or the Market?

– November 11, 2020

“The idea of an entrepreneurial state as proposed by Mazzucato is a romantic one. It’s an idea that people can come together and through sheer will can make innovation happen. That some very smart people with fancy degrees and prestigious titles can steer society to an optimal location. The only problem with that is just about everything.” ~ Ethan Yang

Authoritarianism, Economic Education, Government

Why Politics Breeds Divisive Fears and Angers

– November 10, 2020

“Politics becomes a life and death struggle, a fight to the finish, since the winning side with the majority upper hand is able to impose and enforce its views and values on all in society. Only by limiting government to those few though essential functions can these tensions, angers, and divisions be reduced or even removed.” ~ Richard M. Ebeling

Economic Education, Education, Regulation

It Was a Mistake to Close Schools, UK Study Concedes

– November 9, 2020

“In nine months of this hell, one might suppose there would have been a clear test of whether and to what extent severe outcomes from catching the virus were really associated with school attendance. It has finally arrived, and the news is not good for the lockdowners.” ~ Jeffrey Tucker

Crisis, Economic Education, Government

For Better Health and a Stronger Economy, Don’t Lock Down Again

– November 9, 2020

“Instead of following Europe into a second round of lockdowns, the United States should follow the advice of the top scientists and medical experts who have signed the Great Barrington Declaration. They advise avoiding lockdowns and focusing instead on protecting the most vulnerable, letting the disease spread among the young and healthy to build population immunity.” ~ Benjamin Powell

Authoritarianism, Economic Education, Government

Reflecting On Communism After 103 Years

– November 8, 2020

“Communism and big government ideologies more generally have made the lethal promise that nature can bend to the will of man. That human nature, the laws of economics, and basic political science are merely suggestions. How dreadfully wrong they were.” ~ Ethan Yang

Classical Liberalism, Economic Education, Government

The Many Ways in Which Freedom Won the Election

– November 6, 2020

“The media and the elites learned nothing from the 2016 election. But for now, some pretty awful policies were defeated. May the utter disaster and election mismanagement unfolding before our eyes in many states right now lead a few people to wonder why on earth they should believe that a government that can’t do something as basic as running an election should possibly be in charge of the rest of our lives.” ~ Veronique de Rugy

Art and Culture, Economic Education, Video

Lockdowns: The Great Debate

– November 6, 2020

Tonight, the Journal of the American Medical Association is finally permitting some debate on lockdowns on their very influential YouTube channel. The debate will be between Harvard’s lockdown architect Dr. Marc Lipsitch and Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya of Stanford, one of three primary authors of the Great Barrington Declaration. It will be moderated by Dr. Howard Bauchner, who is the editor of JAMA and a busy podcaster who hosts regular video updates from Dr. Anthony Fauci.