Topic: Economic Education

2020-2030 Could Be the Decade of Economic Malaise

– November 3, 2020

“If history shows us anything, this experience may very well spark a renaissance for the ideas of limited government and markets. If only we could learn this the easy way rather than the hard way.” ~ Ethan Yang

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Not the “Entrepreneurial State”

– November 2, 2020

“Mazzucato describes herself as a fighter in a ‘discursive battle.’ Indeed. But if she wins the ‘battle’ in people’s minds about how innovation and markets work, we will retreat from the Great Enrichment, 1800 to the present, and the bettering of the wretched of the earth. Let’s not.” ~ “Deirdre Nansen McCloskey & Alberto Mingardi

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Trump’s Rallies Killed People? It’s Fake Science

– November 1, 2020

“It surely is not enough to throw together a paper that is 95% statistical mumbo-jumbo, and with a firm conclusion that impacts on an earth-shaking election that is only three days away. Scientific integrity requires much more than coming to a politically correct conclusion with a made-for-media conclusion.” ~ Robert Wright

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Monopoly vs. Monopoly: Sloppy Definitions Lead to Harmful Policy

– November 1, 2020

“A new term is needed for the highly-competitive innovators who achieve large market shares by creatively providing outstanding, innovative, and lower-cost products and services that are of such value that millions of people choose to buy their products. We can keep the term ‘monopoly,’ but it should be reserved for describing those government-created and sanctioned dinosaurs like the US Postal Service.” ~ Raymond C. Niles

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“Slide-Rule Aid”? Why Not?

– October 31, 2020

“Saving one industry means hurting another, and I cannot help but wonder: what troubles have we endured and what progress have we sacrificed in order to protect obsolete producers of soybeans, steel, shirts, schooling…and slide rules?” ~ Art Carden

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Paul Krugman, the Lock-’Em-Down Economist

– October 30, 2020

“Those genuinely interested in finding the best solutions to complex problems do not automatically react with vitriol, smears, and petty insults, but carefully contemplate the ideas in question. One might speculate that the flippancy with which Krugman, Khullar, and the other elite pundits dismiss the injury caused by lockdowns reflects the truth that for them – as opposed to the underprivileged – these measures are a mere inconvenience.” ~ Jenin Younes

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Open Letter to Matt Yglesias

– October 29, 2020

“The economy is people – people producing, trading, cooperating, and consuming. Reasonable people disagree over what are the best policies to deal with Covid-19. But contrary to the impression conveyed by your tweet, no serious person argues for sacrificing lives to ‘the economy’ as a lifeless abstraction.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

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Does Anyone Trust the Fed?

– October 29, 2020

“Until the Fed acts to build trust and credibility with the public, its policy of Average Inflation Targeting will have little effect on inflation or economic activity.” ~ Thomas L. Hogan

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Do the Disease Eradicators Make an Elementary Logical Mistake?

– October 28, 2020

“Trying to bludgeon effects into existence in order to blot out causes is a conventional mistake within the social sciences, and, apparently among certain naive disease suppressors too.” ~ Jeffrey Tucker

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A Pandemic Reading List

– October 27, 2020

“‘May you live in interesting times’ is an apocryphal ancient curse. These times are certainly interesting, to say the least, and the best way to deal with them is to follow the Biblical exhortation in Proverbs chapter 4 to get wisdom, understanding, and insight. You’re not likely to find them on cable news and Twitter, unfortunately, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t out there.” ~ Art Carden

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Tyler Cowen Doubles Down

– October 27, 2020

“Both of Cowen’s pieces resemble the work of a mainstream journalist ignorant of market economics. The essence of economics is tradeoffs. Precious little in his two pieces talks seriously about tradeoffs.” ~ David R. Henderson

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Walmart’s “Buy American” Commitment Won’t Make America Great Again

– October 26, 2020

“In its almost sixty years of existence, Walmart has revolutionized American retail and raised American standards of living by innovating in shipping, selling, and shopping. They certainly have the potential to continue doing so–but paying extra for stuff just because it was produced in the United States won’t help them or their customers in the long run.” ~ Art Carden

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