Topic: Economic Education

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

Crisis, Economic Education, Science

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

Capitalism, Economic Education, Free Markets

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

Central Banking, Economic Education, Monetary Policy

QE Goes Global

– October 25, 2020

“In a fiat currency world the limits of central bank balance sheet expansion remain unclear, but, as the world economy recovers from the largest economic shock in generations, those limits will become clear. For the large, DM, central banks, these EM limits will be noted with care. Japan has been the petri dish of global monetary policy for the last two decades; now it is the turn of EM central banks to test the willing suspension of disbelief of global financial markets.” ~ Colin Lloyd

Economic Education, Government, Regulation

The Trustbuster’s Fatal Conceit

– October 24, 2020

“It is important to remember that while tech is today’s poster child for antitrust reform, the proposed antitrust overhaul will reach far beyond the technology sector. All American companies will be forced to play by the new rules and the stifling effects of stricter enforcement will affect the entire U.S. economy.” ~ Wayne T. Brough

Economic Education, Free Markets, Regulation

Google is Not a Monopoly

– October 23, 2020

“Google is a lot of things. Maybe they have become evil, as the left would tell us when alleging that YouTube’s algorithms are unwittingly supporting, galvanizing, and expanding the alt-right or as the right would tell us when alleging that Google’s search results are rigged to advance a progressive agenda. The charge of “monopoly” doesn’t stick, though, because it’s pretty easy for people who don’t want what Google has to offer to take their business elsewhere.” ~ Art Carden

Economic Education, Environmentalism, Science

Climate Catastrophism and a Sensible Environmentalism

– October 22, 2020

“We should deal with the threats of climate change, but we should do so sensibly and in conjunction with other threats. Because one thing is dangerous and potentially harmful, every other dangerous and harmful thing doesn’t just go away.” ~ Joakim Book

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Economic Education, Government

Mindlessness Fuels Tyranny

– October 21, 2020

“The Great Barrington Declaration demonstrates a willingness to consider new information and broaden the context for setting policy. Those who want to sell us centralized ‘hatchet’ solutions prefer a public lulled to mindlessness by one narrative. The mindless will follow instructions. If many people continue to look towards one perspective only, without broadening the context, the natural consequence is that experts and politicians on ‘automatic pilot’ will lead us further down the road to tyranny.” ~ Barry Brownstein

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Economic Education

Thomas Friedman Remains Rather Smitten With Authoritarianism

– October 20, 2020

“Better than Friedman’s authoritarianism is choice. Really, who needs to be told to be careful if a virus is spreading that might make us sick, or if we’re very old (according to the New York Times) might in very rare circumstances kill us? If something threatens, the logical answer is yet again freedom. Sadly the U.S. failed there, but even then the failure had a local quality to it.” ~ John Tamny

Economic Education, Free Markets, Government

The Economic Way of Thinking Brings Clarity

– October 20, 2020

“Nancy Pelosi presides over a chamber of politicians who vote on taxing and spending bills that transfer money from some Americans to other Americans – a fact that (inexplicably!) propels Ms. Pelosi to boast that she and her colleagues, not taxpayers such as Mr. Blitzer, feed poor Americans. On top of this appalling pretension, Ms. Pelosi expects CNN’s audience to believe that she and her Congressional colleagues ‘know’ poor Americans in a way that non-politicians don’t.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

Crisis, Economic Education, Science

The Real Pandemic: Mass Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy

– October 19, 2020

“Given the coercive powers of the most important MSbP sufferers, the said governors, mayors, bureaucrats, etc., this pandemic–the MSbP pandemic–is wreaking untold havoc. We need more people to say we aren’t going to take it. We need more people to push back. We should not be in the thrall of the mentally ill.” ~ Craig Pirrong

Central Banking, Economic Education, Monetary Policy

Average Inflation Targeting Risks Further Politicizing the Fed

– October 15, 2020

“Perhaps the Fed’s move to average inflation targeting won’t make much of a difference. But it nonetheless risks further politicizing the Fed. To the extent that it means the Fed will engage in even more credit allocation and Congress will take a more active role in guiding those credit allocation discussions, there is cause for concern.” ~ Nicolás Cachanosky