Topic: Economic History

Want to Pay More Tax? You Can

– July 19, 2024

“Congress has also budgeted for $1.7 trillion of deficit spending for the current fiscal year; over 26,000 times as much money as has been donated to the Gifts to Reduce the Public Debt account over the past 29 years combined.” ~David Hebert

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To End Poverty, Admire the Rich

– July 2, 2024

“If you care about poverty, then you should encourage positive views about high levels of wealth. A country with people who think positively about the wealthy is more likely to implement market reforms which will make it easier for people to generate wealth.” ~James Hartley

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No, Biden’s Protectionism Isn’t “All About National Defense”

– June 7, 2024

“Evidence from America’s past… lends no support to those who insist that, absent higher tariffs and subsidies, America will probably be unable to maintain the industrial might she needs to defend herself militarily.” ~Donald J. Boudreaux

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Whither the American Dream? 

– May 28, 2024

“While the American dream was in its ascendancy, the Democratic left splintered, creating two factions which helped kill the American dream.” ~Ryan Bourne

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Sloppy Utopia

– May 16, 2024

“The book is irrelevant in the exact meaning of that word: It does not answer the question it sets for itself, does not rise to the task of chronicling the big economic changes of the extended twentieth century, does not adequately and accurately capture a believable grand narrative.” ~Joakim Book

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Every Village a Republic

– May 10, 2024

“Article I, Section 10 might protect local communities from federal abuse, as intended by the Founders, but offers no tools to simultaneously protect ourselves from local tyrannies.” ~David Gillette and Thaddeus Meadows

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Why Even Insiders Underestimate Markets’ Power

– April 23, 2024

“There tend to be more and better substitution possibilities known to both buyers and sellers than we recognize from the outside of those exchange relationships.” ~Gary M. Galles

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Competition Can’t Be Perfect

– April 22, 2024

“Since if something is perfect, it must be desirable, a new generation of attorneys is attempting a wholesale takeover of antitrust enforcement.” ~Michael Munger

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Binder’s Response to Kupiec’s Review of ‘Shock Values’

– April 16, 2024

“Each experiment with price controls has been different. I think it is useful to acknowledge that some have been worse than others, and even that some consequences have been good.” ~Carola Binder

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‘Shock Values’: An Idiosyncratic Economic History

– April 15, 2024

“While it provides a concise accounting of the many efforts taken to address inflation and deflation over the history of the republic, there is a cost to recounting such a rich history in so few pages.” ~Paul H. Kupiec

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Big-Government Welfare Crowds Out Beneficial Social Behavior

– April 11, 2024

“Means tested welfare necessarily crowds out the poor from productive employment by substituting government grants for family earning and community support.” ~Donald J. Devine

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The Middleman Is a Public Servant

– April 10, 2024

“Letting people make their own choices is an important part of respecting one another as free equals… We don’t help people by prohibiting the choices they actually make.” ~Art Carden

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