Topic: Government

Small Change: Let’s Put Pennies and Nickels to Rest

– April 20, 2023

“If we don’t have the vision and political will to do something as unambiguously beneficial as to stop minting pennies and nickels, then perhaps ‘vision and political will’ aren’t going to give us the better future we want.” ~ Art Carden

Government, History, Taxation

Patrick Henry’s Stamp Act Resolutions

– April 18, 2023

“After Henry left town, the House of Burgesses expunged the fifth Resolve on the 31st. It only remains with us because it was found in an envelope alongside Henry’s will.” ~ James R. Harrigan

Fiscal Policy, Government, Taxation

Tax Day: Inverting the Experience

– April 18, 2023

“Tax season’s sophisticated sleight-of-hand will have most Americans wondering what they’ll buy with their refund, instead of questioning whether they saw results for all the dollars they won’t get back.” ~ Laura Williams

Free Markets, Government, Taxation

The Tax Code: A Playground for the Few, A Labyrinth for the Many

– April 18, 2023

“The tax code’s complexity has created an environment in which tax-preparation services, lobbyists, favored industries, and politicians thrive, while taxpayers struggle to make sense of ever-changing rules and regulations.” ~ Antony Davies

Economic Theory, Government, Regulation

Industrial Policy Does Indeed Fall Victim to the Knowledge Problem

– April 17, 2023

“Prices, asset values, and profits and losses determined in open markets in which people spend and invest their own (and only their own) money are the only sources of information in a modern economy about which resource uses are worthwhile and which resource uses aren’t worthwhile.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

Free Markets, Government, Technology

Online Security Concerns Shouldn’t Enable a Surveillance State

– April 15, 2023

“Historical and empirical evidence proves that a decentralized economy leads to progress and prosperity, so we should enable our digital economy with the same approach.” ~ Kimberlee Josephson

Economic Education, Free Markets, Government

Manners, the Coase Theorem, and a Park Bench in London

– April 15, 2023

“There are some situations, though, where no one knows who has the initial property right assignment. Under those circumstances, the negotiation is more free form, but the best outcome still depends on how much the parties involved value the alternatives.” ~ Michael C. Munger

Central Banking, Crisis, Government, Monetary Policy

The Fed Is Bankrupt

– April 14, 2023

“The most recent data show that the Fed owes the Treasury over $41 billion, which exceeds its total capital. The Fed, by common standards, is indeed insolvent.” ~ Thomas L. Hogan

Free Markets, Government, Immigration

Immigration Can Ease America’s Labor Shortage

– April 13, 2023

“We can — and should — offer ways to draw these domestic workers back into the American economy without casting aside the vast reservoir of immigrant workers awaiting their chance at a new life.” ~ Michael N. Peterson

Crisis, Government, Science

The Climate Collapse Thesis

– April 12, 2023

“The COVID-19 pandemic showed what can happen to a society that is being shut down in the name of saving humanity. That was but a taste of what the powerful will do if we accept the Climate Collapse Thesis and all the “action” that comes with it.” ~ Max Borders

Currency, Free Markets, Government, International

De-dollarization Has Begun: Redux

– April 11, 2023

“Given the increasing use of the dollar as a means of imposing sanctions, some foreign powers see a pressing need to develop the capability to transact outside of US-dollar-based systems. We are witnessing the development of financial contingency plans.” ~ Peter C. Earle

Economic History, Free Trade, Government, International

An Open Letter to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

– April 11, 2023

“We can hope that, should Parliament today agree to a unilateral lowering of Britain’s trade barriers, other governments would today, as other governments did in the mid-19th century, respond by unilaterally lowering theirs.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux