Topic: Government

FOMC Ratchets Up Inflation Projection

– January 2, 2023

“FOMC member projections suggest that inflation will come down only gradually over the next two to three years and that the price level will remain permanently elevated.” ~ William J. Luther

Government, International, War and Peace

A Secret War in the Making: Americans Should Not Die to Defend Taiwan

– January 2, 2023

“The better strategy would be aid short of war. Today the US and democratic states should be making conflict less likely by arming Taiwan, insisting that it take its own defense seriously.” ~ Doug Bandow

Free Markets, Government, Regulation

Pilot Shortage: A Story of Stalled Supply and Rising Demand

– January 1, 2023

“Overzealous regulation of pilot credentialing (by Congress, rather than carriers, insurers, or other stakeholders) have ensured the budget-conscious and the small-town traveler will both be getting a lot less service from airlines.” ~ Laura Williams

Books, Classical Liberalism, Economic History, Government

Freedom’s Future Requires Understanding the Past

– December 29, 2022

“When confronted with issues regarding the necessary extent of the state, liberty-lovers need not rely solely on economic theory, nor hypotheticals, because the historical record often can light the proper path towards smaller, more-efficient government.” ~ Robert E. Wright

Energy, Government, Regulation

The New-Normaling of Blackouts

– December 28, 2022

“Before, rolling blackouts were a California problem, then they also became a Texas problem. Blackouts are spreading faster than even Imperial College London modelers would find believable.” ~ Jon Sanders

Economic Education, Free Markets, Government

Every Flaw in Consumers is Worse in Voters, Part Deux

– December 27, 2022

“A ‘good’ industrial policy is impossible in a democracy. Progressives who want industrial policies don’t have that position only because they mistrust markets. Progressives mistrust democracy, and always have.” ~ Michael C. Munger

Art and Culture, Education, Government, Media

Stanford Fails to Master Clear Thinking

– December 26, 2022

“Ironically, it should be Stanford itself that helps less-enlightened organizations master the techniques of clear thinking that were at least partly developed at that great university.” ~ David R. Henderson & Charles L. Hooper

Economic Education, Free Markets, Government

Holidays of Luxury

– December 25, 2022

“Market economies fuel incredible prosperity and the holidays provide useful examples of how we are better off today than a few decades ago. Consider the Christmas gifts and decor of years past, once deemed luxuries, now everyday goods.” ~ Laura Williams & David Waugh

Government, History, Media

The Twitter Files and FDR’s Blue Eagle

– December 24, 2022

“Almost 90 years ago, for example, the US government used a different blue bird, The Blue Eagle, to coerce company compliance with the worst type of disinformation of all: that related to prices.” ~ Robert E. Wright

Art and Culture, Economic Education, Free Markets, Government

What if New Coke Had Been a Government Program?

– December 23, 2022

“Would our lives be better were land, labor, and capital still tied up making New Coke and Crystal Pepsi? People have voted pretty overwhelmingly and answered ‘no.'” ~ Art Carden

Authoritarianism, Government, International

The Greatest Threat to World Peace: North Korea’s Kim Jong-un?

– December 23, 2022

“The best way to enhance America’s security is for its defense-dependents to graduate and take care of themselves and their own regions. With the US off the peninsula, Pyongyang wouldn’t much care about affairs in Washington.” ~ Doug Bandow

Economic Education, Free Markets, Government

On the Need to Theorize Carefully

– December 22, 2022

“Theorizing usefully about trade and other economic phenomena isn’t especially difficult, but doing so does indeed require care, wisdom, and humility.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux