Topic: Government

Andrew Jackson: Man of the People

– August 13, 2022

“Jackson’s task, as his supporters saw it, was to be ‘a curative to the corrupt politics cankering Washington.’ He was sent there to drain the swamp.” ~ John Bicknell

Crisis, Environmentalism, Government, Media

Bug Off and Let People Enjoy Their Food

– August 12, 2022

“The problem isn’t us having a ‘yuck factor’ to dignified mealworms and astounding fly larvae. The problem is them declaring such things ‘the future of food’ and telling us that our disgust is a threat to the world.” ~ Jon Sanders

Central Banking, Economic Education, Government, Monetary Policy

Should the Federal Reserve Set its Own Goals?

– August 12, 2022

“A target that is not determined solely by the Federal Reserve is less subject to changes solely due to deliberations at the Federal Reserve. It will enhance monetary policy’s effectiveness.” ~ Gerald P. Dwyer

Crisis, Government, Inflation, Monetary Policy

Accounting for Inflation

– August 11, 2022

“The great irony is that inflation would have been transitory if only the Fed had stabilized nominal spending. Prices would have risen above trend to reflect below-trend production and then returned to trend as production recovered.” ~ William J. Luther & Morgan Timmann

Crisis, Government, Inflation

Save Your Flip Flops for the Beach

– August 11, 2022

“Voters should vote their convictions and consciences as the Framers intended, and policymakers and pundits should stop flip-flopping like fish or flimsy footwear. Either way, it’s a bad look that hurts democratic discourse.” ~ Robert E. Wright

Economic Education, Free Markets, Government, Inflation

Making Sense of the Recession

– August 10, 2022

“Unemployment, for good reason, lags the onset of recessions. And assuming that a widespread burst in employment categorically signifies optimism or portends a quick resumption of economic growth is simply unwarranted.” ~ Peter C. Earle

Economic Education, Free Markets, Government, Socialism

Reich Strikes Out

– August 10, 2022

“According to Reich, higher prices are due to the pandemic, which suppressed demand and created global supply chain problems, together with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s overzealous lockdown policies, and of course, capitalist greed.” ~ Robert F. Mulligan

Free Markets, Government, History

You’re Not Poor Because You Don’t Know David Brooks, You’re Poor Because You Don’t Know David Brooks

– August 10, 2022

“Ultimately what Chetty has discovered, and that Brooks has cheered, is very bullish. The problem is that the discovery is not what either thinks it is. The American dream certainly lives, but only because individuals freely make decisions that correlate with the Dream.” ~ John Tamny

Free Markets, Government, History, Regulation

The Government Shouldn’t Decide Who May Practice Law

– August 9, 2022

“Legal licensure wouldn’t be a matter of concern if it were not backed up with the power to exclude and punish anyone who dares to compete with the guild.” ~ George Leef

Authoritarianism, Books, Crisis, Government

Gulliver’s Travels in Washington, D.C.

– August 9, 2022

“Perhaps, like the King on the Island of Laputa, our elite need a reminder of the danger of wielding such power. Unlike Swift’s protagonist, we are not gullible.” ~ Caroline Breashears

Free Markets, Government, Regulation

How Airline Regulations Hurt Passengers

– August 9, 2022

“The DOT might think they’re helping, but they’re really not. Airline passengers are far better off when they, not bureaucrats, decide how airlines are run.” ~ Patrick Carroll

Art and Culture, Books, Government, Philosophy

How Thomas Aquinas Desacralized the State

– August 8, 2022

“McCormick illustrates that Aquinas’s De Regno provides us with a politics that takes liberty and virtue seriously—but always together and never apart. And that should matter to anyone, religious or otherwise, who refuses both nihilism and collectivism.” ~ Samuel Gregg