Topic: Government

A Way Out

– August 1, 2022

“What’s remarkable is that a plan that makes retirees better off, makes the government better off, and shuts down Social Security without cutting benefits to existing retirees or raising payroll taxes on existing workers would be possible at all.” ~ Antony Davies

Authoritarianism, Classical Liberalism, Government

Would You Abdicate If You Could Be the Dictator?

– July 31, 2022

“Our fellow Americans need to be reasoned with to better understand that we should not only not want a dictatorship imposed from outside but we should also not want a domestic dictatorship, even when democratically elected, to paternalistically ‘get things done.'” ~ Richard M. Ebeling

Financial Markets, Government, Inflation

The Recession is Here. Will Stagflation Follow?

– July 30, 2022

“An ugly picture is coming into focus: rising inflation, slowing growth, and a job market that looks poised to deteriorate. Bearing in mind the lag associated with employment, it is no longer unthinkable that stagflation may be ahead.” ~ Peter C. Earle

Free Markets, Government, Regulation

The FDA Is Funding and Approving Cigarettes

– July 30, 2022

“Prohibiting vapes while increasing the number of reduced nicotine combustible cigarettes is as counterproductive as it is political. It doesn’t need to be.” ~ Mazen Saleh

Economic Education, Economic History, Government

The Strange Definition of Recession Is the Best We Have

– July 29, 2022

“The reality is that the reason many use the flawed rule is because all other alternatives seem to be worse. As such, politicians and pundits who try to downplay talks of a recession by mentioning the flawed rule may be politically, and not economically inclined.” ~ Vincent Geloso

Environmentalism, Free Markets, Government, Video

ESGs: Social Credit for Corporations? | Liberty Curious (Video)

– July 29, 2022

“Robert Wright and Kate Wand discuss Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives and how they distort markets by directing companies to focus on Woke objectives rather than profits.” ~ AIER

Free Markets, Government, Regulation

Entry Barriers: A Personal Disappreciation

– July 29, 2022

“What I know, though, without any sophisticated econometrics, is that my own encounter with indirect grants of special privilege is not one I wish to repeat any time soon—or ever.” ~ Caleb S. Fuller

Art and Culture, Government, Media

The Nostalgic Genius of Stranger Things

– July 28, 2022

“The Duffer Brothers used nostalgia to shift the rules of our exhausted contemporary discourse, slipping free from some of the constraints that have straightjacketed so much of our cultural life in recent years.” ~ Rachel Lu

Crisis, Free Markets, Government

Is America in a Recession?

– July 27, 2022

“Traditionally, NBER calls recessions and other phases of business cycles, but only retrospectively, and mostly just for scholars. Nobody actually involved in trading securities or making policy waits for its decisions and voters certainly won’t.” ~ Robert E. Wright

Authoritarianism, Government, Science

State Power Doesn’t Settle Science

– July 27, 2022

“The courageous voice that Drs. Kheriaty, Prasad, Makary, Høeg, and many others express exists in every human being. That voice lies dormant until we value the voice.” ~ Barry Brownstein

Crisis, Government, Science

When the Turmoil Subsides, We Will Be Living Differently

– July 27, 2022

“The 2020s are turning out to be a transformational decade, profoundly so. When the shaking stops, things will be different, life will be changed.” ~ Llewellyn King

Education, Free Markets, Government

Take the Money and Run: Taxpayers in AZ Will Fund Students, not Schools

– July 26, 2022

“Arizona has turned a corner in its understanding of public education. The one-size-fits-all factory model won’t have an iron grip on the state’s whole concept of education – nor its budget.” ~ Laura Williams