Topic: Government

Too Much Power?

– June 11, 2023

“Time will tell if future Fed officials are as resistant to political pressures as its current leadership, succumb to seemingly ever-resurgent MMT influences, or exercise great responsibility in maintaining a sound monetary policy.” ~ David Gillette and Lauren Frazier

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Government, Technology

Government Surveillance Injures the Innocent

– June 8, 2023

“The asymmetry of the surveillance state belies its true purpose: to protect the government, not the people.” ~ Robert E. Wright

Authoritarianism, Energy, Government

The Spurious Efficiency of Dishwashers

– June 2, 2023

“To economists, labor is a resource that is to be used efficiently, just like any other resource.” ~ James Hanley

Books, Government, Policy

A Higher Minimum Wage, More Unions, and More Public Housing. Review of ‘Poverty, by America’ by Matthew Desmond

– June 1, 2023

“Desmond’s policy proposals almost all double down on collaboration between big government, big business, and big labor–the ‘system’ against which the American left first cut its teeth protesting.” ~ Max Gulker

Crisis, Government, Media

Media Independence Does Not Really Mean Media Independence

– June 1, 2023

“No politician needs to bribe a journalist. All that is needed is a politician’s power to sculpt the shape of the news market in ways that are to his advantage.” ~ Vincent Geloso

Government, Public Choice and Public Policy, Regulation

Why We Need Acquisitions and Why Khan’s Concerns are Bad for Business

– May 28, 2023

“Antitrust cases cost a great deal of time and money, and yet Lina Khan asserts that FTC will be looking more closely at M&As both past and present — and this assertion should be of concern to any entrepreneur and any corporate investor.” ~Kimberlee Josephson

Government, Inflation, Monetary Policy, Regulation

We Are Measuring Inflation All Wrong: Non-Housing Inflation is Very Low

– May 28, 2023

“Lagged OER and rent overstated inflation by more than two percentage points over the past ten months – raising it to 3.3 percent from 0.6 percent.” ~ Alan Reynolds

Fiscal Policy, Government, Policy, Taxation

Playing Chicken with a Stack of Steering Wheels

– May 26, 2023

“People often complain about the ‘irrationality’ of politics, but there is nothing irrational about the process that has given rise to our crushing debt burden. Voters really do want lower deficits, provided it does not involve either cutting spending or raising taxes.” ~ Michael Munger

Economic History, Gold, Government, Property Rights, Socialism

Eliminating the Debt Ceiling: Is There Anything the 14th Amendment Can’t Do?

– May 23, 2023

“The Biden administration threatens to invoke Section 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment to sidestep the longstanding federal debt ceiling in a way that would increase the power of the executive branch. ” ~ Robert E. Wright

Authoritarianism, Government, Regulation

More Self-Interested Union Altruism

– May 17, 2023

“Whenever someone claims an altruistic reason to support a policy, but it clearly advances their narrow self-interest, the latter effect can explain such support, regardless of whether it helps or even hurts the supposed beneficiaries.” ~ Gary M. Galles

Economic Education, Free Markets, Government

You Use the Roads, Don’t You?

– May 15, 2023

“Having resources taken from you against your will, and then accepting the return of some of those resources, in the form of a monopoly road system, does not make you a free rider.” ~ Michael C. Munger

Art and Culture, Free Markets, Government, Socialism

Stadium Subsidies Reveal Tensions in Democratic Priorities

– May 14, 2023

“Despite being a well-known mirage, the promises of economic and job growth prove too attractive for local policymakers to resist. This tells us something about their priorities.” ~ Daniel J. Smith