Storm Clouds and False Silver Linings
As incurable optimists, human beings look for silver linings in the darkest of clouds. It’s an admirable trait, but some silver linings are illusions. Spotting them requires the economic way of thinking.
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National Flood Insurance Is a Disaster
Viewing the heartbreaking damage wrought by Hurricane Harvey, the last thing we should want is for people to be encouraged to live where hurricanes and floods are common. Yet the government has been doing just that for decades.
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Ball and Blockchain: Company Marrying Gold to Cryptocurrencies
A company is trying to bring the calming influence of gold to the Wild West frontier of cryptocurrencies
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Cost-Benefit Analysis Is Poor Guide to Government Action
Many Americans think of themselves as pragmatists. Pundits often brag they are non-ideological independents. Forget theory; let’s just figure out what works.
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Might a Bitcoin Standard Be Good as Gold on Price Levels, Exchange Rates?
A monetary standard based on Bitcoin, a digital currency, would act something like the gold standard in making price levels more predictable and stabilizing exchange rates but would likely be undone by politicians and central bankers.
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What Gets Rewarded?
When enthusiasts of the free economy address a social problem by saying, “The market will handle it,” critics accuse them of being simplistic, even glib.
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As ICO Market Takes Off, SEC Throws Wet Blanket
The Securities and Exchange Commission has tossed a wet blanket on initial coin offerings just as they were soaring as an alternative financing vehicle for young companies.
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TARP’s Tax Meter Still Running Years After End of Crisis
Taxes are being collected to help end the financial crisis that ended nearly a decade ago.
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Unskilled Immigrants Do Not Harm Americans
The Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act conveys a valuable lesson in where economic illiteracy can lead.
READ MORE‘Hockey Stick’ Climate Change Enforcer Checked Hard in Canadian Case
The Penn State University climate scientist known for his “hockey stick” computer model and hair-trigger litigiousness has suffered a stiff check within the Canadian court arena. According to a story on the educational website Principia Scientific Inte …
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Foreign Investment Breathing New Life Into U.S. Manufacturing
The death of manufacturing in the United States is being postponed, even reversed, by foreign investment including that coming from China.
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Beware the Lure of Social Engineering
Human dignity, autonomy, and social cooperation are best left to the tender hands of politicians and bureaucrats. Not!
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