Since many of the politicians want America to be more like Europe (including full government-run healthcare), it’s worth contemplating what that would mean for the economy. America today is richer than Europe. Indeed, per-capita living standards are about 30…
Daily Analysis
The Greek Farce Continues.
There doesn’t seem to be much union in the European Union. Greek politicians are wetting their pants that Germany isn’t bending over fast enough to provide bailout money, so they pulled out the Nazi card. I’m sure the Germans raped Greece during…
Don't Trust (Macro) Economists.
I posted an amusing (and disappointing) graph in January showing how economists consistently failed to predict major changes in GDP. Russ Roberts of George Mason University explains that we should blame the practitioners of macroeconomics. They want the profession to…
UK Taxpayer Group Mocks Climate Nazis for Wasting Money.
The Taxpayers Alliance in London has an amusing video highlighting different ways the government has wasted money on global warming/climate change propaganda. Or maybe it’s only amusing because I’m American and my tax dollars weren’t being wasted on the projects in…
Competition Between Nations Can Help Thwart Over-Regulation.
A new study from the University of Michigan Law School’s Empirical Legal Studies Center finds that it is more difficult today for politicians to impose excessive financial regulation because firms can migrate to jurisdictions with more pro-market policy. The…
So-Called Stimulus Spending Means Fewer Jobs, Part II.
To follow up on a previous post, here is a column by John Lott, which makes the very sensible point that shifting resources from the productive sector of the economy to the government necessarily will cause dislocation in the short run. There also would be…
The Greek Saga.
Here are a few interesting links to keep you informed about the fiscal crisis in Greece. Richard Rahn has a nice comparison in the Washington Times of Poland’s good policy and Greece’s profligacy….
The United Kingdom Is Screwed No Matter Who Wins the Next Election.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has done a terrible job and is widely unpopular.. But even if the opposition party wins control later this year, it may not make much of a difference. The leader of the Tory party, David Cameron, is a British version of a RINO. He has not…
If the So-Called Stimulus Was an Unsung Hero, I'd Hate to Meet a Singing Enemy.
The White House recently released the Economic Report of the President. In a post at the White House blog, Christina Romer brags that the stimulus legislation was a big success. This Act is the great unsung hero of the past year. It has provided a tax cut to 95…
Maybe Greece Should Go Bankrupt.
The fiscal crisis in Greece is fascinating political theater, in part because the Balkan nation is a leading indicator for what will probably happen in many other countries. The most puzzling feature of the crisis is the assumption in other European capitals,…