I’m going to be in New York City next week to join with Richard Epstein as we participate in an Intelligence Squared debate against Mark Zandi and Cecilia Rouse. I’m looking forward to this event because Richard Epstein is a rock star for freedom. It also gave me an…
Daily Analysis
Grading the Likely Components of Obama’s New Stimulus Plan
President Obama will be unveiling another “jobs plan” tomorrow night, though Democrats are being careful not to call it stimulus after the failure of the $800 billion package from 2008. But just as a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, bigger government is…
Disaster Keynesianism Follows in Irene’s Wake
Disaster Keynesianism is the moniker I’ve given to the belief that destruction from natural disaster promotes prosperity. It is the logical extension of standard Keynesianism, which holds that any government spending is a boost to growth, and the various voodoo…
The Keynesian Crackup Continues: From Space Aliens to Food-Stamp Stimulus
Paul Krugman recently argued that a fake threat from space aliens would be good for the economy because the people of earth would waste a bunch of money building unnecessary defenses. That was a bit loopy, as I noted a few days ago, but other Keynesians also have been…
Basic Economics for Financial Journalists and Other Dummies
While driving home last night, I had the miserable experience of listening to a financial journalist being interviewed about the anemic growth numbers that were just released. I wasn’t unhappy because the interview was biased to the left. From what I could tell, both…
Is Obama a Conservative?
That seems like a joke question, but it’s an apparently serious belief of Bruce Bartlett, a former supply-sider and Bush Administration official who has flipped sides and joined the left. I’ve known Bruce for decades and he’s a fun guy to hang out with, but he’s gone…
Deficits Are No One’s Best Friend
Susan Feiner, in a recent blog post for Ms Magazine, argues that continuing deficits favor the feminist movement. The post is entitled “A Feminist Economist Speaks Out: Deficits are a Grrrl’s Best Friend”. Normally I wouldn’t give any time to addressing the arguments…
We Don’t Need an Investor-in-Chief
How was anything ever invented before government started “investing” in new technologies? One wonders these things, given the seriousness with which Keynesians seem to believe that if they don’t choose the economic winners and then throw large sums of money at them –…
Andrew Sullivan Has No Idea What He’s Talking about, but I Agree with His Conclusion
Even though he’s become rather partisan in recent years, I still enjoy an occasional visit to Andrew Sullivan’s blog. But I was rather amused last night when I read one of his posts, in which he was discussing whether government spending helps or hurts economic…
Boost Economic Growth by Slashing the Size of Government
It doesn’t get much attention, but one of the most interesting economic experiments in American history occurred right after World War II. Despite warnings of Armageddon from Keynesian economists, government spending was slashed as the United States demobilized from…