This past Monday, I took part in a panel discussion about the financial crisis at the European Resource Bank in Brussels. One of my main points was that people in private markets always make mistakes, but that this is a healthy and necessary process so long as there…
Daily Analysis
QE3: A Risky Ploy to Solve the Problems of Bad Fiscal Policy with Bad Monetary Policy
For all intents and purposes, Bernanke has said that the Fed is going to relentlessly focus on the variable it can’t control (employment) at the risk of causing bad news for the variable it can control (inflation). Since that hasn’t worked in the past, it presumably…
If Sweden’s Big Welfare State Is Superior to America’s Medium Welfare State, then Why Do Swedes in America Earn Far More than Swedes in Sweden?
In my travels through Europe, I often wind up debating whether policy is better in the United States or Europe. I generally try to explain that this is the wrong comparison, both because Europe is not a monolithic bloc and also because most individual nations have…
An Invaluable Economic History Lesson from Thomas Sowell: Politicians Should Only “Do Something” If that Means Doing Less
The great Ronald Reagan famously said (and I am paraphrasing, since I do not remember the exact phrase) that the most dangerous words in the English language were “I am from Washington and I am here to help you.” Those are very wise words, especially when we think of…
A Picture Says a Thousand Words: President Obama’s Dismal Failure on Jobs
If it wasn’t for the fact that so many people are suffering and being seduced into empty lives of government dependency (symbolized by Julia, the world’s most disappointing daughter), I might feel sorry for President Obama. He promised unemployment would never climb…
Does the $16 Trillion Debt Matter? A Remedial Lesson in Public Finance Economics for the GOP
Everyone has a cross to bear in life, some sort of burden or obligation, often self-imposed. For some inexplicable reason, I’ve decided that one of my responsibilities is to educate a backwards and primitive people who seem impervious to common sense, simple logic,…
Another Dismal Assessment of Obamanomics: United States Drops to 7th in WEF’s Global Competitiveness Index
Every year, I look forward to the annual releases of both Economic Freedom of the World and the Index of Economic Freedom. With their comprehensive rankings, these two publications enable interested parties to compare nations and see which countries are moving in the…
Study from German Economists Shows that Tax Competition and Fiscal Decentralization Limit Income Redistribution
If we want to avoid the kind of Greek-style fiscal collapse implied by this BIS and OECD data, we need some external force to limit the tendency of politicians to over-tax and over-spend. That’s why I’m a big advocate of tax competition, fiscal sovereignty, and…
With Unemployment Already High, Why Are Leftists Pushing for an Increase in the Minimum Wage?
The unemployment rate has been stuck above 8 percent ever since Obama pushed through his ill-fated stimulus scheme to increase the burden of government spending. This high level of joblessness presumably reduces Obama’s chances of getting reelected, so you would think…
Fed Critics Should Worry About More Than Easy Money and Inflation
If people are criticizing the Federal Reserve, it’s overwhelmingly likely that they are focused on the central bank’s poor conduct of monetary policy. And there’s plenty to criticize, as documented in this video featuring Professor George Selgin. I also have a video,…