This Thursday, Scottish voters decide whether they want to break away from the United Kingdom and reclaim their independence. Do advocates of economic liberty in America have a dog in this fight? Well, there’s very solid academic evidence from economic historians that…
Daily Analysis
Europe’s Problem Is Excessive Spending, not Austerity
It’s remarkable to read that European politicians are agitating to spend more money, supposedly to make up for “spending cuts” and austerity. To put it mildly, their Keynesian-based arguments reflect a reality-optional understanding of recent fiscal policy on the…
Obama’s Accidental Brush with Libertarian Foreign Policy
One of the many challenges of being libertarian is that people sometimes think you’re naive about foreign policy (sort of like the first entry in this 24-part satirical collage of libertarians). In large part, I think that’s because they confuse non-interventionism…
The Miracle of Modern-Day Prosperity…and the Ideas and Policies that Made it Happen
Why are some nations rich and other nations poor? What has enabled some nations to escape poverty while others continue to languish? And if we want to help poor nations prosper, what’s the right recipe? Since I’m a public finance economist, I’m tempted to say a flat…
Is Government Debt a Problem?
Based on what’s happened in Greece and other European nations, we know from real-world evidence that even nations from the developed world can spendthemselves into debt trouble. This has led to research that seeks to pinpoint when debt reaches a dangerous level….
Washington’s Real Motto
The official motto of the United States is “In God We Trust.” The official motto of Washington, DC, is “Justitia Omnibus,” which means “Justice for All.” These are nice statements, but they apply too broadly. We also should have a motto specifically for politicians….
Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, Which Nations Maintain the Rule of Law Best of All?
If you look at measures (such as the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World index) of what makes a nation competitive and prosperous, you’ll find some obvious variables such as fiscal policy, trade openness, regulatory burden, and monetary policy. But in…
Ukraine, Ethnic Division, Decentralization, and Secession
Ukraine is in the news and that’s not a good thing. I’m not a foreign policy expert, to be sure, but it can’t be a positive sign when nations with nuclear weapons start squabbling with each other. And that’s what’s happening now that Russia is supposedly occupying…
Merry Christmas Messages
Normal people aren’t thinking about public policy at this time of year, but I’m a libertarian who has decided to fight against big government in Washington, so I’m definitely not normal and I could be a masochist. And since you’re reading this instead of daydreaming…
Some Jobs Are Bad Jobs, Even in the Private Sector
It’s no secret that I think we have too many government bureaucrats and I’ve shared very strong evidence that most of them are grossly overpaid. I also have shown some data suggesting that they don’t work very hard, though I confess to mixed feelings about that…