Raymond C. Niles
Senior Fellow
Raymond C. Niles is a Senior Fellow of the American Institute for Economic Research.
Dr. Niles has taught economics at the undergraduate and graduate level at several universities, most recently at St. John’s University in Queens, New York. Prior to embarking on his academic career, Dr. Niles spent 15 years on Wall Street as a senior equity research analyst at Goldman Sachs, Schroders, and Citigroup, and as Managing Partner of a hedge fund investing in energy securities.
Dr. Niles holds a Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University, and an MBA in Finance & Economics from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University. He has published book chapters, academic, and popular articles, including at the American Institute for Economic Research, Capitalism Magazine, the Foundation for Economic Education, and Real Clear Markets. He currently publishes Capital Thoughts by Raymond Niles, a Substack devoted to economics policy.
-
•
Why Much of Manhattan Would Be Illegal to Build Today
Zoning laws drive up housing costs and freeze cities in the past. New York City is a clear example.
-
•
The Political Cleverness of Envy-Driven Housing Policies
“This is a recipe for housing stagnation. Strangling the supply of new market rate housing through these various programs means that existing market rents (whenever they are not regulated), must reach stratospheric levels.” ~ Raymond C. Niles
-
•
Wage and Price Controls Are Not the Answer to Inflation
“If the US imposed economy-wide price controls, as Krugman proposes, it would not stop inflation, just as the Emperor Diocletian’s economy-wide controls did not stop Roman inflation and just as the 1970s economy-wide controls did not stop US inflation.” ~ Raymond C. Niles
-
•
The Lottery Life: Creating Lucky Housing Winners at the Expense of Everyone Else
“Inexpensive new housing can be built again if only the government will get out of the way. End the ‘Lottery Life’ in housing and watch market entrepreneurs do the rest.” ~ Raymond C. Niles
-
•
End the Gasoline Crisis: Try Motivation by Love, Not Fear
“It is time to unleash the market to produce more, rather than excoriate the oil producers. Try some motivation by love, President Biden, not motivation by fear.” ~ Raymond C. Niles
-
•
The Perpetual Tragedy of New York’s Rent Control
“If the city keeps reducing real rents by capping increases below the inflation rate (as it is doing now), and if inflation continues for more than a few years, we will see building abandonments once again.” ~ Raymond C. Niles
-
•
Hostility to Free Trade Is Now Officially Bipartisan
“Now, despite nominally battling each other on many issues, on one issue Democrats and Republicans stand united: their bipartisan hostility to free trade.” ~ Raymond C. Niles
-
•
Wuhan Lab Controversy Illustrates How Government Funding Throttles Scientific Integrity
“We must separate government completely from science for the same reason we separate church from state and press from state. Don’t force our scientists to become supplicants to government bureaucrats in order to pursue truth. That will be the death of reason, science, and truth, and lead to disasters, such as misunderstanding the origins of…
-
•
Monopoly vs. Monopoly: Sloppy Definitions Lead to Harmful Policy
“A new term is needed for the highly-competitive innovators who achieve large market shares by creatively providing outstanding, innovative, and lower-cost products and services that are of such value that millions of people choose to buy their products. We can keep the term ‘monopoly,’ but it should be reserved for describing those government-created and sanctioned…
-
•
Goodbye Grounded, My Favorite Coffee Bar Destroyed by Lockdowns
“Multiply my story by the hundreds of thousands of patrons of their favorite store, bar, restaurant or coffee shop all over the City — and the hardworking owners of these establishments who poured their souls, lives, and savings into them — and you have a partial measure of the human cost, not just of Covid,…
-
•
Why Much of Manhattan Would Be Illegal to Build Today
Zoning laws drive up housing costs and freeze cities in the past. New York City is a clear example.
-
•
The Political Cleverness of Envy-Driven Housing Policies
“This is a recipe for housing stagnation. Strangling the supply of new market rate housing through these various programs means that existing market rents (whenever they are not regulated), must reach stratospheric levels.” ~ Raymond C. Niles
-
•
Wage and Price Controls Are Not the Answer to Inflation
“If the US imposed economy-wide price controls, as Krugman proposes, it would not stop inflation, just as the Emperor Diocletian’s economy-wide controls did not stop Roman inflation and just as the 1970s economy-wide controls did not stop US inflation.” ~ Raymond C. Niles
-
•
The Lottery Life: Creating Lucky Housing Winners at the Expense of Everyone Else
“Inexpensive new housing can be built again if only the government will get out of the way. End the ‘Lottery Life’ in housing and watch market entrepreneurs do the rest.” ~ Raymond C. Niles
-
•
End the Gasoline Crisis: Try Motivation by Love, Not Fear
“It is time to unleash the market to produce more, rather than excoriate the oil producers. Try some motivation by love, President Biden, not motivation by fear.” ~ Raymond C. Niles
-
•
The Perpetual Tragedy of New York’s Rent Control
“If the city keeps reducing real rents by capping increases below the inflation rate (as it is doing now), and if inflation continues for more than a few years, we will see building abandonments once again.” ~ Raymond C. Niles
-
•
Hostility to Free Trade Is Now Officially Bipartisan
“Now, despite nominally battling each other on many issues, on one issue Democrats and Republicans stand united: their bipartisan hostility to free trade.” ~ Raymond C. Niles
-
•
Wuhan Lab Controversy Illustrates How Government Funding Throttles Scientific Integrity
“We must separate government completely from science for the same reason we separate church from state and press from state. Don’t force our scientists to become supplicants to government bureaucrats in order to pursue truth. That will be the death of reason, science, and truth, and lead to disasters, such as misunderstanding the origins of…
-
•
Monopoly vs. Monopoly: Sloppy Definitions Lead to Harmful Policy
“A new term is needed for the highly-competitive innovators who achieve large market shares by creatively providing outstanding, innovative, and lower-cost products and services that are of such value that millions of people choose to buy their products. We can keep the term ‘monopoly,’ but it should be reserved for describing those government-created and sanctioned…
-
•
Goodbye Grounded, My Favorite Coffee Bar Destroyed by Lockdowns
“Multiply my story by the hundreds of thousands of patrons of their favorite store, bar, restaurant or coffee shop all over the City — and the hardworking owners of these establishments who poured their souls, lives, and savings into them — and you have a partial measure of the human cost, not just of Covid,…