Economic Education
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Why Is the System Rigged?
It’s crazy season, that special time on the American calendar when aspiring candidates for the nation’s highest office try to outdo each other in an effort to attract more voters to their platforms. This time around, background support is provided by a virtual anvil chorus of anti-capitalism clatter. Senator Elizabeth Warren, for example, frequently unleashes…
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How Economics Can Ruin Christmas, in a Good Way
Some time ago, I resigned myself to the fact that economists are the wet blankets of the world. We can ruin almost any proposal and almost any situation with just a couple of analytical tools and the words “unintended consequences.” Rent control? It causes shortages and hurts poor people. Minimum wages? They reduce employment and hurt…
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AIER and Giving Tuesday
As you have noticed, the American Institute for Economic Research has enjoyed a wonderfully productive year. There are events every few days, new books every couple of weeks, one hundred or more substantial articles per month, a constant stream of visiting fellows and interns at our offices, rising reach in all our digital platforms, and…
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You Are Harming No One or Anything by Not Spending on Black Friday
With Black Friday upon us, here’s something important to remember: you’re not “helping the economy” by spending intemperately and making imprudent impulse purchases. You’re just… spending intemperately and being imprudent. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. Maybe you have a very high time preference such that you want stuff now now now and are willing…
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The Market Is a Symphony of Creation
I just ate a delicious sandwich. It was called the blue river brisket, and it had brisket, cheddar cheese, bacon, purple slaw, garlic mayo, and barbecue sauce heated and served on a kaiser roll. With a bowl of broccoli cheddar soup, it was a perfect meal on a dreary and stressful day. As I write…
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The Great Redistribution: Who Benefits From Ruthless Capitalism?
The two ugliest entries in America’s anti-capitalist vocabulary might be “ruthless capitalism” and “speculation.” Ruthless — or any other distasteful adjective of your choosing — capitalism is a mythical kind of heartless profit seeking where owners and managers irrationally care about nothing but the next quarter’s bottom line. Unsurprisingly, any behavior approaching that caricature gets…
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The Demonization of Private Equity
Labeling an entire industry as destructive and evil is detrimental to the investors, communities, and hundreds of millions of people worldwide that benefit from its activities.
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Bourbon for Breakfast After 10 Years
It was last year when I was invited to address a dinner party. I arrived to find a copy of this book at every place setting. I was momentarily mortified: this is surely not my best material. What even is in this book? This attitude does reflect my outlook: I tend not to like anything…
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Why We are Getting More for Less
Thankfully, capitalism is not wrecking the planet. At least that’s the message in a brand-new book with the stunning title More From Less by Andrew McAfee
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Business Ethics and Morality of the Marketplace
Who do people consider to be less ethical or honest than either telemarketers or used car salesman? If you said Washington politicians, you’d be right on the button. According to Gallup News Services, members of Congress are right at the bottom of perceived ethical behavior and honesty. Every year Gallup issues the results of a…
-
•
Why Is the System Rigged?
It’s crazy season, that special time on the American calendar when aspiring candidates for the nation’s highest office try to outdo each other in an effort to attract more voters to their platforms. This time around, background support is provided by a virtual anvil chorus of anti-capitalism clatter. Senator Elizabeth Warren, for example, frequently unleashes…
-
•
How Economics Can Ruin Christmas, in a Good Way
Some time ago, I resigned myself to the fact that economists are the wet blankets of the world. We can ruin almost any proposal and almost any situation with just a couple of analytical tools and the words “unintended consequences.” Rent control? It causes shortages and hurts poor people. Minimum wages? They reduce employment and hurt…
-
•
AIER and Giving Tuesday
As you have noticed, the American Institute for Economic Research has enjoyed a wonderfully productive year. There are events every few days, new books every couple of weeks, one hundred or more substantial articles per month, a constant stream of visiting fellows and interns at our offices, rising reach in all our digital platforms, and…
-
•
You Are Harming No One or Anything by Not Spending on Black Friday
With Black Friday upon us, here’s something important to remember: you’re not “helping the economy” by spending intemperately and making imprudent impulse purchases. You’re just… spending intemperately and being imprudent. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. Maybe you have a very high time preference such that you want stuff now now now and are willing…
-
•
The Market Is a Symphony of Creation
I just ate a delicious sandwich. It was called the blue river brisket, and it had brisket, cheddar cheese, bacon, purple slaw, garlic mayo, and barbecue sauce heated and served on a kaiser roll. With a bowl of broccoli cheddar soup, it was a perfect meal on a dreary and stressful day. As I write…
-
•
The Great Redistribution: Who Benefits From Ruthless Capitalism?
The two ugliest entries in America’s anti-capitalist vocabulary might be “ruthless capitalism” and “speculation.” Ruthless — or any other distasteful adjective of your choosing — capitalism is a mythical kind of heartless profit seeking where owners and managers irrationally care about nothing but the next quarter’s bottom line. Unsurprisingly, any behavior approaching that caricature gets…
-
•
The Demonization of Private Equity
Labeling an entire industry as destructive and evil is detrimental to the investors, communities, and hundreds of millions of people worldwide that benefit from its activities.
-
•
Bourbon for Breakfast After 10 Years
It was last year when I was invited to address a dinner party. I arrived to find a copy of this book at every place setting. I was momentarily mortified: this is surely not my best material. What even is in this book? This attitude does reflect my outlook: I tend not to like anything…
-
•
Why We are Getting More for Less
Thankfully, capitalism is not wrecking the planet. At least that’s the message in a brand-new book with the stunning title More From Less by Andrew McAfee
-
•
Business Ethics and Morality of the Marketplace
Who do people consider to be less ethical or honest than either telemarketers or used car salesman? If you said Washington politicians, you’d be right on the button. According to Gallup News Services, members of Congress are right at the bottom of perceived ethical behavior and honesty. Every year Gallup issues the results of a…