Economic Education
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Gouged by Gouging Laws
“If, however, people realized that such laws actually harm them as consumers—that gouging laws gouge consumers–once all the costs they must bear are considered, perhaps we could put an end to this counter-productive way politicians illustrate Ronald Reagan’s quip that ‘the nine most terrifying words in the English language’ are ‘I’m from the Government, and…
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You Cannot Eat Bitcoin
“You cannot eat bitcoin, or dollars, or bank balances, which means that whatever vehicle you use to move value across time has an exchange rate risk. Many bitcoiners’ mistake is to think that their preferred asset avoids this; Taleb’s mistake is to think that others can have a different view of government than him.” ~…
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Thank Goodness for Economic Ignorance!
“The world would in fact be a much better place if economic fallacies were less prevalent and less widespread. Not the least of these fallacies is the one that holds that economies fail to the extent that they don’t protect existing jobs.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
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The Fed Targets a Crafted Measure of Inflation: A Cautionary Tale
“Understanding government data for what they are and what they are not is vital to understanding the impossibility of targeting the cost of living, even though the Fed is targeting a crafted measure of price inflation.” ~ Gregory van Kipnis
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Biden’s Lumber Protectionism is Commercial Quarantine
“Biden’s doubling of Trump’s lumber tariffs will hurt US consumers, protect American firms from competition, and encourage further rent seeking.” ~ Peter C. Earle
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Unemployment and Bankruptcies – Is This Time Different?
“The recovery we are witnessing today is built on the crumbling foundations of the serial malinvestments which resulted from previous attempts to avoid the recessionary pain caused by the GFC. If structural inflation can be engendered, an escape from the worst ravages of overindebtedness may be nigh, but, until markets clear and zombies die, what…
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Shadow of the State or Sunshine of Civil Society
“We are often too quick to pull the trigger on government regulation whenever we suspect a problem exists. It is important to first ask what civil society can do (or is doing) to mitigate that problem before deferring to the coercive shadowy state.” ~ Anthony Gill
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Some Problems with the ‘Repatriating Critical Supply Chains’ Argument
“Even if political pressures were miraculously to disappear, government officials would remain ignorant of most of the detailed bits of knowledge about how resources are, and potentially can be, used. And so any errors these officials make in distinguishing ‘critical’ from not-critical goods and services will result in resources being used more wastefully than otherwise.”…
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Supply-Side Neoliberalism Sure Beats the Alternative
“The near-phobic disdain for supply-side economics and neoliberalism this century is part of a new wave of anti-capitalist sentiment. We have seen this movie before. It is a horror film. The true friends of rationality, liberty, and prosperity should wake up, stand proudly, and contend boldly.” ~ Richard M. Salsman
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Pocket Monsters Meet Animal Spirits
“Lockdowns, boredom, and fiscal largesse sparked the incredible rise in Pokémon card values. But the Greater Fool Theory may already be at work.” ~ Peter C. Earle
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Gouged by Gouging Laws
“If, however, people realized that such laws actually harm them as consumers—that gouging laws gouge consumers–once all the costs they must bear are considered, perhaps we could put an end to this counter-productive way politicians illustrate Ronald Reagan’s quip that ‘the nine most terrifying words in the English language’ are ‘I’m from the Government, and…
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•
You Cannot Eat Bitcoin
“You cannot eat bitcoin, or dollars, or bank balances, which means that whatever vehicle you use to move value across time has an exchange rate risk. Many bitcoiners’ mistake is to think that their preferred asset avoids this; Taleb’s mistake is to think that others can have a different view of government than him.” ~…
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•
Thank Goodness for Economic Ignorance!
“The world would in fact be a much better place if economic fallacies were less prevalent and less widespread. Not the least of these fallacies is the one that holds that economies fail to the extent that they don’t protect existing jobs.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux
-
•
The Fed Targets a Crafted Measure of Inflation: A Cautionary Tale
“Understanding government data for what they are and what they are not is vital to understanding the impossibility of targeting the cost of living, even though the Fed is targeting a crafted measure of price inflation.” ~ Gregory van Kipnis
-
•
Biden’s Lumber Protectionism is Commercial Quarantine
“Biden’s doubling of Trump’s lumber tariffs will hurt US consumers, protect American firms from competition, and encourage further rent seeking.” ~ Peter C. Earle
-
•
Unemployment and Bankruptcies – Is This Time Different?
“The recovery we are witnessing today is built on the crumbling foundations of the serial malinvestments which resulted from previous attempts to avoid the recessionary pain caused by the GFC. If structural inflation can be engendered, an escape from the worst ravages of overindebtedness may be nigh, but, until markets clear and zombies die, what…
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•
Shadow of the State or Sunshine of Civil Society
“We are often too quick to pull the trigger on government regulation whenever we suspect a problem exists. It is important to first ask what civil society can do (or is doing) to mitigate that problem before deferring to the coercive shadowy state.” ~ Anthony Gill
-
•
Some Problems with the ‘Repatriating Critical Supply Chains’ Argument
“Even if political pressures were miraculously to disappear, government officials would remain ignorant of most of the detailed bits of knowledge about how resources are, and potentially can be, used. And so any errors these officials make in distinguishing ‘critical’ from not-critical goods and services will result in resources being used more wastefully than otherwise.”…
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•
Supply-Side Neoliberalism Sure Beats the Alternative
“The near-phobic disdain for supply-side economics and neoliberalism this century is part of a new wave of anti-capitalist sentiment. We have seen this movie before. It is a horror film. The true friends of rationality, liberty, and prosperity should wake up, stand proudly, and contend boldly.” ~ Richard M. Salsman
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•
Pocket Monsters Meet Animal Spirits
“Lockdowns, boredom, and fiscal largesse sparked the incredible rise in Pokémon card values. But the Greater Fool Theory may already be at work.” ~ Peter C. Earle