Economic Trends
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How To Stop the Proliferation of Municipal Bond Issues
It seems rather strange that in a putative democracy a handful of people can legally, if figuratively, reach into the pockets of their neighbors but it happens all the time all across America via municipal bond ballot measures. The main problem is that the measures “pass” if the majority of those who actually vote are…
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Technology Has Made Flexible Work Possible, and That’s Wonderful
When I got my first summer job, my coworkers and I were paid the same hourly wage. Doing sales and booking in three languages for a shipping company, we spent our days mostly managing fares and talking to calling customers over the phone (this job has since been all but automated by well-functioning e-commerce solutions,…
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What’s Gone Wrong with the Aramco IPO?
Imagine for a moment, the following: In an industry with global demand there is one organization that has the following advantages. It has the lowest cost of production for its product, exported and used by every country on the planet, and is part of a publicly recognized and accepted price fixing cartel that can counteract…
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The Giant Debt-for-Equity Swap
The number of companies listed on US stock markets has halved since 1996; Low interest rates have pushed debt to all-time highs; The credit quality of corporate bonds and loans is declining; Even a mild recession may prove cathartic.
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How to Avoid the Dead-Weight Loss of Christmas
With the Christmas season again upon us, recall the old adage that holds that it is better to give than to receive. The problem, though, is that humans are such inveterate traders that we often feel compelled to reciprocate. But that often just turns into half-assed trading instead of true giving — the unilateral transfer…
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Why that Hotel Shop Undershirt Is So Expensive
“What do you need?” “Undershirts.” I was in a hotel gift shop and not optimistic. “Right this way.” I was surprised. I guess they have undershirts after all, I thought. I had my usual rhapsodic feelings about how people who don’t necessarily care about me are nonetheless able to care for me by having shirts…
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Confessions of an Affluent Welfare Bum
Our obligation is not to don a hair shirt but to understand and explain why these programs should not exist.
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Twenty Crazy Beliefs on Economics and Politics
Why do so many American Progressives, fearing that rich people abuse state power, aim to reduce the riches of rich people, instead of the state power that Progressives admit is subject to being abused? Why do so many American Progressives wish to put even larger swathes of our lives under political control given their belief…
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Hiding Likes Can Make Instagram Better Than Ever
Is the “popularity” contest that has become vanity platforms like Instagram contributing to the content experience? Or is it just introducing social pathologies?
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Microsoft Saw What a Four-Day Workweek Can Do
One of the most groundbreaking characteristics of a developed economy is the freedom entrepreneurs and firms have to develop their companies as they see fit. It was precisely this freedom that allowed Henry Ford to experiment with the 40-hour workweek in an age when most manufacturing employees worked as many as 100 hours per week. …
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How To Stop the Proliferation of Municipal Bond Issues
It seems rather strange that in a putative democracy a handful of people can legally, if figuratively, reach into the pockets of their neighbors but it happens all the time all across America via municipal bond ballot measures. The main problem is that the measures “pass” if the majority of those who actually vote are…
-
•
Technology Has Made Flexible Work Possible, and That’s Wonderful
When I got my first summer job, my coworkers and I were paid the same hourly wage. Doing sales and booking in three languages for a shipping company, we spent our days mostly managing fares and talking to calling customers over the phone (this job has since been all but automated by well-functioning e-commerce solutions,…
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•
What’s Gone Wrong with the Aramco IPO?
Imagine for a moment, the following: In an industry with global demand there is one organization that has the following advantages. It has the lowest cost of production for its product, exported and used by every country on the planet, and is part of a publicly recognized and accepted price fixing cartel that can counteract…
-
•
The Giant Debt-for-Equity Swap
The number of companies listed on US stock markets has halved since 1996; Low interest rates have pushed debt to all-time highs; The credit quality of corporate bonds and loans is declining; Even a mild recession may prove cathartic.
-
•
How to Avoid the Dead-Weight Loss of Christmas
With the Christmas season again upon us, recall the old adage that holds that it is better to give than to receive. The problem, though, is that humans are such inveterate traders that we often feel compelled to reciprocate. But that often just turns into half-assed trading instead of true giving — the unilateral transfer…
-
•
Why that Hotel Shop Undershirt Is So Expensive
“What do you need?” “Undershirts.” I was in a hotel gift shop and not optimistic. “Right this way.” I was surprised. I guess they have undershirts after all, I thought. I had my usual rhapsodic feelings about how people who don’t necessarily care about me are nonetheless able to care for me by having shirts…
-
•
Confessions of an Affluent Welfare Bum
Our obligation is not to don a hair shirt but to understand and explain why these programs should not exist.
-
•
Twenty Crazy Beliefs on Economics and Politics
Why do so many American Progressives, fearing that rich people abuse state power, aim to reduce the riches of rich people, instead of the state power that Progressives admit is subject to being abused? Why do so many American Progressives wish to put even larger swathes of our lives under political control given their belief…
-
•
Hiding Likes Can Make Instagram Better Than Ever
Is the “popularity” contest that has become vanity platforms like Instagram contributing to the content experience? Or is it just introducing social pathologies?
-
•
Microsoft Saw What a Four-Day Workweek Can Do
One of the most groundbreaking characteristics of a developed economy is the freedom entrepreneurs and firms have to develop their companies as they see fit. It was precisely this freedom that allowed Henry Ford to experiment with the 40-hour workweek in an age when most manufacturing employees worked as many as 100 hours per week. …