Daily Economy
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Why the Political Class Freaked Out
Politicians, including the President, try to adjust expectations about what a “good” or “bad” outcome would look like. If the outcome is bad and lots of people die they can always come out with the “good thing we did something or this would have been much worse” excuse.
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Our Ten Days that Shook the World
After that day in New York, our worlds began to shut down. The following day, a national emergency was declared. Then the CDC recommended against 50 or more people. France locked down. Borders closed. Then the unthinkable scenario unfolded.
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Peter Navarro Has Got to Go
To Navarro, the answer to every question is always and everywhere erecting barriers to the production of others. To say he amazingly believes something is to pretend a lot of thinking informs what he says. Probably not.
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Historic Drop in Small-Business Optimism As COVID-19 Spreads
Small-business confidence plunged in March as COVID-19 stifled expectations.
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Is this America’s Turning Point?
The real problem is the loss of what Bill White called America’s Fiscal Constitution, a set of borrowing and budget rules first developed by Alexander Hamilton, America’s first Treasury Secretary. The idea was that the federal government should keep a lot of “dry powder” so that it could borrow to fight wars, purchase territory, and…
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Do Economists Believe in “Magic”? No, We Believe in Markets
The entire dismal science rests on this very, very simple insight: specialization makes our labor more productive. We could complicate this in all sorts of different ways, and that’s exactly what we do when we move from specialization to supply and demand.
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This Economy Can be Revived
My aim here is to explain what is left out by modern economic theory and the extent to which modern theory distorts our understanding of economic realities.
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Why Is There No COVID-19 Life Insurance?
The existence of such insurance would help to quell fears by allowing underinsured households the opportunity to protect their incomes.
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No, Capitalism Did Not Fail
Riding out storms and sharing risks across billions of people is a feature, not a bug, and the affluent capitalist nature of our institutions puts us in a better position to deal with them.
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Stand Up for Your Rights, says Bio-Statistician Knut M. Wittkowski
“I think people in the United States and maybe other countries as well are more docile than they should be. People should talk with their politicians, question them, ask them to explain, because if people don’t stand up to their rights, their rights will be forgotten.”
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•
Why the Political Class Freaked Out
Politicians, including the President, try to adjust expectations about what a “good” or “bad” outcome would look like. If the outcome is bad and lots of people die they can always come out with the “good thing we did something or this would have been much worse” excuse.
-
•
Our Ten Days that Shook the World
After that day in New York, our worlds began to shut down. The following day, a national emergency was declared. Then the CDC recommended against 50 or more people. France locked down. Borders closed. Then the unthinkable scenario unfolded.
-
•
Peter Navarro Has Got to Go
To Navarro, the answer to every question is always and everywhere erecting barriers to the production of others. To say he amazingly believes something is to pretend a lot of thinking informs what he says. Probably not.
-
•
Historic Drop in Small-Business Optimism As COVID-19 Spreads
Small-business confidence plunged in March as COVID-19 stifled expectations.
-
•
Is this America’s Turning Point?
The real problem is the loss of what Bill White called America’s Fiscal Constitution, a set of borrowing and budget rules first developed by Alexander Hamilton, America’s first Treasury Secretary. The idea was that the federal government should keep a lot of “dry powder” so that it could borrow to fight wars, purchase territory, and…
-
•
Do Economists Believe in “Magic”? No, We Believe in Markets
The entire dismal science rests on this very, very simple insight: specialization makes our labor more productive. We could complicate this in all sorts of different ways, and that’s exactly what we do when we move from specialization to supply and demand.
-
•
This Economy Can be Revived
My aim here is to explain what is left out by modern economic theory and the extent to which modern theory distorts our understanding of economic realities.
-
•
Why Is There No COVID-19 Life Insurance?
The existence of such insurance would help to quell fears by allowing underinsured households the opportunity to protect their incomes.
-
•
No, Capitalism Did Not Fail
Riding out storms and sharing risks across billions of people is a feature, not a bug, and the affluent capitalist nature of our institutions puts us in a better position to deal with them.
-
•
Stand Up for Your Rights, says Bio-Statistician Knut M. Wittkowski
“I think people in the United States and maybe other countries as well are more docile than they should be. People should talk with their politicians, question them, ask them to explain, because if people don’t stand up to their rights, their rights will be forgotten.”