Daily Economy
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New-Home Construction Falls While Permits Rise in January
Housing starts and permits were mixed in January; significant and sustained gains over coming quarters seem unlikely.
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The Dangers of Mandatory Paid Leave (Video)
At a recent hearing on Paid Family Leave before the House Oversight and Reform Committee, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., thought herself brave and appropriate to harangue the only free-market witness – one out of seven – there. Paid-leave advocates ignore (or refuse to acknowledge) the ample literature that shows what happened in countries and states…
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The Underappreciated Trend in Mortality and Inequality
Most economists, left or right, care about human development. By human development, they mean more than simply increases in income. They refer to a greater ability for individuals to choose the lives they deem most fulfilling under continually weakening constraints. Regardless of their political leanings, most economists will also be concerned with the inequalities in…
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How Liberalism Can Survive Left-Right Polarization
We need to form in our minds a beautiful vision of the society and world we want to inhabit, not in its detailed operation like the central planners, and not as an end state like the socialist utopians, but in its ever-evolving institutions that serve human well being above all else.
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Positive Surprise for Manufacturing
The latest Empire State Manufacturing Survey suggests the manufacturing sector may be rebounding but the outlook remains uncertain.
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Happy 90th Birthday, Professor Israel Kirzner!
Even in an era when modern medicine and technologies are adding to people’s lifetimes, along with the gains in general human economic betterment, it still stands as a notable event when someone marks their 90th birthday. On February 13th, renowned “Austrian” economist, Israel M. Kirzner, celebrated his reaching of that important milestone. It is difficult…
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The Attempt to Suffocate Huawei Is Foolish and Destined to Fail
Readers of this column are familiar with this historical truth, but it’s worth repeating in light of the ongoing conservative crack-up over Chinese communications giant Huawei. For clarity on the matter, it should be stated right away that if you’re selling a desirable good, you’re selling to EVERYONE. For background on what’s blindingly basic, back…
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What Brilliant TikTok Reveals about Human Creativity
I used to make it a habit to try out all the latest social technology, if only to observe its function, rules, and contribution to the culture. That habit stopped last year during the “techlash:” I too found myself convinced that we’ve probably overindulged in preening, sharing, bragging, performing. Two in five people in the…
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Your Pessimism Is Ridiculously Inaccurate
The incessant drumbeat of negativity about the U.S. economy and about globalization – and the blinkered focus on problems (real and only apparent) divorced from the larger context of the economy’s successes and of Americans’ stupendous prosperity – gives us a dangerously inaccurate sense of the state of the economy and of ordinary men’s and…
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The Astonishing Spending Promises of the Political Class (Video)
“Nothing can enter the public treasury for the benefit of one citizen or one class,” wrote Frederic Bastiat, “unless other citizens and other classes have been forced to send it in.” This is a good way to think about the spending plans of politicians. It’s not just about how much they want to spend on…
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•
New-Home Construction Falls While Permits Rise in January
Housing starts and permits were mixed in January; significant and sustained gains over coming quarters seem unlikely.
-
•
The Dangers of Mandatory Paid Leave (Video)
At a recent hearing on Paid Family Leave before the House Oversight and Reform Committee, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., thought herself brave and appropriate to harangue the only free-market witness – one out of seven – there. Paid-leave advocates ignore (or refuse to acknowledge) the ample literature that shows what happened in countries and states…
-
•
The Underappreciated Trend in Mortality and Inequality
Most economists, left or right, care about human development. By human development, they mean more than simply increases in income. They refer to a greater ability for individuals to choose the lives they deem most fulfilling under continually weakening constraints. Regardless of their political leanings, most economists will also be concerned with the inequalities in…
-
•
How Liberalism Can Survive Left-Right Polarization
We need to form in our minds a beautiful vision of the society and world we want to inhabit, not in its detailed operation like the central planners, and not as an end state like the socialist utopians, but in its ever-evolving institutions that serve human well being above all else.
-
•
Positive Surprise for Manufacturing
The latest Empire State Manufacturing Survey suggests the manufacturing sector may be rebounding but the outlook remains uncertain.
-
•
Happy 90th Birthday, Professor Israel Kirzner!
Even in an era when modern medicine and technologies are adding to people’s lifetimes, along with the gains in general human economic betterment, it still stands as a notable event when someone marks their 90th birthday. On February 13th, renowned “Austrian” economist, Israel M. Kirzner, celebrated his reaching of that important milestone. It is difficult…
-
•
The Attempt to Suffocate Huawei Is Foolish and Destined to Fail
Readers of this column are familiar with this historical truth, but it’s worth repeating in light of the ongoing conservative crack-up over Chinese communications giant Huawei. For clarity on the matter, it should be stated right away that if you’re selling a desirable good, you’re selling to EVERYONE. For background on what’s blindingly basic, back…
-
•
What Brilliant TikTok Reveals about Human Creativity
I used to make it a habit to try out all the latest social technology, if only to observe its function, rules, and contribution to the culture. That habit stopped last year during the “techlash:” I too found myself convinced that we’ve probably overindulged in preening, sharing, bragging, performing. Two in five people in the…
-
•
Your Pessimism Is Ridiculously Inaccurate
The incessant drumbeat of negativity about the U.S. economy and about globalization – and the blinkered focus on problems (real and only apparent) divorced from the larger context of the economy’s successes and of Americans’ stupendous prosperity – gives us a dangerously inaccurate sense of the state of the economy and of ordinary men’s and…
-
•
The Astonishing Spending Promises of the Political Class (Video)
“Nothing can enter the public treasury for the benefit of one citizen or one class,” wrote Frederic Bastiat, “unless other citizens and other classes have been forced to send it in.” This is a good way to think about the spending plans of politicians. It’s not just about how much they want to spend on…