Daily Economy
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More Good Arguments Against a Carbon Tax
Carbon taxes do alleviate some negative externalities that we might want to counter — but they come with a nasty drawback (and getting them in place requires an inefficient and opaque political process) that no caring person would want to impose on the poorest of us, namely that basic necessities become more expensive.
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The Reemergence of Fascism, Left and Right
The year 2019 was a great year for the American Institute for Economic Research; in the broader America, it was a volatile one for ideas, a great one for economic growth, and as divisive a time politically as one can imagine: certainly the most estranging of my near 50 years. With the end of the…
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Troubles with the Economists’ Case for a Carbon Tax
Carbon emissions are not, contrary to what many economists and non-economists seem to believe, approaching the idea of a pure externality; their costs are only partially external to the main transaction.
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In Defense of the Quid Pro Quo
It is not the occurrence of quid pro quos that are a problem in society. It is all a matter of whether they are free and voluntary
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Unsung Heroes: Private Food Inspectors
Both mortality and morbidity figures would be much higher if Americans really did leave something as fundamental as food safety to government bureaucrats.
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Don’t Drag Little Women Into the Gender Wars
Like you and everyone, I’ve been annoyed and tricked by movies that seemed from trailers to be about cool things only to have them turn out to be artistic vessels for annoying political lectures. The bad guys (sorry, people) are the usual demographics and professions demonized by the political left whereas the good people are…
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National Public Radio Cites AIER on Toilet and Faucet Regulation
I’m very pleased that NPR has cited Bourbon for Breakfast and AIER in a report on low-flow toilets and faucets. On the night that the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump, he delivered a two-hour campaign rally speech that took a detour — into the bathroom. His long riff about plumbing, household appliances…
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The Year in Bad Ideas
The Green New Deal. Hipster Antitrust. Breaking Up Big Tech. Protectionism. Billionaire Tears. New Tech, Old Jobs. Bitcoin Maximalism. Don’t Inhale That. Elizabeth Warren. National Conservatism.
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My Most Notable Articles of 2019
How Capitalist Abolitionists Fought Slavery This was my favorite piece to write over the last year because it explored a little-known historical episode in which the New York financier Lewis Tappan used market innovation to advance the abolition of slavery. I wrote it in part to respond to the New York Times’s 1619 Project, which…
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Wandering Oaken Should Be Your Favorite Frozen Character
The recent release of Disney’s Frozen II brings up a lot of very good memories from the last several years. My daughter is nine, which means I know pretty much every line to every song in Disney’s runaway mega-hit Frozen. A few years ago, she was in her grandparents’ living room with her step-cousin Anna.…
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•
More Good Arguments Against a Carbon Tax
Carbon taxes do alleviate some negative externalities that we might want to counter — but they come with a nasty drawback (and getting them in place requires an inefficient and opaque political process) that no caring person would want to impose on the poorest of us, namely that basic necessities become more expensive.
-
•
The Reemergence of Fascism, Left and Right
The year 2019 was a great year for the American Institute for Economic Research; in the broader America, it was a volatile one for ideas, a great one for economic growth, and as divisive a time politically as one can imagine: certainly the most estranging of my near 50 years. With the end of the…
-
•
Troubles with the Economists’ Case for a Carbon Tax
Carbon emissions are not, contrary to what many economists and non-economists seem to believe, approaching the idea of a pure externality; their costs are only partially external to the main transaction.
-
•
In Defense of the Quid Pro Quo
It is not the occurrence of quid pro quos that are a problem in society. It is all a matter of whether they are free and voluntary
-
•
Unsung Heroes: Private Food Inspectors
Both mortality and morbidity figures would be much higher if Americans really did leave something as fundamental as food safety to government bureaucrats.
-
•
Don’t Drag Little Women Into the Gender Wars
Like you and everyone, I’ve been annoyed and tricked by movies that seemed from trailers to be about cool things only to have them turn out to be artistic vessels for annoying political lectures. The bad guys (sorry, people) are the usual demographics and professions demonized by the political left whereas the good people are…
-
•
National Public Radio Cites AIER on Toilet and Faucet Regulation
I’m very pleased that NPR has cited Bourbon for Breakfast and AIER in a report on low-flow toilets and faucets. On the night that the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump, he delivered a two-hour campaign rally speech that took a detour — into the bathroom. His long riff about plumbing, household appliances…
-
•
The Year in Bad Ideas
The Green New Deal. Hipster Antitrust. Breaking Up Big Tech. Protectionism. Billionaire Tears. New Tech, Old Jobs. Bitcoin Maximalism. Don’t Inhale That. Elizabeth Warren. National Conservatism.
-
•
My Most Notable Articles of 2019
How Capitalist Abolitionists Fought Slavery This was my favorite piece to write over the last year because it explored a little-known historical episode in which the New York financier Lewis Tappan used market innovation to advance the abolition of slavery. I wrote it in part to respond to the New York Times’s 1619 Project, which…
-
•
Wandering Oaken Should Be Your Favorite Frozen Character
The recent release of Disney’s Frozen II brings up a lot of very good memories from the last several years. My daughter is nine, which means I know pretty much every line to every song in Disney’s runaway mega-hit Frozen. A few years ago, she was in her grandparents’ living room with her step-cousin Anna.…