Daily Economy
-
•
Retail Sales Growth Picked Up in January After a Sharp Fall in December
Retail sales growth bounced back in January, but economic data continue to be mixed, suggesting a heightened degree of caution for the economic outlook.
-
•
Break Up Government, Not Tech Companies
Elizabeth Warren knows the real problem is that watching and controlling people’s lives is a natural monopoly, and should be the exclusive realm of government.
-
•
If We Put a Man on the Moon, We Can Surely…
We can admire the engineering prowess that enabled NASA to land men on the moon and return them safely to earth. But even if politicians (contrary to fact) were apolitical stewards of the public welfare, governing society is not an engineering task. It follows that NASA’s remarkable achievement emphatically does not imply that we should…
-
•
Love and the Market Economy
For centuries, the whole point of commercial capitalism has been missed. It is not about material greed much less exploitation and exclusion. Its fundamental theme is love of this special sort. That is its driving energy and ethos. This love permeates every aspect of its operations. It requires love. It rewards love. It elicits love.…
-
•
February Jobs Report Raises Questions
U.S. nonfarm payrolls added just 20,000 jobs in February, the smallest monthly gain since September 2017. Combined with other recent disappointing economic data, the report raises concerns about the durability of the economic expansion.
-
•
Let the Market, Not Government, Provide Broadband to Rural Citizens
Still, there’s absolutely no need for the government to pretend it has the duty to provide this service. As a matter of fact, it is the very roadblocks imposed by local governments that make it difficult for companies to have a greater presence in remote areas.
-
•
The Job Guarantee Strikes Back
Economist John Miller of Wheaton College wrote a sharp critique this week of my work on the job guarantee. I was pleased to see it. In nearly five months, Miller is the first economist on the left to respond on the basis of economics rather than retreating to blanket declarations that job-guarantee opponents are either…
-
•
Economists Should First Do No Harm
We ought to attack the true root cause of inequality — that is, rent-seeking. This is far more productive than redistributing the rents that the rent-seekers captured.
-
•
With Zuckerberg’s Shift, Social Media Is Growing Up
It’s too little, too late, but Facebook has now promised to adapt. Open and public? Forget it. Smaller groups, closed, and private is the new way.
-
•
To Unleash the Potential of Online Therapy, Government Must Get out of the Way
Despite their recommendations, technology offers a sometimes more effective — and affordable — alternative to putting patients face-to-face with psychologists. All that the government agency has to do to truly help patients is to get out of the way.
-
•
Retail Sales Growth Picked Up in January After a Sharp Fall in December
Retail sales growth bounced back in January, but economic data continue to be mixed, suggesting a heightened degree of caution for the economic outlook.
-
•
Break Up Government, Not Tech Companies
Elizabeth Warren knows the real problem is that watching and controlling people’s lives is a natural monopoly, and should be the exclusive realm of government.
-
•
If We Put a Man on the Moon, We Can Surely…
We can admire the engineering prowess that enabled NASA to land men on the moon and return them safely to earth. But even if politicians (contrary to fact) were apolitical stewards of the public welfare, governing society is not an engineering task. It follows that NASA’s remarkable achievement emphatically does not imply that we should…
-
•
Love and the Market Economy
For centuries, the whole point of commercial capitalism has been missed. It is not about material greed much less exploitation and exclusion. Its fundamental theme is love of this special sort. That is its driving energy and ethos. This love permeates every aspect of its operations. It requires love. It rewards love. It elicits love.…
-
•
February Jobs Report Raises Questions
U.S. nonfarm payrolls added just 20,000 jobs in February, the smallest monthly gain since September 2017. Combined with other recent disappointing economic data, the report raises concerns about the durability of the economic expansion.
-
•
Let the Market, Not Government, Provide Broadband to Rural Citizens
Still, there’s absolutely no need for the government to pretend it has the duty to provide this service. As a matter of fact, it is the very roadblocks imposed by local governments that make it difficult for companies to have a greater presence in remote areas.
-
•
The Job Guarantee Strikes Back
Economist John Miller of Wheaton College wrote a sharp critique this week of my work on the job guarantee. I was pleased to see it. In nearly five months, Miller is the first economist on the left to respond on the basis of economics rather than retreating to blanket declarations that job-guarantee opponents are either…
-
•
Economists Should First Do No Harm
We ought to attack the true root cause of inequality — that is, rent-seeking. This is far more productive than redistributing the rents that the rent-seekers captured.
-
•
With Zuckerberg’s Shift, Social Media Is Growing Up
It’s too little, too late, but Facebook has now promised to adapt. Open and public? Forget it. Smaller groups, closed, and private is the new way.
-
•
To Unleash the Potential of Online Therapy, Government Must Get out of the Way
Despite their recommendations, technology offers a sometimes more effective — and affordable — alternative to putting patients face-to-face with psychologists. All that the government agency has to do to truly help patients is to get out of the way.