Daily Economy
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The End Is Nigh: USPS Monopoly No Longer Viable
The US Postal Service is on a collision course with the reality of 21st-century communications: it has $15 billion in debt and over $100 billion in unfunded employment benefits—and it will all fall on taxpayers if no measures are taken.
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A Bright Spot on the Horizon for Massachusetts Housing Affordability
Simple majority voting would make it easier to allow concessions to bring desirable housing and businesses to towns. Anti-development homeowners, bothersome local NIMBYs, and incumbent local businesses hold less sway when they need to convince more than half a town council to say “no” to new housing or businesses.
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The Overheating Canard
Over the last couple of weeks, a breathless chorus of Keynes adherents in the media have been sounding the alarm from the rooftops about economic “overheating.”
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Bitcoin Is Not a Product
It is absolutely essential to understand the distributed model even to have a first-level conception of what cryptocurrency really is. It is not a proprietary product. It is not a company. It is not even a brand. It is a technology. It is a technology that, by design and structure, doesn’t have an owner –…
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The Chicago Fed National Activity Index Suggests Above-Trend Growth
The Chicago Fed’s National Activity Index pulled back in January, coming in at 0.12, down from 0.14 in December. Despite the weaker performance in January, the index remains above zero, suggesting economic growth remains above its long-term trend.
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If Governments Regulate ICOs, They Should Do It Like the Swiss
Many people disagree with government regulation of cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs), but one could do a lot worse than Switzerland’s financial regulator, Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).
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Striking Teachers Don’t Do It for the Children
Prioritizing teacher whims over student needs is damaging education and impeding innovation in Nova Scotia, Canada.
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Centrally Planned Security Doesn’t Work Either
If not armed teachers, if not gun-free zones, if not gun bans, if not granting to the government an exclusive domain for security and the threat of violence, what is the answer? The least satisfying answer is actually the right one: we do not know precisely how to secure schools. We – “we” as in…
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For the Separation of Labor and State
Concerns with right-to-work remain, given that it inserts the state in an area where it should not be in the first place. Ideally, there would exist a separation of labor and state, where the government gets out of the way and lets workers contract with employers on voluntary terms.
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The First Government Crypto Was a Fiasco
Ever since the invention of cryptocurrency, people have asked whether governments will just create their own to compete directly with private issuance. Many governments have talked about doing so. In the greatest of ironies, it was Venezuela (socialist “paradise” of hunger, poverty, and massive emigration) that has made the most public attempt with the pre-sale…
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•
The End Is Nigh: USPS Monopoly No Longer Viable
The US Postal Service is on a collision course with the reality of 21st-century communications: it has $15 billion in debt and over $100 billion in unfunded employment benefits—and it will all fall on taxpayers if no measures are taken.
-
•
A Bright Spot on the Horizon for Massachusetts Housing Affordability
Simple majority voting would make it easier to allow concessions to bring desirable housing and businesses to towns. Anti-development homeowners, bothersome local NIMBYs, and incumbent local businesses hold less sway when they need to convince more than half a town council to say “no” to new housing or businesses.
-
•
The Overheating Canard
Over the last couple of weeks, a breathless chorus of Keynes adherents in the media have been sounding the alarm from the rooftops about economic “overheating.”
-
•
Bitcoin Is Not a Product
It is absolutely essential to understand the distributed model even to have a first-level conception of what cryptocurrency really is. It is not a proprietary product. It is not a company. It is not even a brand. It is a technology. It is a technology that, by design and structure, doesn’t have an owner –…
-
•
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index Suggests Above-Trend Growth
The Chicago Fed’s National Activity Index pulled back in January, coming in at 0.12, down from 0.14 in December. Despite the weaker performance in January, the index remains above zero, suggesting economic growth remains above its long-term trend.
-
•
If Governments Regulate ICOs, They Should Do It Like the Swiss
Many people disagree with government regulation of cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs), but one could do a lot worse than Switzerland’s financial regulator, Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).
-
•
Striking Teachers Don’t Do It for the Children
Prioritizing teacher whims over student needs is damaging education and impeding innovation in Nova Scotia, Canada.
-
•
Centrally Planned Security Doesn’t Work Either
If not armed teachers, if not gun-free zones, if not gun bans, if not granting to the government an exclusive domain for security and the threat of violence, what is the answer? The least satisfying answer is actually the right one: we do not know precisely how to secure schools. We – “we” as in…
-
•
For the Separation of Labor and State
Concerns with right-to-work remain, given that it inserts the state in an area where it should not be in the first place. Ideally, there would exist a separation of labor and state, where the government gets out of the way and lets workers contract with employers on voluntary terms.
-
•
The First Government Crypto Was a Fiasco
Ever since the invention of cryptocurrency, people have asked whether governments will just create their own to compete directly with private issuance. Many governments have talked about doing so. In the greatest of ironies, it was Venezuela (socialist “paradise” of hunger, poverty, and massive emigration) that has made the most public attempt with the pre-sale…