Daily Economy
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Amtrak’s Lethal Start to 2018 Compels New Route
Ending the railroad’s long-distance routes would take trains off segments of rural railroad, saving lives. An Amtrak that behaves like a truly private railroad could focus on getting service in major corridors right, investing in improvements to do its job better, and improving overall maintenance to prevent close calls like the Maryland separation. Getting its…
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Why Drug Dealers, Rappers, and Pimps Wear Their Wealth
There is a reason to the rhyme of why dealers, rappers, and pimps wear their wealth. It all comes down to the legal gulf that separates their professions and art from civic practices. If you want to keep what you have earned, and take every precaution against having it pillaged by the police, it’s best…
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Does the Developed World Need Cryptocurrencies?
Liberty Street Economics, the New York Fed’s blog, recently did a question-and-answer session with Fed economists Michael Lee and Antoine Martin about cryptocurrencies. It’s a largely neutral and factual interview, but the economists do make one provocative comment: “Cryptocurrencies arguably solve the problem of making payments in a trustless environment, but it is not obvious…
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The Canary in the Coal Mine for California’s Public Pensions
Californian charter schools are avoiding or outright leaving the public pension system due to high costs and sustainability concerns. This puts the public pension systems in a situation akin to a Ponzi scheme, since it needs new paying members to avoid an inevitable downfall.
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Exit Scans Are Here
If you are prevented from leaving your own nation, what kind of nation is it? Prison state comes to mind. So many people I know have come to favor closed borders because they somehow think there is a connection between big government and heterogeneous populations. What they do not seem to understand is that closed…
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The Source of Terrible Ideas, and Great Ones
The parable of top-down socialism vs. bottom-up Bitcoin tempts one to adopt a general theory of the relationship between ideas and social change. It might be the case that bad ideas come from the top down and good ideas from the bottom-up, as a general expectation and principle. That seems to cover most use cases,…
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How Fake Economics Perpetuates Itself
The news has been packed with fake economics for the weeks since the correction in stocks began. Story after story has claimed that rising wages could translate into higher inflation, setting off fear and trembling on Wall Street. These claims have caused anyone with contemporary economics knowledge to slap their heads with exasperation. This is…
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Federalism Can Breathe Life into Infrastructure
Federal grants and transfers are the techniques of choice used by socialist regulators in all federal countries, because in such countries it’s difficult to impose one-size-fits-all national schemes from the top down. Hence, federal spending power greases the wheels of reform by bribing the population and docile politicians and blackmailing and boxing in politicians skeptical…
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Remember What the Internet Is All About
Some great minds are remembered mostly for one moment in time, a momentous action or revelatory piece of writing. Such is the case for John Perry Barlow, who died on February 7, 2018. Born in 1947, he was a remarkable visionary, a lyricist for the Grateful Dead who later became a founder of the Electronic…
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Delusions of Conservatives for Paid Family Leave
As soon as the federal government gets into the business of general income security, such as paid family leave, the stage is set for an almost endless entitlement expansion. The proposal that Rubio and the IWF have come up with will open a Pandora’s Box of egalitarian add-ons.
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•
Amtrak’s Lethal Start to 2018 Compels New Route
Ending the railroad’s long-distance routes would take trains off segments of rural railroad, saving lives. An Amtrak that behaves like a truly private railroad could focus on getting service in major corridors right, investing in improvements to do its job better, and improving overall maintenance to prevent close calls like the Maryland separation. Getting its…
-
•
Why Drug Dealers, Rappers, and Pimps Wear Their Wealth
There is a reason to the rhyme of why dealers, rappers, and pimps wear their wealth. It all comes down to the legal gulf that separates their professions and art from civic practices. If you want to keep what you have earned, and take every precaution against having it pillaged by the police, it’s best…
-
•
Does the Developed World Need Cryptocurrencies?
Liberty Street Economics, the New York Fed’s blog, recently did a question-and-answer session with Fed economists Michael Lee and Antoine Martin about cryptocurrencies. It’s a largely neutral and factual interview, but the economists do make one provocative comment: “Cryptocurrencies arguably solve the problem of making payments in a trustless environment, but it is not obvious…
-
•
The Canary in the Coal Mine for California’s Public Pensions
Californian charter schools are avoiding or outright leaving the public pension system due to high costs and sustainability concerns. This puts the public pension systems in a situation akin to a Ponzi scheme, since it needs new paying members to avoid an inevitable downfall.
-
•
Exit Scans Are Here
If you are prevented from leaving your own nation, what kind of nation is it? Prison state comes to mind. So many people I know have come to favor closed borders because they somehow think there is a connection between big government and heterogeneous populations. What they do not seem to understand is that closed…
-
•
The Source of Terrible Ideas, and Great Ones
The parable of top-down socialism vs. bottom-up Bitcoin tempts one to adopt a general theory of the relationship between ideas and social change. It might be the case that bad ideas come from the top down and good ideas from the bottom-up, as a general expectation and principle. That seems to cover most use cases,…
-
•
How Fake Economics Perpetuates Itself
The news has been packed with fake economics for the weeks since the correction in stocks began. Story after story has claimed that rising wages could translate into higher inflation, setting off fear and trembling on Wall Street. These claims have caused anyone with contemporary economics knowledge to slap their heads with exasperation. This is…
-
•
Federalism Can Breathe Life into Infrastructure
Federal grants and transfers are the techniques of choice used by socialist regulators in all federal countries, because in such countries it’s difficult to impose one-size-fits-all national schemes from the top down. Hence, federal spending power greases the wheels of reform by bribing the population and docile politicians and blackmailing and boxing in politicians skeptical…
-
•
Remember What the Internet Is All About
Some great minds are remembered mostly for one moment in time, a momentous action or revelatory piece of writing. Such is the case for John Perry Barlow, who died on February 7, 2018. Born in 1947, he was a remarkable visionary, a lyricist for the Grateful Dead who later became a founder of the Electronic…
-
•
Delusions of Conservatives for Paid Family Leave
As soon as the federal government gets into the business of general income security, such as paid family leave, the stage is set for an almost endless entitlement expansion. The proposal that Rubio and the IWF have come up with will open a Pandora’s Box of egalitarian add-ons.