Uncategorized
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Some Perspective on Bitcoin
Bitcoin’s price is hitting all-time highs, but how important is the digital currency in our economy?
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Colonel Harwood’s Principles Ring True Today
While the institute has evolved with changing times and technology, there are certain bedrock principles on which we rest that date as far back as our founding by Colonel E.C. Harwood in 1933.
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Laissez-faire Beats Central Planning When Boarding an Airplane
People often assume that without top-down control, social processes will descend into chaos. But let a group of people respond to their own individual incentives and information, while enforcing some basic rules, and just the opposite is often true. Without realizing it, air travelers have likely observed this situation when flying Southwest Airlines, which, unlike…
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Are We Ever Really in Equilibrium?
One mistake made frequently by economists is to focus on the destination rather than the journey. We like setting two sides of an equation equal, solving for a variable and focusing on that neat and tidy result. But a little common sense shows that even the most canonical equation in the field, “supply equals demand,”…
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President Trump Promises to Rollback Regulation
President Trump released his proposed budget yesterday. The proposed budget would pay for an increase in defense spending by making cuts across other federal government agencies. The proposed budget also lays out how President Trump will rollback regulation. There is a place for efficient and effective regulation. However, many well-intentioned regulations have unintended consequences. For…
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President Trump Proposes an Increase in Defense Spending
President Trump released a Budget Blueprint for 2018 on Thursday. The budget proposes a large increase in defense spending paid for by broad cuts to other federal government agencies. Compared to 2017, President Trump’s 2018 Budget Blueprint calls for a $52 billion increase in the Department of Defense budget. That amounts to a 10 percent…
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Blockchain: Cutting the Heads off Companies?
Some of the most radical speculation about blockchain technology has been that it will allow us to have “companies” with no management or even workers. Instead, shareholders would use a combination of voting and algorithms known as “smart contracts” to run the company in an agreed-upon way. For example, last year developers tried to launch…
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The Gold Standard vs. Fiat Money
As part of its “Econ Duel” series, Marginal Revolution University (an economics education platform run by professors from George Mason University) recently posted a short debate on “Fiat Money vs. the Gold Standard.” The 10-minute exchange between professors Scott Sumner and Larry White, both of George Mason, focuses on practical details of how monetary systems…
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Some Perspective on Bitcoin
Bitcoin’s price is hitting all-time highs, but how important is the digital currency in our economy?
-
•
Colonel Harwood’s Principles Ring True Today
While the institute has evolved with changing times and technology, there are certain bedrock principles on which we rest that date as far back as our founding by Colonel E.C. Harwood in 1933.
-
•
Laissez-faire Beats Central Planning When Boarding an Airplane
People often assume that without top-down control, social processes will descend into chaos. But let a group of people respond to their own individual incentives and information, while enforcing some basic rules, and just the opposite is often true. Without realizing it, air travelers have likely observed this situation when flying Southwest Airlines, which, unlike…
-
•
Are We Ever Really in Equilibrium?
One mistake made frequently by economists is to focus on the destination rather than the journey. We like setting two sides of an equation equal, solving for a variable and focusing on that neat and tidy result. But a little common sense shows that even the most canonical equation in the field, “supply equals demand,”…
-
•
President Trump Promises to Rollback Regulation
President Trump released his proposed budget yesterday. The proposed budget would pay for an increase in defense spending by making cuts across other federal government agencies. The proposed budget also lays out how President Trump will rollback regulation. There is a place for efficient and effective regulation. However, many well-intentioned regulations have unintended consequences. For…
-
•
President Trump Proposes an Increase in Defense Spending
President Trump released a Budget Blueprint for 2018 on Thursday. The budget proposes a large increase in defense spending paid for by broad cuts to other federal government agencies. Compared to 2017, President Trump’s 2018 Budget Blueprint calls for a $52 billion increase in the Department of Defense budget. That amounts to a 10 percent…
-
•
Blockchain: Cutting the Heads off Companies?
Some of the most radical speculation about blockchain technology has been that it will allow us to have “companies” with no management or even workers. Instead, shareholders would use a combination of voting and algorithms known as “smart contracts” to run the company in an agreed-upon way. For example, last year developers tried to launch…
-
•
The Gold Standard vs. Fiat Money
As part of its “Econ Duel” series, Marginal Revolution University (an economics education platform run by professors from George Mason University) recently posted a short debate on “Fiat Money vs. the Gold Standard.” The 10-minute exchange between professors Scott Sumner and Larry White, both of George Mason, focuses on practical details of how monetary systems…