Latest
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Free Trade: The Consensus Is Growing
What economists have argued for generations is now reflected in public opinion: Americans see free trade as the better alternative to protectionism.
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Competition Comes to College Admissions Testing
Texas has expanded college exams beyond the SAT and ACT, creating competition that rewards rigor.
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Tariffs Didn’t Rebuild Factories. They Fueled a Lobbying Boom.
When government decides who pays and who is exempt, businesses rationally redirect resources from investment to lobbying and favor seeking.
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The Constitution’s Forgotten Economic Tradeoffs
The Articles of Confederation are often remembered as a failure. But their limits on taxing and commercial power offered greater protection for economic freedom than the Constitution that replaced them.
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The McNamara Fallacy Returns: How Inequality Metrics Distract From the Real Causes of Poverty
When policymakers obsess over inequality statistics, they often overlook the institutions and policies that actually keep people poor.
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Warsh Wants the Federal Reserve to Rethink the Rules
The new chairman has long argued the Fed’s own institutional habits undermine sound money. His blueprint suggests key reforms.
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How Congress Turned Budget Reconciliation Into a Tool for More Spending
A process designed to overcome political obstacles to deficit reduction is now helping Congress avoid the reforms that matter most.
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The Coup In Search of a Philosophy
Karl Marx’s greatest legacy was not his economics, but the institutions that gave his revolutionary ideas a second life.
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One Month of Falling Prices Won’t Restore Price Stability
June’s PCE report showed prices falling as energy prices retreated, but underlying inflation and nominal spending remain too strong.
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Adam Smith’s Forgotten Theory of Artistic Independence
The great economist saw markets not as a threat to culture, but as the institution that allowed artists to achieve unprecedented freedom.