Last year was way busier than I hoped for, and this year promises to be the same, but there is so much going on that we need to talk about–I’ll try to do better. In this past week’s news the things that caught my eye were two reports on profits. There has been a decided […]
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New Year’s Resolution: More blog posts! So start with virtue signaling and the role of profit
03 Jan 2020
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When I was a much younger economist, prior to going off for my Ph.D., I had the privilege of attending a speaking engagement by Franco Modigliani, a Nobel prize winner who did much of the pioneering work in modern finance. I was teaching at the Air Force Academy in the mid 1990s, and Colorado College […]
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Did Chick-fil-A Concede?
20 Nov 2019
That was the headline in today’s op-ed in the WSJ, and gleeful reports by progressives suggest they agree with this assessment. As the WSJ notes, It’s hard to blame Chick-fil-A. The company exists to serve chicken sandwiches and waffle fries, not to wage political battles over sexual morality, and its corporate decision-makers are free to […]
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Bereans Not for Billionaires
16 Nov 2019
In my recent posts, I attempted to show the bankruptcy of the blanket statement by Mr. Sanders that billionaires as a class should not exist. One commenter said the issue was really about how they got their money, and in James’ mind, the only way you could get that kind of money was through nefarious […]
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Bereans for Billionaires, redux
26 Oct 2019
In my last post, James made the charge that billionaires can’t become billionaires without some nefarious conduct (a charge which he never offered proof of, as apparently its patently obvious to him and therefore should be to everyone else). Now I understand James’ desire to live in a world where poor people have more, and […]
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Bereans for Billionaires!
21 Oct 2019
Yes, your Bereans are unequivocally for Billionaires! And Millionaires! and thousanders (?), or whatever income/wealth class label you want to apply. We’re even for the concept of Trillionaires and Zillionaires. We don’t doubt that having too much money can be a problem, as the Biblical proverb warns us: Proverbs 30:7-9 7 Two things I ask of you; deny […]
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Negative Interest Rates for Dummies
18 Sep 2019
As the U.S. policy makers continue to demand head toward negative interest rates (thank you Mr. Trump, NOT!), I thought it would be helpful for a short review. So, here are some common questions and my answers. What are negative interest rates? A negative interest rate is simply the result of someone paying higher for […]
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It used to be possible to say something of the effect, “be wary of Republicans when they don’t do what they say they believe in, be wary of Democrats when they do do what they believe in.” Democrats may have had good intentions, but their policy prescriptions were generally in the wrong direction (certainly economically). […]
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Courage or Cowardice?
06 Sep 2019
I don’t often just send out links, but I found the following back and forth between David French and Matt Shapiro fascinating. They both made great points and I honestly don’t know which path is right, or are they both right in their own way? As a Dean of a Business School, sending out young […]
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This is a claim I make to our principles students in the first part of our economics class, as I reflect on the economic way of thinking, a discussion topic fairly standard in more textbooks. Essentially, the economic way of thinking forces one to fully consider all costs and all benefits of any choice. In […]
Bert Wheeler
Jeff Haymond
Marc Clauson
Mark Caleb Smith
Tom Mach