The Greek drama may finally be ending as soon as Monday, as end it must at some point. Greece will exit the Euro, and the question is what will happen? I don’t claim any special insight into what that will be, but there are a few points about this we should consider. First, Greece’s problem […]
Archives
-
-
States Limit Local Regulation: Finally
19 May 2015
An interesting development has arisen on the issue of regulation. It seems that some state legislatures have moved to limit how much local governments will be allowed to regulate businesses and people. This is quite a development. In the past usually the states were only too happy not only to regulate directly themselves but to […]
-
Another Historical Distortion, by Bill Maher
09 Feb 2015
Bill Maher tells authoritatively that capitalism did not produce a middle class. It was actually worse than that. I quote extensively from his statements on “Real Time” on HBO because you have to read it to believe someone said it: “so what’s happening is, the Democrats are proposing to nibble around the edges of our […]
-
SOTU and Inequality (Once Again)
27 Jan 2015
In light of the State of the Union Address by President Obama, I am compelled once again (as if I were a “broken record”) to address the President’s proposals to raise taxes on “the rich” in order to reduce inequality and provide new services to those with lower incomes. Perhaps there are some new readers […]
-
A few days ago I continued my regular pooh-poohing of the perils of deflation, which is coming up again because of the fall in the price of oil. As I said in that post, deflation that is associated with productivity is generally a good thing, but if its a result of a collapse in the […]
-
Sometimes the media gets it right– why changing government incentives are contributing to lower employment.
13 Dec 2014
I don’t know how this slipped past the editors of the NYT. We have at least a recognition that changing incentives are contributing to more people staying out of the workforce. Of course, excellent economists such as U of Chicago’s Casey Mulligan have done outstanding empirical analysis to show that changing government policies are making […]
-
Today is my final for macroeconomics and hopefully my students will demonstrate some level of economic understanding. However, I fear that perhaps the culture of economic ignorance which pervades our public understanding might make all my efforts for naught. Unfortunately as they leave my class they will be surrounded for the rest of their lives […]
-
This year’s election results have not caused Democrats to reconsider their approach, and its not just Mr. Obama who is doubling down. Part of this is the result of the election; the vulnerable red state Democratic senators that lost the election were the more moderate members of their party. The election has resulted in an […]
-
We often debate the role of government in the economy, with most of your Berean bloggers taking a skeptical view of government beyond the biblical role of avenger of evil that God calls out in Romans 13. Government is an institution that, while populated by people marred by the fall, is nevertheless ordained by God […]
-
Mr. Obama used his weekend address to try and refocus attention away from disastrous foreign policy news and to something that can motivate his base. Even Democrats are attacking his “hands off” approach, with Senator Dianne Feinstein calling him “too cautious.” So its only natural that Mr. Obama would like to change the subject. […]
Bert Wheeler
Jeff Haymond
Marc Clauson
Mark Caleb Smith
Tom Mach