All Posts Tagged With: "economic policy"
Can Government Manage the Economy?
A doctor says he can cure illness by waving birch wands over the patient. We are skeptical, but being open-minded we agree to give him a chance with ailing Uncle George. He waves a red wand and chants something. The patient shows no improvement. “Let me try a green one,” he says. We’re still tolerant. [...]
21Apr2011 | James L. Payne | 2 comments | ContinuedChina’s Future
The threat to China’s future development is not lack of resources or technology, but the absence of an institutional framework that limits government and protects property rights. It has been 15 years since the Tiananmen Square massacre in June 1989, and 25 years since Deng Xiaoping embarked on economic reform in 1979. China is now [...]
2Jul2010 | James A. Dorn | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Balance-of-Payments Deficit: Not to Worry
Quick. What’s the trade deficit between California and the rest of the world? Don’t try Googling it because you won’t find an answer. No government agency—or private entity—computes the dollar value of goods that people in the rest of the world sell to or buy from Californians. Why not? Because it doesn’t matter. Yet governments [...]
5Jan2010 | David R. Henderson | 7 comments | ContinuedUnmasking the Sacred Lies
Unmasking the Sacred Lies is an excellent introduction to the major economic policies of the United States. Author and Freeman contributor Paul A. Cleveland traces the history of those policies up to 2008, explains their effects, and explores their alignment with the nation’s founding principles. The book aims to “shed light on the underlying lies [...]
5Jan2010 | Joseph G. Lehman | 1 comment | ContinuedEconomics for the Citizen
For the first time in 37 years, last fall semester I didn’t teach. No, I haven’t retired. It was my semester-off reward for two terms as department chairman at George Mason University. A break is well deserved after a chairmanship––a job not unlike that of herding cats. During fall semesters I typically teach our first-year [...]
1May2005 | Walter E. Williams | 0 comments | ContinuedEconomists Against the FDA
A sulfa drug called Elixir Sulfanilamide released in 1937 killed over 100 Americans, mostly children. A sedative called Thalidomide released in Europe in 1957 and taken by pregnant women caused deformities in 10,000 children. These famous episodes strike us as horrible injustices that must be prevented. But more deadly are quack platitudes that guide public [...]
1Sep2000 | Daniel B. Klein | 8 comments | ContinuedEconomists’ Misplaced Faith in an Invisible Hand
Contributing editor Daniel Klein is associate professor of economics at Santa Clara University. He is editor of What Do Economists Contribute?, recently published by New York University Press and the Cato Institute. In academia most economists practice technical crafts. Academic incentives strongly favor such crafts, and economists pursue academic rewards, perhaps with a faith in [...]
1Aug2000 | Daniel B. Klein | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Nature and Significance of Economic Education
For many years I have been fascinated by what at first glance seems a paradoxical feature in Ludwig von Mises’s attitude to the economics he taught. I believe that this seeming paradox in the life and work of my revered teacher can provide us with the key to understanding the role of economic education (and, [...]
1Oct1998 | Israel M. Kirzner | 0 comments | ContinuedEconomics in One Page
Dr. Skousen is an economist at Rollins College, Department of Economics, Winter Park, Florida 32789, and editor of Forecasts & Strategies, one of the largest investment newsletters in the country. The third edition of his book Economics of a Pure Gold Standard has recently been published by FEE. What makes it [economics] most fascinating is [...]
1Jan1997 | Mark Skousen | 4 comments | ContinuedClassical Economists, Good or Bad?
Until the Keynesian revolution in the 1930s, most economists taught the sound principles of classical economics: free trade, balanced budgets, the gold standard, and laissez faire. Adam Smith (1723-1790), the founder of classical economics, has been lionized as the foremost exponent of these principles. David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus, and John Stuart Mill, among others, have played supporting roles.
1Oct1996 | Mark Skousen | 1 comment | Continued-
The Latest
Contraception: Insuring the Uninsurable
Update below. Controversy rages over the Obama administration’s mandate that all employers – including... Read More
The Snow Plowers’ Petition
The following might have happened in a small college town in upstate New York… In a cold and snowy... Read More
Super Bowl versus Education?
In the spirit of Super Bowl weekend I’d like to deconstruct a Facebook status update that a friend... Read More
Capitalism, Corporatism, and the Freed Market
When a front-running presidential contender tells the country that thanks to Barack Obama, “[w]e are... Read More
Creating Jobs versus Creating Value
Picking on New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is one of the largest participation sports on the Internet.... Read More
