All Posts Tagged With: "economics"

The Myth of U.S. Prosperity during World War II

World War II, the so-called Good War, has been a fount of historical fallacies. One of the greatest—and one of the most pernicious for subsequent policymakers—is the notion that prosperity prevailed during the war. Although Americans might have been dying in the Pacific and European theaters of war, people on the home front actually benefited [...]

8Sep2011 | Robert Higgs | 2 comments | Continued

Affording It All

People who don’t understand — or don’t care about — economics say funny things.

10Jun2011 | Sheldon Richman | 24 comments | Continued

Algorithms Can’t Pick College Football Champions or Predict Economies

A mathematical formula cannot tell us what the U.S. economy (or any other economy) is going to do next year.

1Dec2010 | William L. Anderson | 19 comments | Continued

Obamacare Reality Bites

One might think that letting government officials exercise discretion in the enforcement of bad regulations would be a good thing. I’m not so sure.

22Oct2010 | Sheldon Richman | 14 comments | Continued

The House That Uncle Sam Built

The Great Recession (or the Great Hangover) that began in 2008 did not have to happen. Its causes and consequences are not mysterious. Indeed, this particular and very painful episode affirms what the best nonpartisan economists have tried to tell our politicians and policy-makers for decades, namely, that the more they try to inflate and [...]

8Oct2010 | and and Peter J. Boettke | 1 comment | Continued

Have Pro-Deregulation Economists Been Bought?

Charles Ferguson’s article commits two common errors made by critics of free markets and free-market economists.

7Oct2010 | Steven Horwitz | 12 comments | Continued

An Economist Reflects on Law

I graduated from law school ten years ago. During that decade I’ve often reflected on the differences between my experiences in law school and those as an economics graduate student. The most obvious difference is that earning my Ph.D. was vastly more interesting and fun than earning my J.D. I am not criticizing my law [...]

30Jun2010 | Donald J. Boudreaux | 1 comment | Continued

Competition and the Limits of Sports Analogies

Unlike in sports where for every win there is a loss, in economic competition, a win by one firm is not completely offset by a loss for another.

3Jun2010 | Steven Horwitz | 8 comments | Continued

See? Repealing the Law of Scarcity Is Easy!

To the surprise of no one who understands Congress, ObamaCare passed, and the Usual Suspects are celebrating this leap into the abyss.

24Mar2010 | William L. Anderson | 19 comments | Continued

The Economics of Fandom

I’ve been rooting for the Chicago Cubs for about ten years now. It has been a brutal decade. I have friends who’ve been rooting for the Cubs their entire lives and they will tell you it’s been a tragedy since birth. I couldn’t help thinking about the Cubs last night as the New Orleans Saints [...]

25Jan2010 | Mike Van Winkle | 2 comments | Continued

Is the Name “Capitalism” Worth Keeping? Part 2

The deeper problem with the terms “capitalism” and “socialism” is that they don’t indicate the institutional arrangements under the systems would operate

7Jan2010 | Steven Horwitz | 21 comments | Continued

Can We Afford to Avoid the Truth?

The Times is urging us in the name of “cost reduction” to accept a huge new government expense that will affect us all in ways we cannot imagine because the regime in power declares that it will cut costs. It must be so because, well, it must be so.

16Dec2009 | William L. Anderson | 4 comments | Continued

Facebook “Virtual Currency” Good for Advocacy

“Health insurance industry trade groups opposed to President Obama’s health care reform bill are paying Facebook users fake money — called “virtual currency” — to send letters to Congress protesting the bill … Facebook users play a social game, like ‘FarmVille’ or ‘Friends For Sale.’ They get addicted to it. Eager to accelerate their progress [...]

10Dec2009 | Mike Van Winkle | 0 comments | Continued

Distress Index Updated

FEE updated the Distress Index this morning to reflect the reported increase in GDP during 2009 Q3. As you might imagine the estimated increase of 3.5% in the GDP does not dramatically change our economic situation. GDP is still down -2.3% from a year and many of the gains were driven by unsustainable government stimulus. [...]

29Oct2009 | Mike Van Winkle | 1 comment | Continued

How Much Money Does an Economy Need?

In How Much Money Does an Economy Need? Hunter Lewis addresses some of the most fundamental questions of monetary policy in a question-and-answer format. For a subject often clouded by technicalities, the language is refreshingly plain. Sometimes too plain, perhaps, to satisfy an academic economist. But academic economists aren’t the intended audience. The book can [...]

15Oct2009 | Lawrence H. White | 1 comment | Continued

Post-Clunker Slump

MSNBC is reporting retail sales have fallen to a YTD low now that the Cash for Clunkers program has ended. Is anyone surprised? The first time home buyer will probably lead to similar a collapse in home sales. That’s the problem with “stimulus,” by definition it can’t be sustained, and the subsequent crash is probably [...]

14Oct2009 | Mike Van Winkle | 1 comment | Continued

The Distress Index (A Better 'Misery' Index)

I was thinking a few months ago that FEE should develop a new and more accurate “Misery Index”. The original “Misery Index” is really not all that useful since it measures only unemployment and inflation. Deflating prices bring the index down but do not necessarily indicate a healthy economy. Sometimes it’s the opposite. We need [...]

18Sep2009 | Mike Van Winkle | 16 comments | Continued
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