The Classicist: Trump’s Unorthodox Orthodoxy

Waste, fraud, and abuse of public funds are among the oldest and most persistent issues in American history.

“Personalized pricing” is in the news. Companies use big data to figure out what you’re willing to pay and charge accordingly. Politicians are already passing laws to ban it and the Federal Trade Commission is threatening action, as usual, before understanding the phenomenon. Economists call it “price discrimination.”

Hoover Institution fellows Joshua Rauh and Benjamin Jaros found that the wealth tax could lead to an exodus of billionaires out of California, damaging the state's economy and blowing a hole in the income tax revenue the state already collects from billionaires.