An old, but forever crucial, question for monetary policy is whether it should be rules-based or purely discretionary. The Economist, in a Free Exchange article this week with the title “Rule It Out,” goes all in for pure discretion, abandoning rules-based strategy. It’s a new view compared to previous articles over the years in the magazine and, more imprtantly, not based on any new facts.
Hillary has assumed the position of a tired vice president in waiting, without any of the perks that might accrue from a lame duck president to his dutiful VP.
Most economists are familiar with the late Garrett Hardin's classic article, "The Tragedy of the Commons" (see Tragedy of the Commons). Hardin's idea was that when no one owns a resource, it is overused because no one can control its usage and each person has an incentive to use it before others do.
The first book I read on my current vacation at my cottage is Bill Bryson's One Summer, subtitled America, 1927. It's his story about various events in the United States in 1927. I've been a fan of his travel writing; my favorite is his book on Australia, In a Sunburned Country, which I read twice after visiting Australia.
MikeDC, the person for whom I wrote my original post, writes: Daniel Kuehn and Hazel Meade pretty straightforwardly state my objection. I think I'd just reiterate that the problem comes when the equilibrium wage is sufficiently low that the optimal trade off David suggests would seem to no longer work.
Over the past few weeks, I have been up to my neck in encryption. Usually, when a public policy issue consumes me like this, it’s because I have taken a strong position on it of one sort or another—one with which people disagree—and the result is a debate.
Hoover Institution fellow Victor Davis Hanson discusses the performance of Carly Fiorina and how she appears to be the only candidate pointing out Hillary Clinton's weaknesses.
Summer Brennan, author of The Oyster War, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about her book and the fight between the Drakes Bay Oyster Company and the federal government over farming oysters in the Point Reyes National Seashore
Despite almost zero interest rates and quantitative easing (bond-buying in the market, commonly known as money printing) provided by the European Central Bank (ECB) in recent times, monetary policy remains tight for Southern Europe.
While many countries in what used to be called the Third World remain stuck in the same poverty and ethnic strife that characterized them in the immediate post-colonial era, Singapore stands out for its rapid rise to prosperity and peaceful embrace of diversity.
In the record-setting GOP debate Thursday, the most interesting and impassioned moments were about global security. Is it a sign that America’s political center of gravity is shifting overseas, and away from pocketbook issues?
Businessman Donald Trump had been on the program, but late Friday RedState’s Erick Erickson said he was withdrawing his invitation because of a comment Trump made earlier that evening about Fox News debate moderator Megyn Kelly.
A reader poses an interesting question: Dr. Helen, Do you ever think or worry (not that this is the right way to couch it) that where we are going with the feminizing of males, vs. the world at large, i.e. ISIS etc. what the long term implications are for America?
“Bureaucracy destroys initiative. There is little that bureaucrats hate more than innovation, especially innovation that produces better results than the old routines. Improvements always make those at the top of the heap look inept. Who enjoys appearing inept?” – Frank Herbert, Heretics of Dune
Is regulation by the EPA’s Clean Power Plan the best choice to help us breathe easier? A carbon-fee-and-dividend plan advocated by George P. Shultz, former secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan, is a free-market plan with a fee on dirty energy that recycles 100 percent of revenue back to American households.
mentioning Eric Hanushekvia Washington Wire (Wall Street Journal)
Saturday, August 8, 2015
In a recent Think Tank piece, I focused on two ways to boost long-term economic growth: more risk-taking by larger companies, and more start-ups. Neither is easy to accomplish, nor for government to immediately change.
History books can be historic events, making history by ending important arguments. They can make it impossible for any intellectually honest person to assert certain propositions that once enjoyed considerable currency among people purporting to care about evidence.
