One of the most unexamined—and almost unmentioned—economic realities of post-gold standard America is the change in America's economic growth rate since the gold window closed in 1971. Does inflation change the rate of economic growth? The Federal Reserve Bank claims...
Economics
Inflation as State-Sponsored Terrorism
by Jeff Deist | Sep 8, 2022 | Economics, Featured Articles
Remember the quaint old days of 2019? We were told the U.S. economy was in great shape. Inflation was low, jobs were plentiful, GDP was growing. And frankly, if covid had not come along, there is a pretty good chance Donald Trump would have been reelected. At an event...
A Naked Handout to the Managerial Class
by William Anderson | Aug 30, 2022 | Economics, Featured Articles, Politics
When I interviewed for a teaching job at private college in Alabama more than twenty years ago, the recently elected governor had won partly on a platform in which the state would install a lottery system that would give students a $3,000 grant for college. As the...
TGIF: The Coming New and Improved IRS
by Sheldon Richman | Aug 19, 2022 | Economics, Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
The brilliant people in the Biden administration and the U.S. Congress have decided that one thing America really needs is an Internal Revenue Service (!) fortified by 87,000 more employees and 80 billion more dollars so it can help reduce the inflation that currently...
How Much Worse Can the Economy Get?
by Peter St. Onge | Aug 18, 2022 | Economics, Featured Articles
The most important question for asset prices right now, from stocks to houses to Bitcoin, is whether we’re due for a recession. Last week we got confirmation that according to the traditional definition of a recession—two quarters of negative growth—we are already in...
A Prize System as a Solution to Drug Patents
by Dakota Hensley | Aug 10, 2022 | Economics, Featured Articles
Drugs are expensive. A vial of insulin can be up to $250 and a pack of pens can be up to $500. Every month, many families decide between life and food. For a country as rich as ours this is a disgrace and a moral crime. The culprit is the pharmaceutical monopoly. With...
After a National Divorce, Where Does the Debt Go?
by Ryan McMaken | Aug 4, 2022 | Economics, Featured Articles
The topic of secession has become increasing more common in recent years as various regions and minority populations (e.g., California and Texas) has openly suggested breaking away from the United States. The idea is forwarded with varying levels of seriousness, but...
The Fake China Threat and Its Very Real Danger
by Joseph Solis-Mullen | Jul 25, 2022 | Economics, Featured Articles, Foreign Policy
From the front pages of The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, the Economist, to The New York Times’ Best Sellers List; from CNN and MSNBC to FOX and NEWSMAX; from think tanks to Pentagon planners, congressional testimonies and White House...