Pascal's Wager is a familiar idea. It goes something like this: regardless of what you may think about the existence of God, rational cost-benefit analysis says you should sign on. After all, if you do and you're wrong, what have you lost? But if you don't and you're...
Economics
Foreign Aid Can’t Fix Bad Economics
Some myths in politics die hard. We are constantly reminded by the managerial classes that foreign aid is crucial to lifting the developing world out of poverty. With the magic wand of public spending, money is sent to the developing world in hopes of pushing these...
This Bust Wasn’t Caused by a Virus
On February 10 the stock markets were at all-time highs, with the Dow 30 at almost 30,000. The unemployment rate was at an all-time low and interest rates around most of the world were at all-time lows. With interest rates near zero for an entire decade, the value of...
This Market Never Closes
It is perfectly fine to be afraid that you or a loved one will catch a potentially life-threatening virus, and at the same time deride the government’s reaction, especially when it comes to shutting down a significant portion of the economy. That section consists of...
If Face Masks Are Mandatory, Then It’s Time to End Mask Patents
President Trump is convening with governors to reopen the economy, which will likely mean some sort of compulsory face mask order. Now is the time to seriously consider scrapping the patents on masks such as the N95. Government at all levels has severely overreacted...
We Don’t Need a Cure to Reopen
Back on March 19th, 2020, I pointed to this piece by Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas at my blog – Coordination Problem — where he states very clearly the reality constraint in public policy deliberations in the current coronavirus crisis. Without committing one way or...
Big Tech Firmly Embedded in the War State, DoD Report Shows
The Department of Defense inspector general has released a damning report on the DoD’s massive “JEDI” cloud computing project, exposing a revolving door between Amazon and the Pentagon. The DoD’s September 2017 announcement of JEDI (a catchy acronym for Joint...
Pandemic Hospital Layoffs Reveal the Prevalence of Wasteful Healthcare Spending
Aside from a few hotspots like New York City or Detroit, hospitals across the country are at such low capacities that many are laying off staff and seeing their bottom lines threatened during the current coronavirus pandemic. For instance, in my home state of North...
Podcasts
