The National Debt Limit Equals a Balanced Budget
byOnce again the United States government is rapidly approaching a fiscal debt ceiling: After March 16, 2017, Uncle Sam will not be legally allowed…
Economics
Land-use restrictions, agricultural subsidies and free trade
byOne of the greatest barriers to free trade is agricultural subsidies since they are politically venomous to remove due to the perception that their…
Balance of payments and the exchange rate: is there a connection?
byAccording to conventional analysis, a key factor in exchange rate determination is the state of the balance of payments. It is held that as…
Central banks and money creation is there any connection?
byAccording to traditional economics textbooks, the current monetary system amplifies the initial monetary injections of money. The popular story goes as follows: if the…
Arguments against the Minimum Wage
byArguing against the Minimum Wage has often been the preserve of the ‘right’ (presuming the simplistic and problematic left-right dichotomy that we impose as…
Toward Tax Freedom and Justice
byImproving Tax Choice through a more democratically-just, rules-based fiscal policy. Summary Although considerable resources are expended upon attempting to influence Government spending, advocacy of…
Benn Steil: Mini Mac Trumps the Big Mac
byThe “law of one price” holds that identical goods should trade for the same price in an efficient market. But how well does it…
Central Banks Pray for Electoral “Shocks”. Forced to Nationalise Monte dei Paschi, Italy Looks in Trouble, but Cleverly Plays its Sicilian Defence.
byCentral Banking How will Central Banks cope with 2017 shocks? Perhaps new rules, one-off solutions, doubtless lots more QE. Populism will perhaps be their…
Italy Needs a Dose of Bugatti Capitalism
byby Marcia Christoff-Kurapovna There is a peculiar intellectual and emotional revulsion that comes with reading about Italy’s endless cycle of economic and political woes…
Economic Ideas: Thomas Malthus on Population, Passions, Property and Politics
byThose of us who have been fortunate enough to have been born in what is often still referred to as the Western World (Europe…