Economics

Give Thanks to Price Gougers

by Fergus Hodgson September 7, 2011

Some things never cease to amaze me, for example, the willingness of state officials to vilify and prosecute those who dare to raise prices during an emergency. As far as superficial demagoguery and economic illiteracy go, those initiatives are right up there. Thirty-one states have some form of anti-price-gouging law, and a recent statement from North ...

Is There a Right to Earn a Living?

by George Leef September 3, 2011

The Right to Earn a Living: Economic Freedom and the Law by Timothy Sandefur (Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute, 2010) Is there a right to earn a living? Most Americans would answer, “Of course there is, but ...” Following that “but” you would get a long list of exceptions and qualifications that whittle away at the right, such as “but ...

Debt and Financial Repression

by Tim Kelly September 1, 2011

Despite all the Sturm und Drang surrounding this summer’s debate concerning the debt limit, there was never any doubt that Congress would vote to increase it. It was all political theater because there was never the political will on Capitol Hill to impose the kind of spending cuts that would have been necessary had it not been raised. So the ...

Paul Krugman and Military Keynesianism

by Tim Kelly August 30, 2011

The Princeton economist Paul Krugman recently appeared on CNN’s GPS hosted by Fareed Zakaria and offered up this pearl of economic wisdom: It’s very hard to get inflation in a depressed economy. But if you had a program of government spending plus an expansionary policy by the Fed, you could get that. So, if you think about using all of ...

The Continuing Economic Depression, Part 2

by William L. Anderson June 18, 2011

Part 1 | Part 2 Contrary to popular belief, economic downturns in a free-market economy do not linger or continue for many years. The Great Depression was “great” because government policies made sure that the calamity became ingrained in American life for a decade. One can only hope that the present economic difficulties in the United States will not ...

The Continuing Economic Depression, Part 1

by William L. Anderson May 16, 2011

Part 1 | Part 2 More than three years ago, it became clear that the housing bubble was about to burst, and that the U.S. economy would be in for a very rough patch. In the three years since the collapse of the financial entities behind the mortgage boom, we have seen the U.S. government spend trillions of dollars ...

Not Even the Sky Is the Limit

by Laurence M. Vance May 11, 2011

The scheduled launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour last month was supposed to be notable, not just because it was to be the last launch of this particular shuttle, but because of two special guests who traveled to the Space Center to witness the now-delayed launch. President Obama traveled to Florida for the launch, as did Gabrielle Giffords, the member ...

Rehabilitating Lochner: Defending Individual Rights Against Progressive Reform (video)

by David E. Bernstein February 16, 2011

On February 7, 2011, David E. Bernstien gave the following speech at The Future of Freedom Foundation’s “Economic Liberty Lecture Series.” The speech can viewed below in its entirety. David E. Bernstein is Foundation Professor at the George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, Virginia, where he has been teaching since 1995. He was a Visiting Professor at ...

The Physiocrats

by Wendy McElroy December 1, 2010

The Physiocrats, a group of 18th-century French economists, are often credited with founding Western political economy — the study of “laws” governing the production and distribution of wealth. The word “law” is not used in a legal sense. Rather it refers to a principle or governing rule, much as one might speak of the laws of physics. The Greek word ...

Obamanomics: Growing the Pie or Dividing the Pie? (Video)

by Jeffrey A. Miron November 17, 2010

On November 15, 2010, Jeffrey A. Miron gave the following speech at The Future of Freedom Foundations Economic Liberty Lecture Series. The speech can viewed below in its entirety. Jeffrey A. Miron is Senior Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Economics at Harvard University and a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. Miron has previously ...

Liberty, Legislation, and Law (video)

by Don Boudreaux October 10, 2010

On October 4, 2010, Donald J. Boudreaux gave the following speech at The Future of Freedom Foundations Economic Liberty Lecture Series. The speech can viewed below in its entirety. Professor Donald J. Boudreaux was the Chairman of the Department of Economics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, from August 2001 to August 2009. Previously, he was president of ...

War Does Not Produce Prosperity

by Sheldon Richman October 8, 2010

Many bad ideas go under the rubric “Keynesian economics,” but perhaps the worst is that government spending — no matter what kind — can genuinely stimulate of an economy and increase the general welfare. To see how ridiculous this idea is, have a look at what the leading Progressive Keynesian, Paul Krugman, and leading conservative Keynesian, Martin Feldstein, agree on: ...