Interest rates paid on state and local bonds are much lower than the 4.78% paid by the U.S. federal government.
Read MoreOpportunity cost also helps explain seemingly puzzling decisions.
Read MoreGeorge Will agreed that government intervention in the economy has become a bipartisan habit.
Natural disasters typically cause permanent economic losses, though wealthier communities can absorb them better.
Economic theory predicts that when prices are held below market-clearing levels, shortages emerge.
Accounting profit is the amount left after a business pays its explicit costs, such as wages, materials, utilities and taxes.
When skilled workers and businesses cluster together, they tend to make each other more productive; economists call this agglomeration.
In a similar vein, most recognize the benefits of living in a society where basic literacy and numeracy are universal.
Temporary infrastructure bottlenecks currently give many suppliers short-term leverage.
Since Donald Trump’s emergence on the national political scene in 2015, DSA membership has increased to more than 120,000.
We are celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence can be thought of as a framework for understanding when societies should change the rules that govern economic and political life. The Declaration states “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable […]
For most of history, adopting an innovation without the ruling class’s permission was unthinkable.
Once you believe the other side is motivated by hatred rather than just different values, compromise becomes nearly impossible.
Social Security was designed as insurance against the financial risks of living to an advanced age, not as a comprehensive income source.
Over time, these limits on government powers were extended to the states.
Fewer people ask what causes economic prosperity.
Induced demand occurs when increasing the supply of a good lowers its price, leading to higher consumption.
Many, if not most, economists believe that for inflation to increase because of an unexpected oil price rise or larger federal deficit — or for that matter, pretty much anything — the Federal Reserve Bank must accommodate the “shock” by expanding the money supply.
Cash flow gives for-pay operators a stronger incentive to keep air machines operational.
Transfer costs are the costs of completing the exchange once a trading partner has been found.
When demand increases or supply decreases, the equilibrium price rises.
Scarce goods must be rationed between competing users, and markets use prices to ration scarce eggs among competing buyers.
