The popular media lately has been full of astonishing piffle with regard to taxation—so much so that a reasonably smart listener might suppose there was some magnificent disagreement among economists, like there is among lawyers in a court case. That is not the case.
It would be surprising if we could not today identify a good many folks who rely on government largesse in lieu of hard work.
Reaching an agreement on our budget deficit requires one or both sides to concede central parts of their arguments.
The potential for widespread municipal bankruptcies and the effective bankruptcy of as many as a dozen states will present historic difficulties for the nation, and much will depend on effective leadership from the president.
Just days before a presidential election, there’s no doubt we will be bombarded with poll results and election models designed to predict winners and losers. It is useful to explain how these work without technical jargon.
The economy in 2013 is likely to mirror the slow-growing one of this year, economists from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business predicted Thursday morning. And it could be even worse.
The facts by themselves offer no cause or understanding of the issue, much less an explanation of potential policy interventions.
The proximal causes of poverty—dropping out of school (one in five kids) and single parenthood (two in five kids)—are best described as failures of families.
Let me dispel the myth of a conspiracy to rig unemployment numbers. I have two reasons to know these data are not contrived.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke in Indianapolis on Oct. 1, and I was lucky enough to sit with a group of smart folks during his talk. I found three elements particularly interesting.
No new business employing U.S. citizens will heal urban decay in many Midwestern cities.
If schools are to get better—and they must—we’ll have to ask more of teachers, parents and students as well as taxpayers.
A reader recently suggested that I write a critique of corporations akin to that offered for unions. That is a fine idea, so I will begin with a couple of points:
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke recently spoke of a slowing world economy at the annual fete of world economists in Jackson Hole, Wyo. His speech was the typical measured prose of someone whose choice of adverbs has the capacity to send markets diving. However, to an experienced listener, two interesting tidbits emerged.
In this column, on a sunny Labor Day five years past, I asserted that the American labor movement was dead. Given what has transpired since, it would appear my diagnosis was a bit optimistic.
The measurement of value in an artistic endeavor will always lie in the hearts of men and women.
This week, students are arriving at my university and others. I believe this is a good time to say something both provocative and nuanced: A college diploma is virtually worthless.
The recession that ended three years ago this summer has been followed by the feeblest economic recovery since the Great Depression. Growth has never been weaker in a postwar recovery. Consumer spending has never been so slack. Only once has job growth been slower.
The hullabaloo over gay marriage and Chick-fil-A exposes three astonishing falsehoods of modern political economy that distract us from weightier issues.
This summer marks the 50th year of Walmart, America’s manned space exploration and—youthful appearances notwithstanding—your columnist.
