Frederic Bastiat, a 19th century French economist, wrote this in his book “The Law:” “See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen […]
Headlines about the Federal Reserve coming to the economic rescue of the United States have dominated media. Consumers can tell the economy isn’t healthy because they pay increasing amounts for such necessities as fuel, groceries, housing and utilities. Headlines would have people believe the Federal Reserve can solve the problem. That confidence might be misplaced, […]
Journalist and author Henry Hazlitt offered in his book “Economics in One Lesson” this insight. “The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate, but at the longer effects of any act or policy,” Hazlitt wrote. “It consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group, but for […]
Alex Epstein observes in his new book “Fossil Future” a paradox: “… our culture has infinitely more interest in the fate of polar bear habitats than it has in 3 billion people without energy.” As Epstein points out, anyone knowledgeable about the state of the world today must acknowledge that more human beings are flourishing […]
Skyrocketing gasoline prices. Exploding home prices and rents. Escalating food costs. Inflationary trends have dominated the thoughts of most people for the past two years. Sometimes citizens make a plaintive outcry for the government to do something, anything, to ease suffering. It’s ironic, though, to ask government to manage out-of-control prices when government interference is […]
Buying a car can be one of the most exciting large purchases consumers make. Consumers research designs, features and costs to meet their needs. There’s an array of choices — something for everyone, it seems. The situation could change, though, if the executive order to follow the California Resources Board agenda signed by former Colorado […]
Recent headlines posed the question: Is the United States dollar in danger? Corresponding newspaper and cable television reports raised concerns over the possibility the U.S. dollar could no longer serve as the world’s reserve currency. What does it mean to be the world’s reserve currency? According to “A Primer on Reserve Currencies” by Brent Radcliffe, […]
Have you ever noticed that products advertised as new and improved rarely are? Definitions of words and phrases constantly change to modify or gloss over original meanings. Politicians masters this. The same thing happens in economics. The policy of supply-side economics stressing limited government regulations and low taxes has been in use since the founding […]
An unprecedented number of “help wanted” signs appear in every town and city across America and even on billboards along the interstate highways. Flights are cancelled because there are insufficient flight crews to operate the planes. Supplies are limited at retail outlets due to a lack of manpower to work docks, drive trucks and unload […]
Jean Baptiste Colbert, financial minister to Louis XIV, is credited with saying, “The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers with the least amount of hissing.” A tax is defined as a compulsory contribution to state revenue, levied by the government on workers’ income and […]