News here in the USA has been full of the latest farce known as raising or not raising the debt ceiling. After the usual dog-and-pony show, a budget deal was reached. But was it progress? It was a foregone conclusion that the debt ceiling would be raised, yet again, for the simple mathematical reason that unless the budget is cut, via spending cuts or increases in taxes, it can do nothing else. With the budget deficit projected to be (hold on to your hat!) $1.5...
Read More »Republicans Fail on the Debt Ceiling in 2023
Despite "concerns" about increasing federal debt, in the end Republican legislators have gone along with whatever the ruling elites want. The Limit, Save and Grow Act of 2023 is more of the same. Original Article: "Republicans Fail on the Debt Ceiling in 2023" [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter
Read More »Call Rent Control What It Really Is: Theft
As reported by Reason, Colorado—one of thirty-one states that had banned its local governments from imposing rent control—is considering repealing that ban. Recent efforts to allow or impose similar controls have also taken place in New York, California, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Minnesota. However, there is a good reason that most states still ban the local imposition of rent control laws. The key reason is that the primary advantage of local determination in a...
Read More »Edmund Phelps on Egalitarianism
The classical liberal economist Edmund Phelps wants government to aid poor people, but he clearly is not an egalitarian. His philosophy would be unacceptable to today's "woke" egalitarians. Original Article: "Edmund Phelps on Egalitarianism" [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter
Read More »Wall Street to the Fed: Inflation Is Over. Give Us More Easy Money!
The federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released new price inflation data Tuesday, and according to the report, price inflation during May decelerated, coming in at the lowest year-over-year increase in twenty-six months. According to the BLS, Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rose 4.0 percent year over year in May before seasonal adjustment. That’s down from April’s year-over-year increase of 4.9 percent, and May is the twenty-seventh month in a...
Read More »China Calls Out the USA for Instigating the Infamous Color Revolutions
Despite America’s attention abroad being largely Russia-focused recently, the bigger fish to fry in Washington’s eyes is China. Even as the US pours aid package after aid package into the Ukraine conflict with one hand, it still manages to raise its other hand to wag a finger across the Pacific Ocean at its rival superpower. But like every other country in the world, China has been watching America’s cavalier foreign policy and interventionism in the past decades....
Read More »The Republican Debt-Ceiling “Deal” Is Exactly What We Expected
Contrary to the still-enduring myth about Republican budget cutting, there is no correlation whatsoever between Republican control of DC and the trajectory of federal spending. Original Article: "The Republican Debt-Ceiling "Deal" Is Exactly What We Expected" [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter
Read More »Why Barbados Advanced Economically While Jamaica’s Growth Lagged
Onlookers often cannot fathom why Barbados and Jamaica have delivered such divergent outcomes despite their similar history as former colonies of England. Both countries achieved independence in the 1960s and inherited British law and institutions. Yet Barbados eclipsed her peers to become the pride of the developing world, whereas Jamaica recorded years of anemic growth and institutional degradation. However, digging deeper into history reveals that Barbados pursued...
Read More »Austrian Economics Research Conference 2024
The Austrian Economics Research Conference is the international, interdisciplinary meeting of the Austrian school, bringing together leading scholars doing research in this vibrant and influential intellectual tradition. 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the South Royalton Austrian Economics Conference. In honor of this landmark event, there will be sessions and lectures dedicated to evaluating the advances of Austrian economics over the last half century. The...
Read More »Don’t Get on the Nationalist Bus
Like so many others in the "national greatness" movement, Christopher Buskirk understands some of the problems the country faces but fails to grasp the solutions. Original Article: "Don’t Get on the Nationalist Bus" [embedded content] Tags: Featured,newsletter
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