There is something about monetary phenomena that make them a particularly misunderstood aspect of economic life. Deflation is no exception. There seems to be little understanding as to what it is, what causes it, and whether or not it is something that should be prevented. The effects of deflation, like the quality of drinking water, cannot be considered without regard to its source.
Don't expect Amtrak to go away any time soon, despite the facts that its demise would be a cause of rejoicing for most of the country and that there is no justification for federal involvement in transportation found anywhere in the Constitution. The power of entrenched bureaucrats to create dependents of both politicians and their voters underscores a major reason why.
Terrorists killed nearly three thousand people on September 11, 2001, but more than three thousand died in the year 2001 waiting for a kidney transplant. Mark Thornton reports that these deaths are largely avoidable, via a market for organs.
Special-interest-group pleading often tries to hide behind supposedly economic arguments. It is important to debunk such arguments as they arise so that the interest group politics can be seen for what it is. In the spirit of Bastiat's Economic Sophisms, Gene Callahan offers the following.
Errors are an inevitable part of human action, writes Gene Callahan. If the future were certain, we would not need to act. Yet many economic models assume all economic actors possess perfect information, all plans are coordinated, and all adjustments to new data are made instantly and without cost.
As soon as Abraham Lincoln and the new Republican Party gained power, the average tariff rate was quickly raised from a nominal 15 percent to 47 percent and higher, and remained at such levels for decades after the war. South Carolinian John C. Calhoun's free-trade arguments, as eloquent and advanced as they were, were no match for a federal military arsenal.
Southwest Airlines announced that as of June 26, "persons of size" who fly with them will have to purchase an additional seat if they cannot fit into one. Thomas Woods reports that this prompted the discrimination police to their usual hysterics. After all, they say, bulimic people do not receive a discount for using up less.
Ted Roberts asks why his president, my congressman, my governor, the Postmaster General, or the county tax assessor isn't as eager to hear his opinions as a manufacturer of sugared, cola-flavored water? Politicians seem oblivious to the charms of consumer prejudices, but giants like Pepsi, and even local mom-and-pop barbecue caterers, whirl like a weather vane in their currents.
The Swedes, we have been told, enjoy free medical care, generous welfare benefits, time off from work, and subsidies for just about everything. According to a recent study, however, the cat is out of the bag: relative to families in the United States, Swedish family income is considerably less.
Ask farmers in China, and they will tell you that the really bad apples don't come from Washington state. The bad apples come from Washington, D.C. That's because, just as with steel, our government recently imposed rules designed to drive out foreign apple producers. J.C. Robbins explains.
