On March 6th, the Bank of Canada (BoC) announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1.75 %. The next rate announcement is scheduled for April 24th, by which time it will have been six months since the BoC’s last rate increase.

Recently, 2020 Democratic presidential contender Andrew Yang appeared on Fox News . During the segment, Yang asserted that the increase in the amount of technology in the private sector, e.g., artificial intelligence, has lead to an increase in unemployment. Like the other candidates in the Democratic primary, Yang embodies the same principles of economic interventionism, though attempting to differentiate his views from those of his counterparts on the left.

Recently, a dozen sheriffs in Washington State announced that they would refuse to enforce the newly passed referendum 1639 which raised the legal age of purchasing a firearm of any sort to 21, expanded background check requirements, increased the waiting period and mandated weapon storage when not in active use. Predictably, political proponents immediately threatened these sheriffs, who were hired to enforce county, not State, laws, with legal action.

The State of Oregon is on the precipice of “solving” its housing shortage with state-wide rent control . It would be the first state to do so. The policy is being sold as a way to make housing more affordable in a state where three of its cities, Eugene, Portland, and Salem, are ranked among the forty most expensive housing markets on the planet.

Brexit has caused some turbulent political times in Westminster, but the hole left by the UK in Brussels will be felt throughout the continent.

[Originally  published in Volume 5, No. 1 (Spring 2002) of the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics.]

2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang has been making the rounds on talk shows and popular podcasts like the Joe Rogan Experience over the past month. The key platform of his candidacy is what his team has branded “The Freedom Dividend.” This promise of a $1,000/month government payout for every American adult over the age of 18 is nothing more than a rebranding of what is commonly known as the Universal Basic Income (UBI).

Could historical data by itself serve as the basis for the factual assessments of the world of economics? It is believed that through the application of statistical methods on historical data, or just by gazing at the data, one could extract the facts of reality regarding the world of economics. But in order to really make sense of the data one must have a theory, which stands on its own feet, and did not originate from the data. By means of a theory, one could scrutinize the data and could then try to make sense out of it.