William Baumol, former professor of economics at Princeton and NYU, has passed away at the age of 95. Throughout his long career he contributed to many fields in economics, and he leaves behind an influential body of research on numerous topics relating to innovation and economic growth. He will mostly likely be remembered by Austrians, however, for his repeated calls to economists for more research on the role of the entrepreneur—calls that, sadly, have gone mostly unanswered.

The US House of Representatives voted today to “repeal and replace” Obamacare. Unfortunately, those who use the phrase “repeal and replace” are greatly exaggerating the extent to which the Affordable Care Act is actually repealed. 

While perhaps a tiny step in the right direction, the new legislation signals no departure whatsoever from the long-established trend of expanding the role of government programs in subsidizing and regulating the healthcare industry. 

It’s no secret that in coastal cities — plus some interior cities like Denver — rents and home prices are up significantly since 2009. In many areas, prices are above what they were at the peak of the last housing bubble.

About a year ago Trump committed what some economic pundits considered his greatest gaffe, suggesting that the US may not pay back all of its debt. According to Serious People at the time, the very notion was “stupid and ridiculous,” “insane,” and a threat to “

During the course of their lives, most people will at some point borrow money at interest in order to spread the cost of a major purchase. This has been true for decades in the case of mortgages to buy a house, and similar borrowing and deferred payment methods have been introduced for an increasing number of high-price products, such as cars and electrical appliances, over the intervening years.

At 2:00 pm Eastern, the FOMC made their policy announcement as their meeting came to an end. As expected the Fed did not raise the Federal Funds rate target at this May meeting. 

This is Part One of a two-part series. Part Two is here.

Venezuela’s current economic catastrophe is well documented. Conventional narratives point to Hugo Chávez’s regime as the primary architect behind Venezuela’s economic tragedy. While Chávez and his successor Nicolás Maduro deserve the brunt of the blame for Venezuela’s current economic calamity, the underlying flaws of Venezuela’s political economy point to much more systemic problems.

French voters are about to decide who will be president for the next five years, and it is always interesting to see how the electoral campaign is an excellent occasion for mainstream political commentators to remind us how crucial voting is and how it will supposedly allow people to take back control over their own lives. Citizens who denigrate the electoral process are seen as capricious children who are not able to see how lucky they are compared to human beings still living under barbaric, bellicose, and non-democratic regimes around the world.

The history of civilization is the record of a ceaseless struggle for liberty.