This article is a version of a speech delivered at the 2024 Mises Institute Supporters Summit.
“Most economists are political apologists masquerading as economists,” wrote Doug Casey in one of his columns. “They prescribe the way they would like the world to work and tailor theories to help politicians demonstrate the virtue and necessity of their quest for power.”
Abstract:
This article investigates the veracity of three claims made by current and former government officials in the context of the 2023 debt-ceiling debates: it would be unconstitutional to enforce the debt ceiling; the U.S. government has never defaulted; and there are no measures that could be taken to avoid a government default except raising the debt limit. None of these claims is true.
There were a few seemingly tense moments at the FOMC press conference on Thursday when two reporters asked Jerome Powell about the prospect of Donald Trump asking Powell to resign. The first reporter asked “would you resign if asked to do so by Donald Trump?” To this, Powell responded with a resounding “no” followed by silence. A few moments later, Powell was asked by another reporter if it was lawful for Trump to either remove or “demote”—that is, remove Powell as chairman, but leave him on the Board of Governors—Powell.
Many media outlets emphasize discrimination as the leading barrier to women’s achievements, capturing widespread attention despite empirical evidence that suggests otherwise. Proposed solutions often include gender quotas, anti-discrimination laws, and other interventions aimed at addressing institutional sexism.
James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock’s The Calculus of Consent—published over sixty years ago in 1962—has been one of the most influential books that apply economic ideas to politics. The authors were by no means libertarians, but they favored, for the most part, a limited state and the free market. An additional point in their favor was that both authors read my book reviews.
