To be sure there are probably two factors at work here. One is tariffs and the other is the fact that auto loan delinquencies are rising and people need cheaper cars.
Oh, I know, you aren’t really against free trade per se. You just demand a “level playing field.” The Chinese cheat by raising tariffs against our goods and subsidizing key industries that they want to dominate. In the process, they destroy our high-paying “manufacturing jobs.” To such statements, I have three objections.
In a recent article on the failed California Bullet Train project, I noted that its promoters are depending heavily upon bureaucratic inertia to keep construction going even after cost overruns have skyrocketed. Not surprisingly, even though continuing with the rail system will place more than $100 billion of debt on the state’s taxpayers, politicians and people currently benefiting from the construction of the line from Bakersfield to Merced continue to sing its praises.
“the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 4-1/4 to 4-1/2 percent.” Click here for post-FOMC press conference.
Proponents of modern monetary theory (MMT) think that money is a “creature of the state.” They say that money is whatever the state says it is, and that this is instituted primarily through taxation. For them, money is “that which [the state] accepts at public pay offices (mainly, in payment of taxes).”
The conventional definition of inflation—as a sustained rise in the general price level, tracked through metrics like the Consumer Price Index—dominates economic discourse, reducing human behavior to statistical trends. Neoclassical and Keynesian models emphasize macroeconomic factors—money supply growth, demand shocks, or cost pressures—while largely ignoring the purposeful actions of individuals.
Free markets and free minds must push back against the mercantilist and populist policies associated with current Keynesians; we must draw upon the foundational ideas of economists such as Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, Israel Kirzner, and Murray Rothbard. These thinkers championed key principles of voluntary exchange, competition, and minimal government intervention, asserting that such a framework is essential for promoting economic prosperity and individual freedom, not to mention the great importance of the profit-and-loss system of the stock exchange.
Today, after nearly two decades of implementation and delays, the federal government’s new identification requirements for traveling by plane domestically or entering federal buildings technically go into effect. This federally-compliant ID card—known as Real ID—can only be attained with specific records and documents laid out by the federal government. It’s labeled by a black or gold star in the upper right corner.
