Economic Policy

Bastiat reminded his readers that economic analysis involves not just what we see on the surface, but also the costs that are hidden from view.

Brian Albrecht joins Bob to discuss the work of this year's Nobel (Memorial) Prize Winner Claudia Goldin, with an emphasis on the male-female wage gap.

On yet another crusade, US authorities have sanctioned Chinese cotton imports. The sanctions won't change Chinese policies but they will create hardships for many.

Is a true populist US government on the horizon? Probably not.

In the wake of the Arab Oil Embargo of 50 years ago, Congress banned U.S. export sales of crude oil. The results were different than what government "experts" imagined.

Jonathan Newman rejoins Bob to explore more of the mechanics and political implications of the Fed's current state of insolvency.

Christianity Today magazine enthusiastically endorses government-enforced family leave, calling it “pro-family.” Government coercion, however, is still violence, not something to be championed.

While central banks use administered interest rates in hopes of emulating the natural rate, these efforts are always going to fail. Without free markets, there is no natural rate.

Some free-market advocates are pushing for dollarization in Argentina. But the devastating US sanctions against Panama in 1989 show us how dollarization helps the US exercise more hegemonic power over foreign economies. 

The US government doesn't just blow money in the US. Indeed, the reach of its wasteful spending spans the globe, and Congress seems incapable of stopping it.