Governments don’t like it when citizens emigrate to escape high taxes and other government-imposed costs. Governments would much rather keep productive citizens and their money at home. Bigger countries find it’s much easier to keep us in.
Mathematical economic models have a poor record of making accurate predictions, which makes sense since human action cannot be quantified by numbers. On the other hand, an understanding of sound economics can help us make good qualitative predictions.
Japan finally joined the US and the EU in their grand 2-percent-inflation-forever experiment in 2005. Many Japanese politicians have benefited from this. Meanwhile, nothing has been done in Japan to actually help the economy defend itself against the next economic disaster.
All that is necessary for free trade to flourish is for governments to get out of the business of punishing people who import goods without government approval. We don’t need a system of government agreements and regulations like the Trans Pacific Partnership.
Many still maintain that the developing world is being exploited by free markets, and that the humane solution is more foreign aid. In fact, free markets are nowhere to be found in the developing world, and we find much poverty as a result.
The European Central Bank is continuing with its negative interest rate policy, but it's not having the desired effect. Instead, the central bank is just filling the void by buying up government debt with newly created money.
Economic populists have become skilled at causing economic calamities while escaping the blame. Instead, it’s the non-populists that end up picking up the pieces while getting the blame for the unemployment and wealth destruction that follows in the wake of populist economic policies.
Many economists have many theories about why economic growth in many advanced economies is stagnating. Some seem to think it’s irreversible, but a good look at creeping government regulation might offer a few hints as to the true cause.
David Cameron’s razor-thin win in the UK elections means he’s had to promise a new referendum on EU membership. If the UK were to leave the EU, it may trigger Scottish secession and a major shift in the EU balance of power.
Economists long ago disproved the idea that if the rich get a bigger slice of pie, everyone else’s slice must be getting smaller. In fact, the data continues to show that inequality and growth are not at odds.
