U.S. Economy
Scroogenomics: The Economics of Holiday Gifts
With this analysis of gift giving, we're reminded that mainstream economists seem hell-bent on reforming anything they haven't already screwed up.
Wojciech Kopczuk Explains Why Economists Have Such Different Estimates of Inequality in Wealth Concentration and Tax Payments
Bob Murphy interviews researcher and Columbia economics professor Wojciech Kopczuk.
The ABC of a Market Economy
This immense cooperative system is known as a free-market economy. It was not consciously planned by anybody. It evolved.
Conservatism: A Vanishing Tradition
Today's neoconservatives have found common cause with the Left in destroying those who disagree with them. In fact, this habit of denying a forum to any and all dissenters has a long tradition in the conservative movement.
Rob Bradley on His Contributions to Energy Economics, Rothbard as Dissertation Chair, and Enron as a Postmodern Corporation
Bob Murphy interviews Rob Bradley, the world's leading expert in energy economics in the Austrian tradition.
The Feds Spend More on National-Debt Interest Than You Think
As the government continues to pile up trillion dollar deficits, when interest rates return to a historical norm, interest payments on the national debt may exceed payments to Social Security recipients.
The American Middle Class Isn’t Disappearing — But it’s Not All Good News
Middle-income households and workers haven't been disappearing. They've been moving into higher income levels, while the lowest-income groups have been getting smaller. But another recession could erase many of the gains made over 20 years.
The Problem with Elizabeth Warren’s Wealth-Tax Plan
Elizabeth Warren's wealth tax is based on the idea that the government knows how to use wealth better than the private sector. The plan also ignores that the wealthy have been shown to flee countries with a wealth tax.