U.S. Economy

A modern misconception of antebellum slavery is that it “built the country.” Actually, the institution of slavery, economically speaking, was a deadweight loss to the US economy.

Mark Thornton explores the continuing negative impacts of the ongoing US embargo against Cuba and how getting rid of this Cold War policy could benefit the peoples of Cuba, the US, and others. Viva Cuba Libre!

As Donald Trump prepares to take office again, we await the damage that surely will happen should he go through with his threats to levy historically-high tariffs against everyone else. One hopes good economic sense prevails.

The Federal Reserve has welcomed the New Year by more of the same. As government spending continues to explode, the Fed enables it with its usual financial tricks.

Bob looks at the misconceptions and misuses of GDP accounting, explaining why this widely accepted metric often paints a misleading picture of economic health.

Americans and Cubans have been deprived of trade and travel. Who benefits?

In November, employed workers flatlined yet again as full-time work dropped for the tenth month in a row. Naturally, the Fed plans interest rate cuts. 

Antitrust law is being touted as an answer to our inflationary economy. Unfortunately, as Austrians have noted, antitrust law does nothing to bolster competition and actually makes the economy less competitive.

We should make every effort to legalize competition to the US dollar and participate in the debate over the fiat dollar, precious metals, and cryptocurrencies. It may sound like only “money,” but it has everything to do with living in a free and prosperous society. Let the competition begin.

We may be in the New Year, but James Bovard is not ready to put the craziness of 2024 in his rearview mirror. Here are some epigrams he wrote to explain the madness of an election year.