As the member states of the EU begin to shut their internal borders to their neighbors, we're reminded that state-to-state open borders in a place like the US do come with a downside.
By announcing that it is willing to throw up to $1.5 trillion in electronically created money in order to give three-month loans to those institutions that bought Treasury debt earlier, the Fed is bailing out not only the holders of Treasury debt, but also the Treasury itself.
As the nation-states take the brunt of their economic collapses on the chin, they will begin to realise that the EU superstate is little more than an obstructive and costly irrelevance.
With both major political parties seemingly uninterested in the long-term fiscal stability of the United States, the only near-term solution for the spendthrift class in Washington, DC, is to either raise taxes or spend recklessly.
If he were honest, rather than declaring that "America will never be a socialist country," Trump would simply say, "my socialism is better than Bernie's socialism."
Market entrepreneurship is what generates net value in society, whereas social entrepreneurship is primarily the use of that value.
The Italians could learn some lessons about healthcare from the South Koreans, who still maintain a robust private market in health insurance. Although the Koreans have relatively ample resources for COVID-19 patients, Italy's state-dominated system is quickly running out of options.
Remember how election day used to be a day of national relief, no matter who won? Regular people were happy that our political warring was over for a while, at least. But we don't live in that country anymore.
Choosing between labor and leisure is not like choosing between apples and oranges. Many people like both kinds of fruit. But labor involves disutility, so a better choice is this: between apples and rotten oranges.
Although shocks can disrupt the pace of economic activity, they have nothing to do with the phenomenon of recurrent boom-bust cycles. The cycle requires something more. A central bank, for instance.
