Economics

Before members of Congress leave for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, they are to take a test in economic literacy: their vote on extending the tax cuts President Bush proposed and Congress voted for in 2003, including the current maximum 15 percent long-term capital gains tax rate. The tax cuts worked very well in revitalizing the economy, which has Read More ›

Slough (meaning muddy field), England, is not a lovely place. It is east of London, a bit beyond Heathrow Airport — a glum commuter town. The BBC, in a made-for-television social experiment, “Making Slough Happy,” is trying to make Slough a happier place by giving the town group therapy, bizarre as that may seem. I am all for happiness (mine Read More ›

Have you noticed Congress and administrations periodically claim they will save a great deal in some government program by ending “waste, fraud, and abuse,” and then provide a “number” representing the obtainable savings? Yet few ever ask how the waste, fraud, and abuse got there in the first place, and why they are not taken out of every other government Read More ›

This article, published by The Claremont Institute, mentions Discovery Institute Senior Fellow George Gilder: Around this time, another revolution was underway, one that would also change how Republicans viewed government. This was supply-side economics — —or “Reaganomics.” Ronald Reagan learned from supply-siders like Arthur Laffer, George Gilder, and Paul Craig Roberts that taxes matter, and that cutting excessive tax rates Read More ›

Do you think your tax money should be given to international bureaucrats who give destructive advice to American policymakers? Well, that is what is happening — and worse yet, some unthinking souls in the news media and Congress have treated some of these detrimental recommendations with undeserved deference.  A few examples should suffice. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Read More ›

Do you know why the retiring Federal Reserve chairman is praised so highly? He made fewer mistakes “pricing” the U.S. dollar than some of his recent predecessors. The “price” referred to is the short-term interest rate — the rate the Fed charges banks that borrow from the Fed. If you think for a moment, you might find it odd that Read More ›

STRASBOURG, France. Is it a sensible idea to move the site of government every three weeks? This is precisely what the European Union does every month, since much of its government moves back and forth — with great wagon trains of trucks carrying government papers (and the luggage of the European parliamentarians) — between this picturesque city in the Rhine Read More ›

The president’s tax reform panel’s report is due at the end of this month, but don’t hold your breath if you were looking for the reform that is really needed. Preliminary signs are the panel will recommend relatively modest (but several desirable) changes to the federal tax system. For decades the present income tax system, with its tens of thousands Read More ›

If you had to list 10 freedoms that are important to you from your most to your least important, how would you rank them? You might ask your family and friends the same question, and I expect you will find the lists and priorities quite different.Those who work in the media are likely to rank freedom of the press near Read More ›

Two adjoining building lots with beautiful views of the Gulf of Mexico were for sale. One was purchased by Mr. Charles Ant, an engineer, and the other was purchased by Mr. Teddy Grasshopper, a lawyer. Each lot was 6 feet above sea level. Scientists had calculated there was a 10 percent chance of a 5-foot storm surge, a 5 percent Read More ›