Center on Wealth & Poverty
If the slide in the stock market is not addressed very quickly, a crisis in corporate and personal debt service may well occur, causing a rapid downward economic spiral. The good news is that Congress and the administration can prevent a further meltdown. The bad news is that Congress seems bent on doing the wrong things, which drive the markets Read More ›
Assume you work for a grocery store chain whose stock is listed on a public exchange, and your boss asked you for ideas on how to increase the company’s profit. If you came back and said, “Let’s double all of our prices,” your boss would be justified in firing you, because he would know that almost no one would continue Read More ›
If WorldCom goes bankrupt, will we have enough telephone companies? Do we have the right number of supermarkets, fast food restaurants and hotels? Neither you, nor I, nor anyone else knows, but the private enterprise market system sorts it out and gives us approximately what we need, where we need it. For each type of business, there is an optimum Read More ›
Knowing that I am an economist, friends and acquaintances frequently ask me, “What is going to happen with the economy?” If I say with great assurance, “Inflation will rise 0.3 percent, unemployment will fall 0.6 percent, and economic growth will increase by 3.2 percent,” they will walk away happy, believing they know something others do not. Or, I can be Read More ›
Why is the stock market still depressed? In one word, Washington. The Washington political class has engaged in a steady stream of actions and proposals over the last few months that would depress any economy and investor. To explain this, I shall begin with a digression. Last month, the president decided to honor the great Nobel Prize-winning economist, Milton Friedman. Read More ›
Chances are we will be less free in the coming years because of a rising statist authoritarianism primarily emanating from Europe. The increasing assault on financial privacy is an example of this new threat to individual liberties. Financial privacy, a fundamental liberty which is necessary for individuals to protect themselves from corrupt or despotic governments, kidnappers and other assorted criminals, Read More ›
During the past few weeks, some members of Congress have called corporate executives unpatriotic for moving the legal home of their companies to low-tax foreign countries. The implication is that the business people and their tax lawyers are scoundrels, and countries with low tax rates are evil tax havens. But do the charges hold up? If Webster’s dictionary correctly defines Read More ›
If you haven’t done anything wrong, and you are not a drug dealer, criminal, or terrorist, why should you care who sees your bank and credit card statements and tax returns? This is the argument that is given by those who argue for stripping away all financial privacy, and it sounds good until you begin to think about the consequences. Read More ›
President Bush’s tax-cut proposal is commendable. But at the threat of finding a cloud in its silver lining, it misses one key ingredient: reform aimed at spurring growth where it is most lacking ? in small business, particularly technology business. This sector of our economy, so well represented in the Northwest, has proven critically important in spearheading past economic recoveries. Read More ›
Most people know totalitarian regimes tend to abuse their own citizens. What is not well known is that in most such regimes people have court trials before they are fined, imprisoned, or worse. Such governments like to pretend they are acting under the rule of law, and that the people convicted are guilty of some crime. Typically, totalitarian governments issue Read More ›