Center on Wealth & Poverty
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 ›
Would you have been more likely to be murdered in 1900, if you had been alive, than in 2000? If you answered no, as I expect most people would, you would be correct. The evidence is, albeit imperfect, that most Americans were less likely to be murder victims 100 years ago than today. Sociologists, criminologists, economists, and assorted other “ists” Read More ›
Discussion of economic policy matters among politicians has sunk almost to the level of a frat house food fight. There are several reasons for this sorry state of affairs. First, there is an appalling level of ignorance among many political leaders about economic fundamentals. For instance, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle recently blamed the recession, in part, on the president’s Read More ›
Crime may have declined in the streets but, by the recent inflammation of the pundits, you would think there has been an outbreak of corporate criminality. The Internet, communications, and stock-market booms of the 1990s, it seems, were based on a pervasive series of felonious acts. A wide array of businesses, from Global Crossing to Loral, from General Electric to Read More ›