economics

June 20, 2023

There Are No Alternatives to Free Market Capitalism

Alexander William Salter’s new book, The Political Economy of Distributism: Property, Liberty, and the Common Good, is an odd fish. It begs questions, contains numerous chapters that consist mostly of lengthy quotations, and at times seems to contradict itself, yet in the end it affirms an essential truth that we may forget from time to time, that private property is essential for political freedom. Continue Reading...

November 30, 2022

Freeing the Market from Unfree Minds

Free Market: The History of an Idea by Jacob Soll, a professor of history, philosophy, and accounting, attempts to trace the philosophical and theoretical evolution of the free market over 2,000 years. Continue Reading...

November 15, 2022

Better Economics for a Better, Not Perfect, World

As far as centuries go, the 20th was remarkable for many things, not least among which were wars fought on a scale unprecedented for their destructiveness, as well as convulsive debates about economics and economic policy. Continue Reading...

October 26, 2022

Banking, Panics, and Regs: The 2022 Economics Nobel

Earlier this month, Ben Bernanke, Douglas Diamond, and Philip Dybvig were awarded the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel. Bernanke, Diamond, and Dybvig were honored for their many contributions to our shared understanding of both the role of banking and banking failures. Continue Reading...

October 19, 2022

The Next American Economy Is Cause for Hope

Let me start with my summary judgement of The Next American Economy: Nation, State, and Markets in an Uncertain World: Samuel Gregg has written an outstanding contribution to the theory and practice of political economy for our times. Continue Reading...

August 26, 2022

Pope Francis wants us to pray for small and medium-sized enterprises

Who would ever have guessed this would happen? Well, it did. And in the quiet month of Rome’s roasting August, when the city experiences a near-total exodus to cooler climes. Very few journalists, in either the religious or secular press, noticed. Continue Reading...

August 23, 2022

Customers put product value ahead of political values

For years American business has allowed itself to be swayed by the push and pull of political culture. Investment decisions, corporate donations, and hiring practices have been made in response to a culture that demands acquiescence or cancellation. Continue Reading...

August 03, 2022

Regulations worsened the baby formula shortage

The world is an economics classroom if we allow ourselves to learn from it. Every day we’re bombarded with puzzles that the economic way of thinking can help solve. One of the more recent examples of this is the infant-formula shortagethat plagued an industry already confounded by pandemic-related supply chain issues. Continue Reading...

August 02, 2022

A Reply to David Brooks: Don’t apologize for capitalism

In recent weeks, the New York Times has been running opinion pieces in which various columnists expound on a topic about which they have changed their views. On July 21 it was David Brooks’ turn to lay out his mea culpa. Continue Reading...

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