The economic and foreign policies of governments -- for good or ill -- exert a dramatic influence on investors' portfolios. If that isn't obvious by now, given the policies of the past two years, it will never be so. In economic policy we've seen Fed rate hikes...
Economics
Modern Keynesian Macroeconomics — An Assault on the Human Mind
Nearly half a century ago the popular economist John Maynard Keynes wrote, "Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are...
Economics of Investing: Hypothesizing about the Efficient Markets Hypothesis
Over the past couple of years, events like the Internet and more recently, the Enron and Global Crossing debacles, have spurred people to reconsider the Efficient Markets Hypothesis, "EMH." For those unfamiliar with EMH, here's a brief textbook definition: prices of...
OPEC, Oil, and Energy Economics 101
We are all familiar with pundits from all corners decrying our dependence on foreign oil. Before the oil embargo in the 70's and subsequent attempts to wean ourselves from OPEC, we were importing about 25% of our oil and now we are importing over 50%. This is always...
Journalists and Economics 101
Is deficit spending "a potent recession cure when administered properly"? A newspaper business writer made this assertion in an article entitled "The Budget Deficit Faced by Many States." But is it true, that it's a good thing when governments spend more than they...
Down on the Farm Bill: A Lesson in “Trickle Up” Economics
Other than being rich and famous, what do David Rockefeller, Ted Turner, Sam Donaldson and Scottie Pippen have in common? They all feed at the public trough. More precisely, they collect subsidies from the federal farm program, as do at least 14 members of Congress....
What is Economics?
To know what economics is, we must first know what an economy is. Perhaps most of us think of an economy as a system for the production and distribution of the goods and services we use in everyday life. That is true as far as it goes, but it does not go far enough....
A Dynamite Economics Department
Reporting their findings in the February 2001 Applied Economics Letters -- a British professional journal -- Professors Franklin G. Mixon Jr. and Kamal P. Upadhyaya rank economics departments in the U.S. South. The rankings are based upon faculty research...
The Economics of War
National emergencies are notorious for giving free reign to bad economics. In the panic of a crisis, people grasp desperately for solutions. And thanks to generations of bad economics education, they are offered a wide range of economic errors to grasp at. The most...
The “Trickle Down” Economics Straw Man
Among the suggestions being made for getting the American economy moving up again is a reduction in the capital gains tax. But any such suggestion makes people on the left go ballistic. It is "trickle down" economics, they cry. Liberals claim that those who favor tax...
What is Economics?
To know what economics is, we must first know what an economy is. Perhaps most of us think of an economy as a system for the production and distribution of the goods and services we use in everyday life. That is true as far as it goes, but it does not go far enough....
Basic Economics
Dr. Thomas Sowell has just released his latest treasure -- it's title is "Basic Economics." Reading through the book reminded me of a 30-plus-year-old conversation I had with Professor Armen Alchian, one of my tenacious mentors during my graduate training at UCLA....
Equal Rights and Good Economics Demand That Bush Should Reduce Taxes Across The Board
The Federal Reserve Board's recent decision to put downward pressure on interest rates has temporarily quieted those who claimed George W. Bush was exaggerating the possibility of an economic downturn solely to boost his tax cut plan. Many critics, however, continue...
Basic Economics
One of the reasons for the confusion surrounding so many economic issues -- such as the current electricity crisis in California -- is an underlying confusion about what economics itself is all about. To many people, economics is about money. But economies and...
Law and Economics
Rather than my usual fall schedule of teaching in the Economics Department at George Mason University, I taught "The Economic Foundations of Legal Studies" at the university's School of Law to first-year law students. Economics is no stranger at George Mason's Law...
Anecdotal Economics: Leave Crane Hunting in China To Bird Watchers
Crane hunting is the craze for foreign investors traveling in China. Seemingly every morning an American wakes up bright and early in his five star hotel built in the coastal cities expressly for the purpose of pampering foreign investors with expense accounts. He...
How Bill Clinton Rode The Reagan “Supply-Side” Boom
Keynesians continue to peddle their snake oil because the real function of their “economics” is to justify Big Government and the redistribution of income.
How Republicans Lost the Economy (By Their Failure To Grasp Supply Side Economics)
George W. Bush might lose this election -- not to Al Gore but, paradoxically, to the Reagan Economy. At Willoughby South High School in Ohio, Dick Cheney, the Republican vice presidential nominee, explained why when he declared that the good economy Americans are...
Break Up Microsoft?
The consumers of computer software need the freedom of Bill Gates and Microsoft to produce and innovate in any branch of computer software they choose.
What Does Competition Mean Under Capitalism?
Government should uphold and enforce market contracts–not violate freedom of contract by dictating the terms, changing the terms, or abrogating the terms of contracts
Here Comes Mickey Mao: Hong Kong’s new Mickey Mouse economics
Hong Kong's new government appears to be losing its inhibitions about contradicting market prices, favoring some industries over others, and using taxpayers' money to dispense windfall profits to those in favor. The deal recently signed with Disney to build a theme...
Clinton, the WTO, and Economics 101
What do the World Trade Organization protesters, President Clinton, and the Microsoft judge have in common? Answer: an almost appalling ignorance of Economics 101. The World Trade Organization, a consortium of 135 nations, met in Seattle to discuss ways to increase...
When Will the Bubble Burst?
As the inflation-induced appearance of wealth is made to substitute for the fact of wealth, the boom gives rise to a consumption that takes place at the expense of essential saving and capital accumulation and thus serves ultimately to cause impoverishment.
Reisman Responds To A Review of “Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics”
The Review of Austrian Economics (RAE) recently published a review of my book Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics that, while praising my book to some extent, seriously misrepresents or altogether ignores major portions of it.
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