MARKETS

How Labor Unions Can Be Anti-Labor

To anyone who understands the role of the productivity of labor in raising real wages, it should be obvious that the unions’ policy of combating the rise in the productivity of labor renders them in fact a leading enemy of the rise in real wages.

SEC Attacks SAC Capital

SEC Attacks SAC Capital

Insider trading is when someone trades with knowledge they have but which others do not. The question is whether this should be a crime.

A Green Light for Gold?

A Green Light for Gold?

Gold moved from $300 to $1,800 not because investors believed the government would hold the line on debt, but because they believed that the U.S. fiscal position would get progressively worse. That is what happened this week.

A Return to Keynes?

A Return to Keynes?

Under Calvin Coolidge, the ultimate in non-interventionist government, the annual unemployment rate got down to 1.8 percent. How does the track record of Keynesian intervention compare to that?

Debt Ceiling Delusions

Debt Ceiling Delusions

The popular take on the current debt ceiling stand-off is that the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party has a delusional belief that it can hit the brakes on new debt creation without bringing on an economic catastrophe. While Republicans are indeed kidding...

Minimum Wage Madness

Minimum Wage Madness

Countries with minimum wage laws almost invariably have higher rates of unemployment than countries without minimum wage laws.

What’s in the Vault?

What’s in the Vault?

Many have understandably sensed that central banks may well have acted to allow bullion banks to take out massive naked short positions in precious metals in order to drive down the price.

A shareholder-employee conflict?

A shareholder-employee conflict?

Marx was wrong: shareholders will benefit, not from the exploitation of workers but from their motivated, productive, fairly-compensated contribution to wealth creation. It is not a win-lose but a win-win; the alleged conflict between shareholders and workers is a myth.

The Golden Cycle

The Golden Cycle

The New York Times had the definitive take on the vicious sell off in gold. To summarize one of their articles: Two years ago gold bugs ran wild as the price of gold rose nearly six times. But since cresting two years ago it has steadily declined, almost by half,...

Economics vs. ‘Need’

Economics vs. ‘Need’

One of the most common arguments for allowing more immigration is that there is a "need" for foreign workers to do "jobs that Americans won't do," especially in agriculture. One of my most vivid memories of the late Armen Alchian, an internationally renowned economist...

Understanding Gold Market Dynamics

Understanding Gold Market Dynamics

To an extent that reveals a thorough misunderstanding of the market forces, the financial media has failed to consider the different motivations and beliefs that drive the different types of investors who are active in the gold market. By treating the gold market as...

The Great Reflation

The Great Reflation

  This week economists, investors and politicians were treated to some of the "best" home price data since the frothy days of 2006 when home loans were given out like cotton candy and condo flipping was a national pastime. The Case-Shiller 20 City Composite Home...

The Biggest Loser Wins

The Biggest Loser Wins

While the world's economies jockey one another for the lead in the currency devaluation derby, it's worth considering the value of the prize they are seeking. They believe a weak currency opens the door to trade dominance, by allowing manufacturers to undercut foreign...

Gold Recovers Amidst Uncertainty

Gold Recovers Amidst Uncertainty

The selloff in gold that captured the world's attention in mid-April has revealed some truths about how the market trades and the sentiments of many of the investors who have piled into the trade over the past few years. While the correction does highlight a higher...

Gold in the Crosshairs

Gold in the Crosshairs

In the opening years of the last decade, most mainstream investors sat on the sidelines while "tin hat" goldbugs rode the bull market from below $300 to just over $1,000 per ounce. But following the 2008 financial crisis, when gold held up better than stocks during...

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