MARKETS

Tariff Advocates Rarely Talk About How Tariffs Punish Consumers

Politicians who support tariffs and other forms of government intervention in the economy frequently emphasize reshoring, trade deficits, cheap imports, and national security, but they rarely talk about consumers.

The Stock Market, Profits, and Credit Expansion

The Stock Market, Profits, and Credit Expansion

The actual nature and consequences of the profit motive in a free market, an explanation of how profits are profoundly distorted by forcible government interference in the form of inflation and credit expansion, in ways that directly explain both the stock market boom of recent years and today’s stock market bust.

Bear Market Performers

America's stock market has lost a fifth of its value since mid-March, and shares in other countries haven't done much better. But on Wednesday, July 17, while the Dow Jones industrial average was falling 283 points, 87 stocks on the three major U.S. exchanges were...

Principles and Policy: Will Bush Trip Over Pears?

Once the Bush administration abandoned the principles of free trade by imposing punitive tariffs on imported steel, it was only a matter of time before other industries sought government redress for their own failure to compete successfully. Case in point: Pears....

Capitalism Without Capital

Capitalism Without Capital

"There is no capitalism without conscience. There is no wealth without character," President Bush told Wall Street yesterday. True. But if business owners are not smart enough to see that it's in their own economic self-interest to be honest with their employees and...

An Ancient Fallacy: Price Controls

An Ancient Fallacy: Price Controls

When Hawaii recently passed a law controlling how high the price of gasoline can go in that state, it was the first law controlling the price of gasoline since 1981, when President Ronald Reagan ended federal control over oil prices. What was unusual about the...

Microsoft’s Nose, Technology’s Face

Microsoft’s Nose, Technology’s Face

When future policymakers want to understand the law and economics surrounding one of the most watched antitrust cases in history, they will look to "Microsoft, Antitrust and the New Economy," a recent compilation of essays published by the Milken Institute. The book's...

An Old “New Vision” for “Affordable Housing”

An Old “New Vision” for “Affordable Housing”

Despite the fanfare of a televised speech at the National Press Club in Washington, a very old and hackneyed set of proposals was unveiled as a "new vision" for the creation of "affordable housing." The speech was by Richard Ravitch, co-chairman with former...

Ken Iverson: Proof that Ayn Rand’s Heroes Exist

Ken Iverson: Proof that Ayn Rand’s Heroes Exist

Many Objectivists read the book American Steel about Ken Iverson's amazing corporate leadership in developing new technology for steel producers when Big Steel was floundering under old ideas and crippling unions. Dr. Edwin Locke also made many mentions of him, as...

It’s Time for Congress to Re-evaluate Antitrust

It’s Time for Congress to Re-evaluate Antitrust

The following written testimony was submitted to the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary for its hearings on the proposed Microsoft antitrust settlement. On behalf of the Center for the Moral Defense of Capitalism, I respectfully submit my testimony to the US Senate...

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...

The “Rent Control” Housing Farce: Part II

The “Rent Control” Housing Farce: Part II

Too many people who talk about a lack of "affordable housing" seem to think that this is something the government must build or subsidize. It never seems to occur to them that government activity is itself one of the biggest reasons for housing being unaffordable. Nor...

The “Rent Control” Housing Farce: Part I

The “Rent Control” Housing Farce: Part I

A RECENTLY published housing study says: "San Francisco is one of the densest large cities in the U.S." That is true in both senses of the word "dense." Nowhere are San Franciscans more dense than when talking about housing -- especially that perennial will o' the...

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