The World is Getting Better We are blessed to begin the new year with excellent news: “In material ways the world is rapidly getting better.” The late Swedish physician, Dr. Hans Rosling thoroughly documented this progress in his 2018 book, Factfulness: …Why Things Are Better than You think. Greg Ip updated this theme in […]
Read MoreIntroduced by Dr. John A. Baden, PhD Here is one great truth that has stuck with me since I was an undergraduate. There is little disagreement among micro economists; their basic model is largely uncontested. This field studies the behavior of individual households and firms in making decisions on the allocation of limited resources. It examines markets and […]
Read MoreIntroduction by Dr. John Baden, Chairman, FREE Most contentious issues of public policy are nuanced and highly complex while carrying heavy emotional baggage. These ingredients foster error and acrimony. Intelligent people of good will, even those sharing similar values, can strongly disagree on policy prescriptions. This situation produces strong temptations to discredit and denigrate policy opponents. These characteristics are […]
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Introduced by Dr. John Baden, Chairman, FREE The first FREE Insight of 2013, “The Real Cliff”, is by Christopher DeMuth and was in The Weekly Standard on December 24, 2012. Chris explains the political logic that generated America’s huge debt and recurrent, soon to be replicated, trillion plus dollar deficits. He warns us that debt […]
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Introduction by John Baden: Ramona and I often are out of town on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, Election Day. Since we are likely to be gone, we are registered to receive “absentee ballots.” How easy they are; mark, sign, stuff into envelopes, put on a stamp, and we’ve done a small portion of […]
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What does ‘top-down economics’ really mean? “We can’t afford more top-down economics. What we need are policies that will grow and strengthen the middle class.” — Barack Obama “Top-down economics” is a hijacked phrase. Objectively, it should be the label assigned to rule-of-czar capitalism steered by government officials. Instead, campaign rhetoric has been assigning it […]
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I saw Dave in my medical office last week. He is a pretty typical 46 year old American. He was laid off and now makes a little money with odd jobs. He has no health insurance and doesn’t qualify for the various government health programs. Also typically, he has high blood pressure, high cholesterol and […]
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Economists have few more important tasks than to dispel the misconceived notion that protectionism fosters prosperity. It doesn’t. Americans should appreciate the benefits of free trade more than others, for our 50 states trade freely with one another. Imagine how much lower your personal standard of living would be if goods or services from outside […]
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This column was prompted by the question: “Doesn’t today’s economic distress demolish the case for capitalism and free markets?” Some, who inquired gleefully, anticipated my discomfort; others were genuinely curious and concerned. All were confused about the complex causes of our economic chaos. I hope this helps clarify their thinking, but first a disclaimer: I’m […]
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The minimum wage is a wonderful example of how good intentions can go awry with perverse results. I have recently been party to several discussions illustrating how and why this is true. One illustration comes from a judge who told me a sad story involving one of his clerks. Most law school graduates leave with […]
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