Author: Jeff
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Unregulated by Government is Still Well Regulated
Steven Horwitz has a post on the FreemanOnline that is just excellent. It makes the point that a market unregulated by the government is not necessarily an \”unregulated market\” in the sense that nothing governs how it behaves. Rather a market unregulated by the government will then be regulated by the rules of supply and…
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Unintended Consequences to the max
I have several posts on unintended consequences of government policies, starting with one on November 27, 2010. (Click the Unintended Consequences category to see them all.) I just ran across a book that focuses exclusively on this topic and makes the point that some policies don\’t just have minor negative outcomes but actually lead to…
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Electronic Currency (e.g., BitCoin) – An End Run Around the Fed?
When I first heard the position that the federal government should get out of the business of providing a currency I thought it sounded like the authors were not quite as connected with reality as one would hope. However, I have been reading and hearing more and more about the general idea and I no…
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Obama’s magic math – can I use that at home?
Today President Obama announced a new plan \”for America\’s energy security, including increased responsible domestic production and winning the future through a clean energy economy.\” I find it puzzling that Obama can claim to be fighting high oil prices by supporting several approaches that all work to increase costs. Obama proposes: 1. More domestic drilling…
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Happy Birthday Wealth of Nations!
Today is the 325th birthday of the publishing of Adam Smith\’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations! Join the celebration by listening to Russ Roberts on Cato or reading Mark Skousen on the centrality of the phrase \”the invisible hand\” in Smith\’s thinking (HT Russ Roberts).
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The Effect of Unions on Employment and Wages
We are seeing a lot of heated rhetoric here in Wisconsin about the governor and unions. The clearest treatment I have read of the effect of unions is Chapter 20 in Henry Hazlitt\’s book Economics In One Lesson. Jeffrey Miron, a Senior Lecturer at Harvard University and Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, provides a…
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Fun with Numbers or “Lies, Damned Lies, and Statisticsâ€
In my work we use statistics to support or disprove a point. We mine data to look for patterns, answer questions, and search for evidence of impacts. We try very hard to be objective and accurate in our use of statistics. I spend a lot of time reviewing work of others and must be on…