Once upon a time in a land far, far away, there was a country famous for its apples. In fact, it produced nothing but apples and so was called Appleonia. The people ate many apples in many different ways: raw apples, baked apples, apple pies, apple fritters, and candied apples, to name just a...
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The humor columnist for the New York Times, Paul Krugman, has recently taken to defending his vulgar Keynesianism against its critics by accusing them of making arguments that rely on the existence of a “confidence fairy.” By this mockery, Krugman seeks to dismiss the critics as unscientific blockheads, in contrast to his own supreme status...
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Someone must have imagined that my hopes for improved economic understanding might be excessively optimistic today and thus needed to be curbed to restore my normal emotional balance, because that person undertook to smash any such hopes to dust by e-mailing me a link to a Huffington Post article by Paul Abrams, “Economically, World War II Was Stimulus...
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President Obama’s Jobs and Competitiveness Council released five “fast-action” recommendations for things the government can do that will result in 1 million jobs on a near-term basis. Among the ideas was: Boost jobs in travel and tourism. This industry is one of America’s largest employers, but the United States has lost significant market share....
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In his latest column for the New York Times, “Our Lefty Military,” the iconic “liberal” commentator Nicholas D. Kristof has now come clean on the reality of his own collectivist views that military means and organization embody the “liberal ethos” (“progressivism”), an admission that liberals rarely face up to. While numerous liberal and conservative...
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In a Bloomberg report today, “Economic Recovery Is Languishing as Americans Await Signal of Better Times,” Peter Coy casts about for explanations for why the economy is not in recovery, and ends with this offer: A Nobel prize goes to whoever can end this routine and get America growing again. OK, Mr. Coy, send...
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In their new study, “The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Public Sector Jobs Saved, Private Sector Jobs Forestalled,” economists Timothy Conley (University of Western Ontario) and Bill Dupor (Ohio State University) present their empirical findings of the economic impact on employment of the 2009 Obama stimulus package of $787 billion, entitled the American Recovery...
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“Fight of the Century: Keynes vs. Hayek Round Two” is the superb and very timely sequel to the phenomenally successful and insightful, rap video pitting the views of macroeconomist John Maynard Keynes against those of Austrian School economist Friedrich A. Hayek, “Fear the Boom and Bust.” The original has attracted to date more than...
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It’s not often we get a real market test of the popularity of public employee unions, so this recent experience from Wisconsin provides an interesting peek at the real public’s perception. If a harbinger of broader public opinion, members of public employee unions may want to rethink their tactics. Owners of businesses from large...
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MyGovCost.org Director and Independent Research Fellow Emily Skarbek was a guest on the Heartland Institute’s Budget & Tax News podcast. Click to listen to her commentary on the roots of our current spending crisis, what’s at stake in the Congressional budget war, and how to use the Institute’s very timely and user-friendly Government Cost...
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