Economics

This County Discovered It’s Possible to Operate Debt-Free… and Its Citizens Are Reaping the Benefits 0
- Economics
- November 8, 2018
The other day, I wrote about the disadvantages of state and local governments issuing general obligation debt. Those governments currently have more than $3 trillion in overall debt outstanding. Government borrowing enriches financial firms, encourages corruption, and magnifies the ultimate tax burden that citizens will bear for the related spending. It is prudent and practical for states
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What is Neoliberalism?1
- Economics
- November 6, 2018
Neoliberalism is one of those concepts that changes meaning depending on whom you ask. Whereas the intellectual opponents of capitalism use it to refer to the political and economic system that emerged in the 1980s and continues to be hegemonic today, classical liberals see it as a vague and empty concept that adds nothing to
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Government Economists Offer Window Into What a Socialist US Economy Would Look Like 0
- Economics
- October 24, 2018
If the United States were to adopt the socialist policies of Venezuela, the move would slash the economy by 40 percent—or $24,000 per year for the average American, according to a report by the president’s Council of Economic Advisers. “Coincident with the 200th anniversary of Karl Marx’s birth, socialism is making a comeback in American
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Beyond Climate Change: 3 Important Economic Contributions of Nobel Prize Winner William Nordhaus 0
- Economics
- October 24, 2018
Yale economist William D. Nordhaus was recently awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (or, to be more precise, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel) for his analysis of the economic impact of climate change. Nordhaus pioneered the study of global warming from an economic perspective, developing a model
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Want Low Income Taxes? Don’t Live in This State.0
- Economics
- October 18, 2018
Taxes are the price that regular people pay for government spending. Whether that spending goes to things and services that people want, like road repairs, schools, fire and police protection, trash pickup, public parks, or to things that people don’t really want, like sports stadiums or excessively lavish pension benefits for bureaucrats, the bill for all these
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Why Federal Debt Is Damaging 0
- Economics
- October 17, 2018
The U.S. Treasury reports that the federal budget deficit was $779 billion in fiscal 2018. The deficit is caused by spending in excess of tax revenues and is financed by borrowing from foreign and domestic creditors. Federal spending in 2018 was $4,108 billion and tax revenues were $3,329 billion, so Congress financed 19 percent of its spending
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