Article Archive
Dropping the Ball during the Only Game in Town
The Federal Reserve is downplaying the real risk of a double-dip economic recession and of the associated threat of Japanese-style deflation.
Making the World Safe for Rx.com
Buying foreign-made drugs over the Internet from foreign Web pharmacies can be relatively safe.
Green Protectionism
European policy makers and environmental groups want to restrict imports—but not in order to save the planet.
When Labor Is Capital: The Limits of Keynesian Policy
The economic mystery of 2010 is the persistence of high unemployment, in spite of stimulus that follows the prescription of the prevailing Keynesian orthodoxy. Here’s an alternative to that orthodoxy.
Docs: Running to Stand Still
Primary care doctors have complained for years that they feel like hamsters on a treadmill. Under new rules just issued as part of ObamaCare, the treadmill kicks into higher gear.
The Next Sovereign Debt Crisis
Europe’s PIIGs are in a poke, but U.S. states and municipalities risk their own sovereign debt crisis.
Dipping and Deflating
A double-dip recession now appears all too probable, likely tipping the U.S. economy into deflation.
Setting the Table for Fiscal Restraint
A Federal Reserve program of buying longer-term securities is the right policy for now and makes the right policy more likely in the future.
Labor Pains
Europe’s taxes punish working outside the home, so Europeans don’t work as much as they would otherwise.
When Debt Flies Off the Charts
Under one realistic future scenario, the nation’s debt becomes so large that Congressional Budget Office models break down.
No Garden-Variety Public Pension Crisis
Public-sector pensions in New Jersey and other states completely ignore the dangers to taxpayers of investing in increasingly risky assets.
No Way to Help Small Business
The need of many small businesses to raise money has led to several proposals to give small businesses more access to credit. Will they work?
Should We Raise Taxes on the Middle Class? We Already Are
Taxes are already rising to record levels, with or without legislative changes.
Drop Argentina from the G-20
The G-20 heads of state will gather June 26 and 27. One issue that should be on the agenda: Argentina’s unsuitability to remain a G-20 member.
The Road to Price Controls
Conventional wisdom is that U.S. pharmaceutical companies made out well under the Obama health plan by bargaining with the White House. That wisdom is wrong.
Hard Times, Bright Futures
Robert Reich and others think the latest crop of America’s entrepreneurs is teeming with the out-of-work and desperate. We’re not so sure.
Athens on the Potomac
Paul Krugman is right: America isn’t Greece. That doesn’t mean we aren’t in worrisome shape. And by one measure, we are in worse shape than Greece.
How Washington Just Worsened the Gulf Oil Spill
President Obama made BP’s problem worse, and in so doing has worsened the problems facing not only the administration but also the unfortunate residents of the Gulf of Mexico.
How to Think About Taxing Carried Interest
Congress might increase taxes on the carried interest received by managers of private equity funds, hedge funds, and real estate funds. This tax increase is unjustified.