By Ryan Bourne, courtesy of the Cato Institute Cato scholars have written extensively on the damaging impacts of anti‐price gouging laws during emergencies. Traditionally, we worry about ongoing shortages of goods as a result of market price rises being prevented or suppressed. This consequence is likely to be more significant during COVID-19 than after very localized, […]
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Aye, and Begorrah, a Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, a Pint of Stout, a Tip of the Leprechaun’s Hat and A Pot of Gold
By Ralph Benko Let’s pause today to raise a pint to the Teen Titans, to leprechauns, to gold and to the gold standard’s key to equitable prosperity. Yikes, this just in! Turns out that, reportedly, the Teen Titans are neo-Keynesians! And here I had always thought them to be the good guys! Yet […]
For the Sake of Independent Contractors, Reject the PRO Act
Edward Longe, American Consumer Institute On the same day the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives passed the largest stimulus package in American history, they also passed the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO) of 2021. While the stimulus package was the focus of press attention, the PRO act could upend millions of independent contractors’ […]
UK’s “Test and Trace” an expensive, pointless bungle
“Test and Trace: At what cost?” By Joe Ventre, courtesy of Taxpayers’ Alliance NHS Test and Trace has become the latest arena for the debate around wasteful government spending. The recent report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) doesn’t pull its punches, and offers some damning insights. After the bizarre initial decision to pursue a centralised approach […]
Argentine peso devalued by 90% against the dollar in 2020
Courtesy Libertad y Progreso LA MAÑANA ONLINE – According to estimates by some national media, the “blue” dollar had a 118% rise during 2020, and according to economist Aldo Abram, executive director of the “Libertad y Progreso” Foundation, the “gap” between this parallel quotation and the value of the official exchange rate it will […]
Central banks don’t have to pick winners and losers to fight climate change
By Rebecca Christie, courtesy of the Bruegel Institute Suddenly central banks are in the middle of the climate-policy debate and it always seems to zoom in on one question: Should they stop buying “brown” bonds? Either yes, and the traditional inflation-fighting mandate goes out the window, or no and the central bank is leaving […]
Yes, the public debt still matters — now more than ever
“Masking the Dangers of Debt” By Jack Salmon, courtesy of the Mercatus Center In these early days of the Biden administration, some monetary policy decision-makers seem excited about pushing our national debt to record levels and beyond. Only four years ago, then Chair of the Federal Reserve Janet Yellen said that our debt trajectory should “keep […]
Digital euro? What could possibly go wrong?
“The Dangers Lurking behind a Digital Euro” By Thorsten Polleit, courtesy of the Austrian Economics Center Neosocialist China does it, Sweden does it, and many other states want to do it, too: to issue digitized central bank money for everyone. The European Central Bank (ECB) is also working on such a scheme. It wants […]
Washington Beyond the Headlines: No, We Don’t Need An EVEN Bigger IRS
By Andy Blom, TES Washington Editor Okay Policy Fans, America has now officially entered a period of “Middle Child Syndrome” policy. Middle Child Syndrome is when a family’s middle child feels (and often is) ignored, slighted, unnoticed, even abandoned. And that is just how Middle America, and moderates of both parties, must feel in […]
How to Protect Against China’s Plan for Economic Dominance
By George Landrith, Frontiers of Freedom The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has consistently revealed itself to be a rogue regime. China operates “re-education camps” where unpopular minorities are systematically imprisoned, tortured, raped, and killed. The communist regime defends the existence of these camps while denying the atrocities committed in them. These denials are […]