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Economy, Taxes and Free Markets
85 posts, newest first (page 1 of 4).
A thought experiment where the grocery store gets rent control tooA labelled satire applies rent control's rules to a supermarket, then matches each joke to a documented effect of the real policy. A thought experiment where every price in town is set by a committeeA labelled satire follows a Fair Prices Committee from bread to gasoline until the shelves empty, then matches each joke to the historical record. Find out what your city and state really spend, a citizen's budget guideSix numbered steps to read the audited reports, budgets and contracts your city and state publish, and how to speak up before the vote. Read a CBO cost estimate yourself before you believe the headlineSeven numbered steps for reading a Congressional Budget Office cost estimate, with a worked example, so spin from either party stops working on you. Six myths about the 1929 crash and the New Deal recovery, testedThe Hoover-did-nothing, New Deal-saved-us story fails six tests against the record, from the 1932 tax hike to unemployment in 1938. The Tariff of 1828 Was So Hated Its Enemies Called It the Tariff of AbominationsThe Tariff of 1828 led to South Carolina's nullification crisis. The dates, the people, and what the fight teaches both conservative camps in the tariff debate. Ludwig Erhard ended price controls on a Sunday and launched a miracleWest Germany lifted most price controls in June 1948 against occupation advice. Erhard's choice, its limits and what it teaches about courage in policy. The 2009 stimulus promised unemployment under 8 percent, then came 10The 2009 stimulus came with a forecast. The multiplier argument at its strongest, then the record: unemployment hit 10 percent and the projects were not ready. Austrian, Chicago and Keynesian economics compared on one tableThree schools shape the economic arguments Americans hear. One table shows where they split and which ideas conservatives should keep from each. The Austrian school in plain words, from Carl Menger to Friedrich HayekValue is subjective, prices carry knowledge, and cheap credit causes booms that bust. The Austrian school explained, with the criticisms fairly stated. Bailouts and moral hazard, from Chrysler in 1979 to Silicon Valley BankEvery bailout teaches lenders that losses will be socialized. From Chrysler to Silicon Valley Bank, the habit grew, and a rule-based way out exists. Taxpayer-funded stadiums are the billion-dollar bet cities keep losingEconomists rarely agree, yet most find public stadium money does not deliver the growth promised. The financing, the arithmetic and the civic-pride case. Solyndra to Amtrak, why government picks losers when it picks winnersWashington says it can spot the next great company. Solyndra, Amtrak and Hayek's knowledge problem show why its bets fail more often and never close. The sugar program makes every family pay more so a few growers earn moreFederal loans, marketing allotments and import quotas prop up U.S. sugar prices. Who gains, who pays, and why the food-security defense does not hold. The Jones Act, a 1920 shipping law that costs Puerto Rico and HawaiiA 1920 law says cargo between American ports must ride American-built ships, and the islands pay. The case for reform, with the defense argument heard first. Who can raise tariffs? Article I, Section 232 and the delegated powerThe Constitution gives Congress the power over duties, but statutes from 1934 to 1977 delegated much of it to the President. Here is how, and why it matters. A trade deficit is not a loss, and the accounting identity proves itA trade deficit is matched by foreign investment in America because the books must balance. Here is the identity, a worked example and the fair worry. The China shock was real, and what free traders and tariff hawks each get rightFree traders cite cheap goods and tariff hawks cite lost factory towns and security. Both are right about something, and the evidence shows where. Comparative advantage explained with Ricardo's wine and English clothRicardo's 1817 example shows why trade enriches both countries even when one is better at everything, with the arithmetic and the theory's limits. Hamilton's Report on Manufactures and the conservative case for tariffsHamilton's 1791 Report on Manufactures is the founding text of the conservative case for tariffs. Read it closely, then hear the free traders' reply. Social Security is not your property, and Flemming v. Nestor said soThe Supreme Court held in 1960 that workers have no contractual right to Social Security benefits, so every promise about them is a political one. What the Social Security and Medicare trust funds hold, and depletion dayThe trust funds hold Treasury IOUs, and when they run out benefits fall automatically to what payroll taxes bring in. Here is the arithmetic. North Carolina's dental board, teeth whitening and the Supreme CourtWhen dentists on a state board shut out whitening rivals, the Supreme Court held in 2015 that such boards face antitrust law unless the state supervises them. Arizona's universal license recognition and the case for copying itArizona's 2019 law honoring out-of-state occupational licenses lets workers move to opportunity, and the safety objection does not hold up.
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