America needs billions of masks to protect against the coronavirus, particularly high-grade N95 masks for healthcare workers. Nonetheless, fear of litigation delayed delivery of millions of construction masks to healthcare workers. Should the law be slowing our emergency response? America’s largest mask producer, 3M, will soon be producing 100 million a month. The company normally […]

Our lives and economy have been disrupted on an unprecedented scale by COVID-19. How do we calculate the societal impact? Costs are tricky because they involve actions not chosen. Economics helps bring the consequences of the pandemic into focus. The full costs involve much more than just monetary impacts. Economics and life are about human […]

Our world has changed almost unimaginably recently. The cancellation of the NCAA basketball championships brought us, in my son’s words, “March Sadness.” Why has our nation responded so dramatically and differently to COVID-19 than earlier pandemics, including H1N1 just 11 years ago? Economics offers a couple insights. Things are certainly different. In 1919, hockey’s Stanley […]

Bernie Sanders’ pursuit of the Democratic presidential nomination continues to bring popular attention to socialism. Polls continue to reveal socialism’s considerable appeal to many Americans. Opponents of socialism often offer up the horrors of 20th Century Communism as a rebuttal. Is this history relevant today? Received wisdom holds that young Americans know no history. So […]

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders contends we should not allow billionaires. His view produced interesting debate exchanges with Michael Bloomberg, who has a net worth of $53 billion. Are billionaires good for America? A first consideration is the source of the riches. Were they earned from a successful business, or by stealing from or swindling […]

The debate over government’s role in health care and “Medicare for All” frequently revolves around whether health care is a human right. We establish government to secure our rights, so government should not deny Americans’ right to health care. Health care is one of several economic rights, like rights to food, shelter and education. Arguments […]

Illinois State Representative Camille Lilly recently sponsored a bill to restrict self-service gasoline stations. New Jersey and Oregon already ban self-service gas, although Oregon exempts rural counties. Would creating jobs for gas station attendants be good economics? There are many tasks we can either do ourselves or pay to have done. Consider food preparation. We […]

The only two sure things in life, according to the saying, are death and taxes. Should businesses profit when one of their employees dies? They can avoid taxes, and this reduces our prosperity. I first read about “Janitors Insurance” or “Dead Peasants Insurance” in Harvard Professor Michael Sandel’s What Money Can’t Buy. Professor Sandel used […]

Economic freedom allows people to buy, sell, invest and use their property to pursue life goals. Many Americans aspire to exercise this freedom to start a business. Where someone wants to open this new business makes a big difference for the burden of government licenses, regulations and taxes. The Center for the Study of Economic […]

A coronavirus outbreak in China has sparked fears of a global pandemic, as communicable diseases do not respect national borders. Governments use quarantines and isolation to limit such threats, measures which libertarians find objectionable. Property rights offer helpful guidance here. The 2019 Novel Coronavirus appeared last year in China’s Hubei province. The new coronavirus originated […]

An asteroid could wipe out all life on Earth, so yes. But what if we mined and brought an asteroid’s valuable metals to Earth? NASA’s plan to send a probe to an asteroid generated some out-of-this-world economic claims. The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter may be the remnants of a proto-planet that broke up […]

Dog owners in Canberra, Australia, must now walk their companions daily or face a $2,700 fine, due to a 2019 animal welfare law recognizing dogs as sentient beings. Does requiring the humane treatment of animals restrict the property rights of humans and the functioning of economies? I will not let rain, sleet, snow or dark […]

The world has achieved an unprecedented level of prosperity. Economist Deirdre McCloskey has labeled this the Great Enrichment. For the first time in human history, standards of living for ordinary people – as opposed to emperors or kings – have risen above subsistence. Historical estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, economists’ preferred measure […]

Americans care about assisting the less fortunate, and over 100 government programs carry out this task. A closer examination, however, reveals that much of this funding goes to other purposes. This raises questions about how best to assist Americans needing help. I will focus on two programs, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Medicaid. […]

The field is set for the college football playoff. Good sportsmanship often involves wishing, “May the best team win!” But the best team does not always win, which illustrates an important element of economics. Either LSU, Ohio State, Clemson or Oklahoma will be crowned champion on January 13. I will not prognosticate about the winner. […]

Thanksgiving began as a celebration of nature’s bounty. Nature’s bounty includes natural resources. Despite reports to the contrary, Cato Institute research demonstrates that we still have plenty of natural resources. Human ingenuity and nature’s generosity explain why. That we must run out of oil, natural gas, and other resources seems obvious. Since we cannot manufacture […]

The Berlin Wall, the most visible manifestation of Communist oppression, came down thirty years ago. This totally unexpected event was a triumph of hope and the human spirit. How can social scientists explain a seemingly impossible event? The Wall isolated West Berlin, part of democratic West Germany, almost 100 miles inside communist East Germany. The […]

Plea bargains let persons accused of crimes plead guilty and receive reduced charges or a reduced sentence. Although some people find the reduced criminal incentives offensive, this bargaining makes economic sense. But our mass incarceration illustrates a limit of the economic argument. Our criminal justice system extensively employs pleas; 97% of criminal convictions result from […]

President Trump recently announced a partial trade settlement with China. Does this mean we have won the trade war? Details remain sparse, and the present deal may merely forestall further tariff hikes. It may be a truce rather than a peace treaty. Nonetheless, avoiding escalation of the trade war is good news.

Two Troy University fraternities were recently suspended for hazing, which is a recurring problem at our nation’s colleges. According to Wikipedia, 20 college students have died in hazing incidents this decade. Economics can offer insight into how initiation rituals help build groups and why hazing persists. In addition to fraternities and sororities, bands, sports teams, […]

California recently passed a law allowing college athletes to receive compensation. This stokes anew the debate about paying college athletes and may provide an example of competition between governments producing legal change. Whether college athletes should be paid provokes strong responses. On the one hand, student-athletes already receive numerous benefits, including a scholarship and tutoring […]

President Trump recently suggested that the United States buy Greenland. Denmark emphasized that the world’s largest island is not for sale. Regardless of whether buying Greenland offers value, Mr. Trump’s proposal represents progress in international relations and raises interesting questions regarding property and markets. This is not the first time we have inquired whether Denmark […]

By most measures of income, yes, Alabama is a poor state, but income does not account for the cost of living. Does a low cost of living offset lower income in Alabama? And is a low cost of living necessarily good? Based on Census data, Alabama currently ranks in the bottom five states for both […]

The Business Roundtable (BR), a group of chief executive officers (CEOs) of some of America’s largest corporations, recently released a statement claiming that businesses have a broader purpose than simply making profit. By contrast, in a famous essay economist Milton Friedman argued that the social responsibility of business was to increase its profit. The BR […]