Oprah and Martha appear as different as night and day. One is African-American. The other is whiter than white. One is chatty and informal. She seems like one of us. She has weight problems. The other one seems almost too perfect. Everything is handmade, homemade, crafted with love and matches…
Read MoreBethlehem Steel recently announced that it was declaring bankruptcy. Bethlehem Steel? What’s next, General Motors? That’s the impression I got from friends who were alarmed by the announcement. When a legendary company like Bethlehem Steel goes bankrupt, the whole economic system could be at risk. Should we be alarmed that…
Read MoreFrom National Public Radio Audio The critics say it’s immoral for Bayer to profit from fear and disease. After all, other pharmaceutical manufacturers have said they’ll give away their antibiotics in the fight against anthrax. Tommy Thompson of the Department of Health and Human Services even threatened to ignore Bayer’s…
Read MoreText from National Public Radio, Morning Edition What do you think of when you hear the phrase “raid Social Security?” I see an elderly person, maybe a nice white-haired Grandma about to take a spoonful of soup on a cold winter night. Suddenly, someone grabs the sweet old thing’s wrist…
Read MoreFrom Ideas on Liberty At the heart of almost all economics is the idea of mutually beneficial exchange. When two people voluntarily engage in an activity, economists assume that both parties are better off. Otherwise, one of them would have refused the deal. It doesn’t mean people don’t make mistakes—sure…
Read MoreFrom Ideas on Liberty Roughly 180 years ago David Ricardo discovered comparative advantage. He showed that trade benefits both trading partners even when one is less productive than the other across all activities. There are gains from trade and specialization even in that case. Ricardo’s insight is in the news…
Read MoreNear where I live is a charming little stretch of shops called “the Loop” that caters to students and the university community. There are bars and restaurants and a gorgeous restored movie theater from the 1920s and a bike shop and a juice bar and a used book store and…
Read MoreIn this talk, Russell Roberts makes the case for remaking the way we talk about economics–moving the emphasis away from the sterile and toward the soulful. Using examples taken from the public policy trenches, Roberts talks about how economics can re-engage the importance of human possibility and the individual. Roberts,…
Read MoreFrom Ideas on Liberty One of Frédéric Bastiat’s great insights into understanding economics was to distinguish what is seen from what is not seen. Searching out the unseen is in many ways the essence of economics. A soda bottling plant may seem like a strange place to do economics, but…
Read MoreIt is said that there are two things you should not watch being made: sausage and law. Once upon a time there was a great sausage maker from Arizona. He made sausage from the innards and entrails and unmentionables of the pig and of the cow. His sausage was delightful.…
Read MoreYou might have noticed that Mexican trucks have been in the news lately. Who wins and who loses when Mexican trucks are allowed to carry cargo into the United States? The New York Times reports that a NAFTA dispute resolution panel has ruled that NAFTA requires the U.S. to let…
Read MoreFrom Ideas on Liberty One of the highlights of the 2000 presidential campaign was Winifred Skinner. You may remember her—she was the can-collecting 79-year-old woman who used the money from her foraging for tin and aluminum to finance her prescription drugs. She was interviewed on Good Morning America about her…
Read MoreWhen I travel, I often find myself on an airplane chatting with a stranger and mentioning that I’m an economist. “That must be awfully handy around tax time,” my seatmate will often reply. Or “I bet you’re good at balancing your checkbook.” Truth is, I hate balancing my checkbook and…
Read MoreText from National Public Radio, Morning Edition When I teach economics and talk about how difficult it is for advertisers to sway consumers, someone always brings up subliminal advertising. The student then tells me about the classic experiment when a movie theater repeatedly flashed the words “Eat Popcorn, Drink Coke”…
Read MoreWhen you think of the greatest inventions of all time, you think of the wheel, movable type, electricity. When you think of the greatest inventions and products of the 20th century, you think of plastic, the transistor, the mass-produced car, the passenger plane, the radio, the television and the computer.…
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