On Monday, Texas Senator Ted Cruz announced that he’s seeking the nomination for GOP presidential candidate at Liberty University. His stump speech included goals such as abolishing the IRS, securing the border, growing the economy, and protecting religious liberty. Cruz did not mention bitcoin or cryptocurrency, getting closest with “Imagine innovation thriving on the Internet … [Read more…]
The Obamacare subsidies depend on Halbig’s outcome, and whether millions of Americans can afford their healthcare plans depends on the subsidies. At least, that’s the narrative. Commentators warn of a coming “death spiral” of extraordinary costs and insufficient incoming premiums as people cancel their plans without the subsidies. But what they’re ignoring is that Obamacare … [Read more…]
Just as the internet has revolutionized nearly aspect of everyday life, it’s revolutionized the so-called informal economy as well. Online marketplaces have made life far safer for people whose desires take them outside the bounds of legal protection. Which is why it’s so disturbing that government agencies are effectively turning back the clock, and shutting … [Read more…]
Inside a recent analysis of Jill Abramson’s firing from the New York Times, Jacob Bacharach reveals a serious misunderstanding of how economies work. There are certainly lots of good reasons to care about income inequality. However, failing to understand the utility of high incomes leads to uninformed, knee-jerk “eat the rich” policies. In practice, these laws and … [Read more…]
Ryan’s House Budget Committee has a new budget blueprint which promises to eliminate the deficit in decade or so through tax cuts, and a new accounting trick. The budget plan contains the first reference to a line item labelled “macroeconomic fiscal impact,” and it refers to the economic growth created by cutting the deficit. Simply put, as … [Read more…]
Recently, two seemingly unrelated things happened in the so-called “payday lending” world. First, Senator Elizabeth Warren began trumpeting a plan to offer short-term lending and banking services through the United States Postal Service. Then Native American Tribes sued New York’s Superintendent of Financial Services for illegally cutting them off from offering their own online lending … [Read more…]
Recently, two seemingly unrelated things happened in the so-called “payday lending” world. First, Senator Elizabeth Warren began trumpeting a plan to offer short-term lending and banking services through the United States Postal Service. Then Native American Tribes sued New York’s Superintendent of Financial Services for illegally cutting them off from offering their own online lending … [Read more…]
Peter Neiger shared a great little piece by Nicholas Kristof in the NYT yesterday, The Compassion Gap. It’s not long and I highly recommend reading the whole thing. Kristof points out a lot of uncomfortable truths, especially uncomfortable for free-marketers. The post is a defense of his previously offered suggestion for more “early-childhood interventions to broaden opportunity in America.” … [Read more…]
A nonprofit called Better Markets announced last Monday that it is suing the Justice Department for settling its case against J.P. Morgan in secret. The DoJ accepted the equivalent of five months of profit from the United States’ largest bank for negligence which contributed to the 2008 mortgage crisis. “The Wall Street bailouts were bad enough, but … [Read more…]
Venezuelans are having trouble flying in and out of their country. Spanish discount airline Air Europa has indefinitely stopped taking taking bolivars, the Venezuelan currency, since the Venezuelan government stopped exchanging them for U.S. dollars. ”The reservation people told me that I could buy the ticket in dollars or euros, but not bolivars,” said one stranded passenger. “I’m … [Read more…]