Government Surveillance Injures the Innocent
In her recent apologia for communism, Helen Andrews says that people in the Soviet bloc grew accustomed to being spied upon, rendering it a mere “annoyance at most for the average person,” albeit “excruciating for independent thinkers.” Even people who find the rest of her article anathema might concede that point, because Americans commonly shrug […]
Jobless claims rise more than expected to highest since October 2021
First-time jobless claims rose sharply last week in a potential sign that the labor market is softening up after more than a year of interest rate hikes. Initial filings for unemployment benefits totaled a seasonally adjusted 261,000 for the week ended June 3, an increase of 28,000 from the upwardly revised level of the previous […]
Sisyphean Hot Seats
Les Snead is in his twelfth year as General Manager of the Los Angeles Rams. Snead is the fifth-longest tenured GM in the NFL today. Snead and the Rams won Super Bowl LVI in 2022. In this episode of EconTalk, host Russ Roberts welcomes Les Snead to explore the role of the NFL GM. The […]
Euro zone enters recession after Germany, Ireland growth revision
The German economy entered a recession in the first quarter. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images The euro zone entered a recession in the first quarter of this year, and economists are not optimistic for the coming months. The 20-member bloc reported gross domestic product of -0.1% for the first quarter, according to revised estimates […]
After debt-ceiling negotiations, America faces a debt deluge
Having flirted with madness, Congress decided to avert a sovereign default and allow the government to resume borrowing. But although the debt-ceiling negotiations are over, their aftershocks will ripple through financial markets for months to come. In order to stave off disaster, the Treasury spent much of the past six months running down its cash […]
Amoral cities are flourishing in a turbulent geopolitical era
Singapore’s immaculate Changi airport is the perfect place to witness a shift in the balance of power between global cities. Since the city-state’s final covid-19 border restrictions were lifted last year, it has welcomed crowds of bankers, consultants and lawyers, fresh off a four-hour flight from Hong Kong or Shanghai, and often arriving without a […]
Regulators put the future of America’s crypto industry in doubt
Taylor Swift’s record-smashing “Eras” tour could end up being one of the most lucrative in musical history, possibly even minting the world’s newest billionaire. But Ms Swift has another thing going for her personal finances. When courted to invest in ftx, a now defunct crypto exchange, she reportedly balked: “Can you tell me that these […]
A flawed argument for central-bank digital currencies
To their critics central-bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are a fad—a solution in search of a problem. To their supporters CBDCs are a necessary response to a digitising world. Central bankers everywhere are studying the idea. Recently several have signed up to an argument in their favour: that CBDCs will be needed to anchor the value […]
Tech sell-off drags US stocks lower
US stocks fell on Wednesday dragged lower by tech, while Treasuries slid after an unexpected increase by the Bank of Canada stoked expectations that central banks may not be done raising rates. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 lost 0.4 per cent, pulled down by tech and communications stocks. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.3 per […]
