A Brief History of Social Justice
The concept of social justice implies that societies can be ranked from least to most moral, implicitly evaluating outcomes rather than processes or institutions. In practice, social justice is inherently Marxian, assuming it is morally preferable for wealth to be allocated in favor of virtuously productive workers, rather than to capitalists, who Marx defines as […]
Wholesale prices rise less than expected
A customer shops in a Kroger grocery store on July 15, 2022 in Houston, Texas. Brandon Bell | Getty Images The producer price index for June had a smaller-than-expected increase, the Labor Department reported Thursday, in the latest sign that inflation is calming in the United States. The PPI for final demand rose 0.1%. Economists […]
Upcoming Trading Webinar – Only 4 Spots Left!
We have four spots left in our upcoming Advanced Trading Webinar (July 14/15)! If you have attended before, it will be worth attending again: the charts have been updated, and there are new ideas integrated as well. (This webinar is best suited for Pro Socrates users, please ensure to read the description in full!) For more information or sign […]
We’ll avoid a global recession, central banks will ‘change the goalposts’
A Now Hiring sign is seen inside a WholeFoods store in New York City. Adam Jeffery | CNBC The global economy will likely avoid a recession and central banks will need to “change the goalposts” on inflation, according to veteran strategist David Roche. With high inflation proving sticky across many major economies, central banks have […]
Is America’s inflationary fever breaking?
Writing out economic figures to the third decimal place is normally an exercise in spurious precision. But after two years of uncomfortably high inflation, price statistics are studied in minute detail. The unrounded month-on-month increase in America’s core inflation (minus volatile food and energy costs) in June was 0.158%, even more pleasing for officials than […]
Why people struggle to understand climate risk
Placed before you are two urns. Each contains 100 balls. You are given a clear description of the first urn’s contents, in which there are 50 red balls and 50 black balls. The economist running the experiment is tight-lipped about the second, saying only that there are 100 balls divided between red and black in […]
The mystery of gold prices
Traders have an expression to describe how unpredictable financial markets can be: “better off dumb”. Stocks or other financial markets can sometimes behave in unforeseeable ways. Analysts predicted that American share prices would collapse if Donald Trump won the election in 2016—they soared. Companies that post better-than-expected earnings sometimes see their share prices decline. Glimpsing […]
Do sanctions work? – Econlib
I have supported economic sanctions on Russia after the Ukraine invasion. Thus I clearly believe that they have at least some impact. But there’s a lot of evidence that sanctions aren’t actually very powerful. Russia’s economy has done pretty well despite last year’s enactment of what most pundits regarded as extremely severe sanctions. A recent […]
