Using People the Right Way
According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Ethically disapproving judgements that a person is ‘just using’ or sometimes simply ‘using’ another are common in everyday discourse.” One of the primary targets chosen for such disapproval is capitalism, better defined as a private property-based system of voluntary arrangements. And it has long been the case. For […]
Argentina needs to default, not dollarise
Milton friedman looms large in the personal and political life of Argentina’s probable next president. Javier Milei’s ideas, which carried him to an unexpected victory in the country’s primaries in August, take cues from the 20th century’s most prominent free-market economist. Friedman influenced both Mr Milei’s opinions on the ideal size of the state (tiny) […]
Should you fix your mortgage for ever?
Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. Your browser does not support the <audio> element. Few assets are as political as housing, and therefore few markets depend as much on national borders as those for mortgages. Governments can twiddle endless dials to control what goes on, concerning everything from how […]
How Chicago school economists reshaped American justice
Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. Your browser does not support the <audio> element. In recent years the antitrust division of America’s Department of Justice has gone on a crusade against corporate mergers, filing a record number of complaints in an attempt to stop the biggest businesses from getting […]
China’s slowdown is rattling Asian economies
Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. Your browser does not support the <audio> element. Bali, a holiday destination in Indonesia, and Busan, a port in South Korea, are not easily confused. The former produces little industrial machinery; the latter falls short on year-round tropical weather. But the two have […]
A comment on Jordà, Singh, and Taylor
Bloomberg recently discussed a new working paper out of the SF Fed, co-authored by Òscar Jordà, Sanjay R. Singh, and Alan M. Taylor (JST). They argued that monetary policy has long lasting effects on productivity and output. The following graph is from the SF Fed letter that summarizes a longer JST research paper, which examines […]
