Following the work of Paul Samuelson, many economists have assumed that whenever markets struggle to provide certain public goods and services, the state should aid their production. This simplistic…

One of the great challenges in doing empirical research is trying to determine what might have happened under different circumstances.

Take the question of whether or not legalizing recreational…

In a surprising memo released last month by Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, federal agencies under the umbrella of his department are now prohibited from passing additional…

As Covid-19 began to spread through the United States in February, many feared hospitals would become overwhelmed with infected patients. To meet the demands a global pandemic places on our healthcare…

The Fed can generate inflation. Perhaps that seems obvious. After all, the Fed can create money at essentially zero marginal cost. But the point has been disputed. Several decades ago, a generation of…

In her 2009 Nobel lecture, Elinor Ostrom underscored the following point: if we continue to presuppose two optimal organizational forms (markets or states), two types of goods (private or public), and…

In the nearly eight months since Covid-19 arrived in the United States, the country has undergone extensive lockdowns, trying economic hardship, and prolonged social isolation. Despite these…

On Thursday, August 27, Jerome Powell announced that the Federal Reserve is changing policy on two counts. First, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will now target the average rate of…

Well before Covid-19 emerged, medical researchers warned that the rapid increase of Alzheimer’s disease in older populations would lead to the next “pandemic.” In many respects, they were right.…

Every week it seems I read new stories of mobs in the United States tearing down statues or of state and local governments choosing to remove these monuments. Sometimes these statues are of…