A useful postscript to my reading of Bad Blood and my blog posts about the podcast The Dropout, both of which examined the Elizabeth Holmes/Theranos story, is Tyler Shultz’s new Audible podcast, Thicker Than Water.    Shultz is, of course, the grandson of George Shultz and the whistleblower who began the process of exposing the lies and misrepresentations behind…

The Fed recently decided to switch to average inflation targeting, which means making up for past misses of its 2% inflation target by allowing temporary over or undershoots of inflation. So how will we know if it’s a success? I see two key criteria: 1. Does the new policy result in roughly 2% inflation over the long run? 2. Does…

Stuart Ritchie has written a very interesting and timely half of a book in Science Fictions. He has correctly identified and painstakingly articulated why those who claim to have clear cut answers based on “science” should be taken with a grain of salt.  His biggest accomplishment is reminding the reader that part of the problem with science is that…

It seems that more and more Americans, pro-Trump or not, are concluding that trade with China is a threat to the United States. The objections are typically one of three: (1) freer trade with China after it was admitted to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 has cost U.S. manufacturing jobs; (2) the Chinese have thrived by stealing our…

Hang around freedom-friendly circles long enough and you’ll eventually hear a claim like the following. “Under private ownership of roads, congestion would be eliminated through the implementation of market pricing.” Claims like this range the gamut of sophistication. In the more sophisticated, truly dynamic pricing would adjust in real time as cars enter and exit the roadway. A somewhat less…

Later on, I’ll have more to say about the Fed’s new approach to policy, but this portion of Jay Powell’s speech caught my eye: [O]ur revised statement says that our policy decision will be informed by our “assessments of the shortfalls of employment from its maximum level” rather than by “deviations from its maximum level” as in our previous…

This month I’ve done two Cato Book Forums: one on Laurence Siegel’s Fewer, Richer, Greener; the other on Ilya Somin’s Free to Move.  Here’s full video of the events.  Enjoy!   (0 COMMENTS)…

Start with the state’s economy, which had a relatively low jobless rate of 7.6% in July. Construction was never shut down, and schools in much of the state are opening for classroom instruction. The state expected a budget shortfall of $1 billion for the year but the actual deficit was $210 million. Mr. Kemp says sales tax revenue is rebounding…

It has long been the belief of policymakers that it is the role of government to ensure the general health of the public in order to head off moral hazard. As great as that may sound on the surface, preventive policies, especially prohibition laws which criminalize victimless actions, often have the opposite effect. By this, I mean that they are,…

Consider this general syllogism:   Issue X is complicated. Perspective Y’s position on X is not complicated. Therefore, Perspective Y is wrong about X.   It’s a solid argument, and one we can apply to endless pressing issues.   For instance: Gender relations are complicated. MeToo’s position on gender relations is not complicated. Therefore, MeToo is wrong about gender…