Can currents in childbearing be healthy for the economy?
(Child Trends) Having children outside of marriage–nonmarital childbearing–is increasingly common in the United States. A new Research Brief, Childbearing Outside of Marriage: Estimates and Trends in the United States, describes how…
The parasite economy
From a recent Heritage release: This annual study by The Heritage Foundation analyzes federal assistance programs for everything from housing, health care, and food stamps to college tuition and retirement…
The Weight of the Union
Designed for Anytime Fitness and based on the fitness and nutritional habits of its 1.3 million members, the visual looks at the numbers behind obesity – how expensive it is…
- 2007-08 Crisis
- Autarchy
- Budget Deficit
- Bureaucracy
- Capitalism
- Closed System
- Competition
- Current Events
- Debt Ceiling
- Distributism
- Division of Labor
- Ecology
- Economic Theory
- Federal Budget
- Free Land
- Free Market
- Frontier Thesis
- Game Theory
- Inspiration
- Interdependency
- Legal Theory
- National Debt
- Political Theory
- Polycentrism
- Poverty
- Rational Choice Theory
- Self-Government
- Self-Reliance
- Self-Rule
- Self-Sufficiency
- Simplicity
- Solutions
- Specialism
- Systems Theory
- Trade
- Wealth
- Zero-sum
Signs of a new de-urbanization?
After the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, a great de-urbanization took place when city dwellers realized that the centralized system was unreliable and even dangerous. Smaller,…
In praise of misers
Here’s what I like about Ebenezer Scrooge: His meager lodgings were dark because darkness is cheap, and barely heated because coal is not free. His dinner was gruel, which he…
- Austrian School
- Capitalism
- Chicago School
- Closed System
- Competition
- Complexity
- Culture Divide
- Distributism
- Division of Labor
- Economic Policy
- Economic Theory
- Free Land
- Free Market
- Game Theory
- Interdependency
- Keynesianism
- Marxism
- Political Theory
- Poverty
- Self-Government
- Self-Reliance
- Self-Rule
- Self-Sufficiency
- Sociology
- Systems Theory
- Trade
- Wealth
- Welfare Statism
- Zero-sum
Zero-sum economics: the core issue of the great debate
Is the economy a zero-sum game? John Mackey, co-founder and co-CEO of Whole Foods Market says that it isn’t a zero-sum game. (WSJ.com) Business is not a zero-sum game struggling…
Population 7 Billion
There will soon be seven billion people on the planet. By 2045 global population is projected to reach nine billion. Can the planet take the strain? via Population 7 Billion…
- 2007-08 Crisis
- Autarchy
- Budget Deficit
- Closed System
- Competition
- Complexity
- Culture Divide
- Current Events
- Economic Policy
- Economic Theory
- Federal Budget
- Inflation
- Interdependency
- Keynesianism
- Marxism
- Motivation
- National Debt
- Perpetuity
- Political Theory
- Poverty
- Resources
- Self-Reliance
- Self-Sufficiency
- Sociology
- Systems Theory
- Wealth
- Welfare Statism
- Zero-sum
I could be wrong, but I’m not
Part of the 99%: Part of the 53%:
The Juggernaut in a nutshell
Before talking about economics, I want to say something about democracy. In July, I was in Spain, talking to the “indignados” there, the protesters. There, I could use a bullhorn….
- Closed System
- Competition
- Complexity
- Culture Divide
- Current Events
- Debt Ceiling
- Economic Policy
- Economic Theory
- Federal Budget
- Game Theory
- Inflation
- Interdependency
- Keynesianism
- Legal Theory
- Marxism
- Motivation
- National Debt
- Notable Quotables
- Perpetuity
- Political Theory
- Poverty
- Systems Theory
- Wealth
- Zero-sum
Occupy Wall Street demands are vaguely familiar
The protestors on Wall Street known as ‘Occupy Wall Street’ have recently been identified by a list of demands evidently posted by one of their followers. Though there are no…
The social contract question
Granted we are social animals and engaged in a social contract, why does Warren assume that the factory owner isn’t putting forth his part of the bargain? Is it assumed…
Do the poor get poorer?
People often say that “the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer.” Economics professor Steve Horwitz explains why in the United States, this characterization is largely a…
A theory about the poor’s aversion to welfare
(The Economist) Instead of opposing redistribution because people expect to make it to the top of the economic ladder, the authors of the new paper argue that people don’t like…
Police and thieves in the street
by Junior Murvin Police and thieves in the street (oh yeah) Fighting the nation with their guns and ammunition Police and thieves in the street (oh yeah) Scaring the nation…
The plight of the middle class
Robert Reich connects the dots on the economy, in less than 2 minutes and 15 seconds. A number of questions arise, not the least important of which has to do…
Life and times in the rentership society
(Bloomberg) The U.S. homeownership rate has fallen below 60 percent when delinquent borrowers are excluded, a sign of the country’s move toward a “rentership society,” Morgan Stanley said in a…
The math behind economies of scale
(TED) Physicist Geoffrey West has found that simple, mathematical laws govern the properties of cities — that wealth, crime rate, walking speed and many other aspects of a city can…
New charter city in the works
(TED) Back in 2009, Paul Romer unveiled the idea for a “charter city” — a new kind of city with rules that favor democracy and trade. This year, at TED2011,…
Radically rethinking the way we fight poverty
The authors of Poor Economics have a point: Ideology drives a lot of policies, and even the most well-intentioned ideas can get bogged down by ignorance of ground-level realities and…