“Fact-checking” political candidates is all the rage, but sometimes the checkers themselves need to be scrutinized, especially when the facts relate to the economy. There is no substitute for an informed and skeptical electorate. But many people apparently don’t retain…
The distance between China and the Iron Range just got shorter
The next time I am in Silver Bay or Two Harbors, I might see people checking prices from the new iron ore exchange announced by China earlier this week. When commodities trade globally, events in one corner of the world…
Shipwreck revives old questions about safety at sea
The wreck of the Costa Concordia off the Italian coast illustrates key questions in the never-ending debate about whether government regulation of private economic activity is necessary and about its costs and benefits. Tragic as this incident is – a…
Search for safe investments drives economic distortions
Nearly a century ago, Thomas Marshall, Woodrow Wilson’s vice president, remarked, “What this country needs is a really good 5-cent cigar.” Today what our country and the rest of the world need is a good risk-free store of value. The…