Wal-Mart wasn’t being hypocritical when one of its executives recently called for a higher national minimum wage, but the retailing giant may have been taking lessons from German industry. Nationwide standards may give big companies like Wal-Mart a strategic advantage…
Do trade missions matter?
Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s trade mission to China is not likely to accomplish much in increasing trade or investment flows. But in practical terms, he had little choice about going. What states do is largely irrelevant in terms of increasing or…
Credibility is crucial in trade talks
If the Bush administration is serious about trade agreements, it should study the work of Thomas Schelling, winner of the 2005 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Schelling won the prize for applying game theory to Cold War nuclear strategy.…
Why subsidize mortgages?
Limiting the deduction of home mortgage interest is the most controversial proposal of President Bush’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform. It will be unpopular with much of the public. However, many economists — Republicans and Democrats alike — think…