Regardless of who wins the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics Sciences on Monday, odds are the announcement will extend U.S. domination of that category. Of the 55 individuals who have won the prize since 1969, 43 were born in the…
Price indexes help little in capping city spending
Few people like to pay taxes, but most of us agree that we would be worse off without any government. Moreover, all taxes distort economic incentives in some way and create undesired and unintended consequences. The real estate tax has…
Fuel tax the fairest way to motivate conservation
Maybe I’d better find my WIN button. That was my initial reaction to President Bush’s call Monday for citizens to voluntarily conserve fuel. For those too young to remember, WIN buttons were an initiative of the Gerald Ford administration and…
Anti-gouging activities are bad policy
The price gouging going on these days is outrageous. Just a few weeks ago, someone sold a modest house for $389,000 that could not have cost $100,000 when it was purchased 25 years ago. The sellers didn’t seem to feel…