Scottish poet Robert Burns warned us that the best laid plans of economists and society often can go awry. When economic policies or institutions go awry, the problem often is a “fallacy of composition” in some underlying thinking. It can…
Costly oil tightens budget
What does $50 a barrel oil mean for the U.S. economy? It may sound flip, but one answer is that $50 oil won’t make much difference compared to $48 oil. The point is that while symbolic milestones — whether a…
Bankruptcy fairness is balancing act
US Airways’ Chapter 11 encore prompts re-examination of exactly what our society wants from bankruptcy laws. Societies clearly are better off when there is some legal provision for the discharge of unpayable debt. When such provisions, however, allow firms to…
It’s hard to improve on a classic
On Aug. 23, most people ignored news of the 50th anniversary of the first flight of the C-130 Hercules airplane. Yet those of us who have flown in or jumped out of this wonderful aircraft read the news with a…