Columbia University’s William Vickery died only three days after the announcement that he had received the 1996 Nobel for economics. But his insights, particularly on the design of auctions, live on and have practical applications in business and government. They…
Trade is an elusive target for politicians
That we need leaders who can unite the American people has become a cliche. So perhaps one should be glad that Bernie Sanders, a sharp-left Democratic candidate for president, and Donald Trump on the Republican side, agree on at least…
Ex-Im Bank battle is symbolic
Some of the arguments over the Export-Import Bank remind me of a silly commercial for mints in the 1960s in which two people argued about whether the product was candy or a bad-breath remedy. I want to interject: “it’s two,…
Just what would negative interest rates entail?
Part of the unintended genius in the design of the Federal Reserve System is demonstrated by how speeches given by a once-obscure academic in small regional cities like Helena, Mont., or Mankato, Minn., can affect national monetary policy. So is…