Why do we treat sugar differently than oil? In our nation we often follow radically different policies with regard to products that aren’t all that different from an economic perspective. Why we do so often isn’t clear, but these anomalies…
Senate should rise above politics and confirm Yellen
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes famously described President Roosevelt as having a “second class intellect but a first class temperament.” Historians do quibble over whether he was referring to Franklin or Teddy, but his insight that leadership qualities can be more…
Politics to blame for 1995 shutdown
Don’t fall for romantic fables about imagined fiscal successes. Former Sen. Daniel Moynihan once said: “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.” But facts are often elusive, and Americans are notoriously weak on history.…
Be careful when comparing states’ economies
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this column contained a factual error. I stated that Indiana’s inflation-adjusted state gross domestic product grew at only a 1.9 percent annual rate last year as compared with 2011 levels. The correct rate is 3.3…