Individuals act on self-interest. No, that doesn’t mean that people are only motivated by selfish materialism. It comes down to an understanding that actions made today will have consequences tomorrow. Those decisions drive our economy. They are based on the best choices someone can make today, which will provide the best future for themselves and their loved ones. So where do charity and altruism fit into that economic worldview? Nobel laureate Dr. Gary Becker says they play into each other more than people think, but an important distinction should be made, “Even a bunch of selfish individuals, under appropriate circumstances, …
What is the legitimate role of government in a free society? Most agree that there is one, albeit small. The Constitution lays out these roles, but they are ignored and trampled on year after year. Laws are passed, programs are implemented, and taxes are collected all in the name of progress. Yet most conflict directly with the liberties granted and restrictions imposed by the Constitution. The problem is not going away and seems to be getting worse. History is on our side. When governments have overstepped, the results have not been kind. Dr. Walter Williams puts these concerns in an …
Is there a more market-based approach to government? Regardless of the outcome of elections, there seems to be a growing number of Americans who are dissatisfied with the result no matter which party is in control. Congressional control flips at a rate you can nearly set your watch to. What are Americans looking for? They’re looking for another way. They’re looking for a solution that the two-party system cannot provide; a choice of candidates that doesn’t force them to sacrifice a portion of their principles. Former CATO President, Ed Crane sums it up, “In my view, there’s a huge disenfranchised …
It’s impossible to predict the behaviors and actions of any one individual. So how can economists ever hope to understand the effects a shift in policy will have on the consumers within the economy? While individuals behave irrationally, groups give us more insight into understanding behavior and the impact those decisions will have on economics. For economist Gary Becker, one of those fundamental groups is family, “One of the things that families do is to care for their children, to invest in their children, to teach their children morals, skills, and other forms of behavior. Human capital deals with the …
With a human population larger than any point in history, we are consuming more natural resources than at any point in history. So, how can we ever expect to maintain this pace without running out of resources? As it turns out, the people who seriously sound these alarm bells are forgetting one thing. Throughout history, bigger problems have produced bigger solutions. Had those initial problems never arisen, neither would have the solutions. As noted scholar Julian Simon put it, “We need our problems. In some fundamental way we need bigger and better problems. That’s not to say we should run …
The Federal Reserve was originally created to bring stability to our financial and monetary system. However, despite multiple failures, it has widely escaped criticism. There is a myth that the Fed is there to protect us. But upon closer inspection, does it? If you ask Nobel laureate Dr. James Buchanan, the answer is clear, “The Fed more or less just inherited this legacy of being a monopoly in control of a monetary institution. It’s not a constitutional body. It has never been explicitly examined legislatively. And yet it gets away with all this without any criticism because the criticism is …
Government regulation is a force that influences nearly every aspect of our daily lives. The intentions are usually well-meaning. They are created to fix a problem or a perceived market failure. The problem that we run into time and time again is that the fixes usually create another problem, while only putting a temporary patch over the initial problem. The response is usually another patch with the same result. In the words of Nobel laureate George Stigler, “The trouble is that normally the way (advocates) want to solve the problem is to create either a new agency, or a new …
