Imagine two businesses across the street from each other: a hardware store and a café. Once a year, the café buys a set of pans from the hardware store to keep its kitchen running. Meanwhile, every day, the hardware store’s employees and the managerial staff pop over to the café for lunch—sandwiches, coffee, maybe a...
Psychotherapist Orion Taraban, host of the enormously popular PyschHacks YouTube channel, has a new book out. In The Value of Others: Understanding the Economic Model of Relationships to Get (and Keep) More of What You Want in the Sexual Marketplace, he attempts to explain dating and romantic relationships through the lens of economics. It’s an...
Carl Schurz (1829–1906) was one of many Prussian exiles who arrived in the United States following the failed revolutions of 1848. After reforms failed to materialize in Europe, Schurz became one of the German “48ers” who came to America to escape political persecution for his role in the unsuccessful uprisings. Schurz went on to contribute...
Why does the Spangler Candy Company make its famous Dum Dum Lollipops in Bryan, Ohio, and its candy canes down in Juarez, Mexico? The answer to that question has a lot to teach us about the hidden costs of protectionist policies. It starts with the influence of the American Sugar Lobby, which contributes millions of...
The following Student View by Barrett Tefft, Anthony Storer, and Alexander “Noel” Tokarev appears in the April 2025 When Free to Choose, a signature publication by Northwood University. Some see immigration as a human right. If that’s true, we need open borders. Others say the failure of the previous administration to stop the flow of...
The Free Market Road Show delivered powerful insights from renowned economic thought leaders during its April 14 stop at Northwood University. Originating from the Austrian Economics Center, the Free Market Road Show typically visits the world’s largest cities. Its stop in Midland underscores Northwood University’s reputation as a leading destination for free-market discourse. The lineup...
President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda exhibits no signs of a popular mandate. Recent polling found that 61 percent of the public believe raising tariffs will hurt average Americans, compared to just fourteen percent who see them as helpful. Seventy-six percent expect tariffs will produce increased prices at the store. Clear majorities also oppose Trump’s specific...
At the end of March, the Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari in Bowers v. Oneida County Industrial Development Agency, a case involving a county confiscating a private developer’s land to give it to his business rival. Bryan Bowers, a local developer, was under contract to purchase land in Utica, New York, and planned...
The United States gained much of its famous self-reliance and can-do spirit from its Anglo-Saxon heritage, and much of its skepticism of big government from its British origins to boot. So it should horrify Americans to learn just how much the motherland has forgotten its proud tradition of self-sufficiency and pride in being self-reliant. In...
My wife and I spend over $400 a month for groceries at our local Safeway. Yet those rascals at Safeway buy nothing from us. We have an annual trade deficit with Safeway of over $5,000. Does this sound absurd? It should. In an economy with millions of vendors to buy from, the idea that I...
“Liberation Day”: That is what US President Donald Trump has called Wednesday, April 2, the day he announced huge swaths of taxes on imports worldwide. Despite the label, it was far from a day of liberation. By making imports to the US more expensive, the government is actively increasing the cost of living for American...
Illegal immigrants are President Donald Trump’s favorite scapegoat for America’s problems. So, it is no surprise that he blames them for the housing shortage. More surprising, perhaps, is the recent report from J.P. Morgan that offers a similar explanation. “It is estimated that there are 11.2 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., and that number...
As we mark five years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many headlines trumpet the resilience of the US economy: unemployment is low, GDP has returned to growth, and markets have rebounded. But beneath the surface-level indicators lies a more complicated and sobering picture. A close examination of key economic metrics reveals that in...
By Param Vir Singh Language was the original technological revolution. Between 200,000 and 300,000 years ago, early humans in Africa developed the cognitive and syntactic capabilities to structure thoughts into meaningful expressions. This innovation not only transformed communication but also laid the groundwork for mathematics, music, and technological progress. Today, artificial intelligence (AI) presents a...