While President Donald Trump continues to expand and contract his tariff policy, taking his allies on a political-economic roller coaster, China seems unfazed by this frenzy that is challenging the world order. In response to the US imposing new tariffs on goods of Chinese origin, China initially responded with a similar strategy. Beijing retaliated with...
With the clock ticking on the 90-day pause in President Donald Trump’s tariff and trade war, it’s time for the president to answer some questions. After all, when the president systematically uses economic nationalism in public discourse, he shapes people’s minds—regardless of whether his statements are intended for political negotiations or reflect deeply held beliefs....
Investor and podcaster Eric Weinstein recently argued that free speech is overrated. While supporting the idea of the First Amendment, he said that free speech alone was insufficient to combat bad ideas. As he put it, “This whole concept of the marketplace of ideas doesn’t actually work because marketplaces have market failures and very fit...
Gary Shapiro has had a long career at the intersection of consumer technology and the government rules that govern it. As the CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, he has been both a cheerleader and defensive coordinator when it comes to the companies that make the gizmos, appliances, and computerized wonders that fill our lives....
Imagine that you are the captain of a huge boat, like a modern container ship or even the legendary Titanic. You’re sailing forward at full throttle when an iceberg is sighted dead ahead. You need to change course because the damage will sink your ship if you hit the iceberg. You turn the wheel as...
Most US media coverage of President Donald Trump’s trade war has focused on how his global tariff regime is likely to impact the US economy and American consumers. However, it’s the workers in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Lesotho, Vietnam and other poor countries who are likely to be harmed the most by the trade war...
We rarely hear positive things about plastic. Headlines overflow with alarming statistics on microplastic contamination and unsettling images of ocean pollution. Yet plastic has quietly played an essential role in reducing poverty, improving global living standards, and even saving lives. How could toxic, Earth-choking plastics possibly combat poverty around the world? In recent articles titled...
In July 1959, at the American National Exhibition in Moscow’s Sokolniki Park, Vice President Richard Nixon stepped into a model suburban kitchen and found himself in a now-famous impromptu exchange with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. Known as the “Kitchen Debate,” the moment became emblematic of Cold War tensions — not over missiles or military power,...
Is the DOJ finally done playing games with the economy? It hardly sounds like a compliment to be described as “Hillbilly Antitrust,” but Gail Slater—now heading the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division—has embraced the label with characteristic bluntness. But there may be reason to cheer. In the past, Slater has made some pro-regulation assertions. She’s expressed...
Across college campuses, on TikTok feeds, and in everyday conversations, a familiar narrative is gaining steam: capitalism is broken. Rising rents and stagnant wages fuel the claim among some young people that free markets have failed an entire generation. According to a 2024 poll by the Institute of Economic Affairs, more than 60% of young...
A new book by Dr. Jeffrey Singer proposes a simple idea: “Every human being of adult years and sound mind has the right to determine what shall be done with his own body.” You might think that principle is hard to argue with. Yet in Your Body, Your Health Care, Singer shows that government potentially...
The main principle of trade policy is make or buy. “Economics” comes from the Greek word oikonomia, deriving from oikos, meaning “house” or “household,” and nomos, meaning “law” or “rule”. Thus, oikonomia originally meant “prudent household management,” including labor, finances, and property, to ensure stability and self-sufficiency for the family. Over time, the term expanded...
Too expensive even for the rich. Do the wealthy hate Britain? You would be forgiven for thinking so, from the way wealthy people and companies are fleeing the country. As many as 11,000 millionaires have left since the beginning of 2024, often taking their businesses with them. The effects are finally being felt: in April...
How private property promotes human flourishing is the subject of a new lesson that Northwood University has posted in the complimentary online course, The Philosophy of Free Enterprise. “Next to our right to life, private property may be one of the most essential human rights,” explains Dr. Dale Matcheck, David E. Fry Endowed Professor in...