U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) data for October 2024 does not bode well for future prices in the service sector, especially those related to the U.S. restaurant economy. The PPI measures the average change in producer prices for goods and services produced over a given month. In essence, it measures inflation at the wholesale level....
The U.S. government got off to a very bad start for its 2025 fiscal year. The U.S. Treasury Department reported that the federal government spent $257 billion more than it took in as revenue in October 2024. That is the second-worst figure ever recorded for the first month of the fiscal year. Only October 2020...
In 1940, Victor Records released the Dust Bowl Ballads, an album of songs written and performed by American folk singer Woody Guthrie. In two volumes and a dozen songs, the folk legend sang about the droughts that plagued North America in waves beginning in 1934 and ending in 1940. On the 14th day of April...
In a recently published booklet called The Buried Stories of Communism & Socialism, Marianna Davidovich vividly recounts the world’s horrific experiences with the evil of communism. It’s a ghastly record, littered with the bodies of a hundred million victims and the lost liberties of hundreds of millions more. No one should have ever expected otherwise;...
Michigan’s long-delayed distribution of federal funds for promoting internet access is likely to be delayed again. Congress in its 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act economic stimulus legislation authorized more than $42 billion in federal funding for increasing internet access, of which $1.5 billion was allocated to Michigan. So far, not a single Michigan household...
When is the last time you saw a news headline about cancer patients who died because they were unable to afford a drug that could have saved their lives? I bet you haven’t. One reason is that drug companies that make expensive drugs can’t afford the political backlash that would follow such a headline. Another...
James Pethokoukis wants the future back. The 1960s future he was promised as a child. The future of Star Trek: The Original Series, The Jetsons, and Walt Disney’s EPCOT, the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Walt Disney promised that EPCOT “will never be completed but will always be introducing and testing, and demonstrating new materials...
Tariffs are not going anywhere in 2025. There is no indication that the protectionist rhetoric embraced by President-elect Donald Trump has changed; in fact, the evidence suggests that tariff policy will worsen. Given this climate, it is important for economists to make the case for free trade. Of course, tariffs raise the price of tariffed...
“What is the difference between a madman and a genius? Success.” That opening line set the tone for Javier Milei’s two-hour interview with Lex Fridman. In it, Argentina’s libertarian president reflected on the first few months of his administration following his historic electoral victory on November 19, 2023. Milei has been called many things, but...
A broad range of policy reforms are needed to revitalize Michigan’s economy and a new comprehensive list of policy recommendations can serve as a guide. “101 Recommendations to Revitalize Michigan,” recently released by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, includes a wide array of reform ideas aimed at reducing living costs, boosting quality of life,...
A new study finds that the migration of people from traditional Medicare to the Medicare Advantage program over the last decade has saved the federal government $144 billion. The study arrives at a time when critics have stepped up their claims that Medicare Advantage (MA) plans are over-billing Medicare and causing a waste of taxpayer...
Earlier this month, Argentina President Javier Milei dissolved the Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos (AFIP), the nation’s largest tax bureau. Argentina’s presidential spokesperson Manual Adorni announced that a new agency will replace the AFIP, eliminating nearly 3,100 public employees and saving Argentine taxpayers 6.4 billion Argentine pesos (roughly $6.5 million). While this measure will reduce...
A few months ago I wrote a piece for FEE on Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei. Milei took on the presidency of Argentina with a particularly pressing challenge: government overspending was driving out-of-control money creation and its by-product—inflation. Milei’s goal was explicit. He promised to cut government largesse. In my article, I argued that his...
It’s hard to be an economist and, at the same time, be a Democrat. The reason? Most left-leaning Democrats reject the main teachings of economics. Yet more than 80% of academic economists are Democrats. For every Republican economist on college faculties, there are 4.5 Democrats. Consider just a few of the ways in which what...