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America’s Debt Crisis: Northwood University Posts New lesson in Free Enterprise Online Course

In celebration of Constitution Day this week, Northwood University has posted a fresh lesson in the Philosophy of Free Enterprise, a free online course for anyone interested learning about the importance of freedom and free-market economics. “It is fitting that this latest lesson — which explores America’s debt crisis — comes as we celebrated Constitution...

By Kate Hessling

Are Bad Climate Policies Causing More Deaths Than Climate Change?

During Vivek Ramaswamy’s recent event at the Cato Institute, protestors derailed his presentation by getting on stage and chanting “climate con-man,” among other similar allegations. But it’s not just rabbles of unknown activists accusing Ramaswamy of climate falsehoods. Last year, Ramaswamy said, “The reality is, more people are dying of bad climate change policies than...

By Saul Zimet

Protectionism’s Bad Economic History

Protectionism is currently in vogue, gaining support from both the left and the right. This isn’t the first time. As protectionism’s popularity ebbs and flows, it remains a constant presence. Each resurgence is driven by variations of the same argument, particularly the infant industry argument. The argument is straightforward: protectionism, through tariffs or subsidies, helps...

By Vincent Geloso

College Football’s Lesson About Political Economy

Auburn University’s football team lost every game in 1950. As Bill Cromartie put it in his book Braggin’ Rights, a game-by-game account of the Alabama-Auburn football rivalry, “Alabama fans laughed, poked fun at and cracked jokes about Auburn.” The Auburn Tigers got their revenge in 1955 when they beat the Alabama Crimson Tide 26-0 to...

By Art Carden

How the FAA Is Keeping Flying Cars in Science Fiction

Flying cars are used as a synecdoche for all of the 20th-century sci-fi dreams that never came true. But they shouldn’t be grouped with moon cities or Dyson spheres. Private, point-to-point aircraft as cheap as a Chevy Tahoe could have been available decades ago. We should have them by now and could have them soon...

By Maxwell Tabarrok

When Back-to-School Blues Signal a Deeper Problem

September’s crisp air once carried the promise of new beginnings for students. Fresh notebooks, sharpened pencils, and the excitement of reuniting with friends painted an idyllic back-to-school season. But for an increasing number of students and families, this annual rite of passage now brings a complex mix of emotions: anticipation tinged with anxiety, hope shadowed...

By Tobin Slaven

Is America’s Cultural Glue Weakening?

It’s hard to imagine a starker difference in political visions than between Trump-Vance and Harris-Walz. This could get ugly, so now is a good time to remind ourselves of what it is that holds us together as a nation and a people. America is a nation of immigrants who had very different ideas about all...

Why Corporate America Is Finally Retreating From Social Activism

In January, Axios reported a developing trend in corporate America: corporations across the United States were backing away from DEI, which had become a “minefield” for companies. Following a multi-year boom in the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion space following the 2020 death of George Floyd, corporations were pulling back on DEI initiatives. The risks were...

By Jonathan Miltimore

Why Markets Plunged on This Year’s ‘Black Monday’

August 5th was supposedly a “Black Monday.” Stock markets around the world suffered declines that were far greater than normal. The VIX Index, which measures the volatility of financial markets, reached a level not seen since March 2020. Financial turbulence always sparks criticism of speculation. John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) thought that investors often fall prey...

By Sergio Martínez

Why Health Policy Problems Rarely Get Solved

For at least half a century, we have been struggling with three health policy problems that never seem to go away: cost, quality and access to care. This is the case even though public policy has been actively trying to solve all three—with increasing aggressiveness through time. Over the past 50 years, medical science has...

By John C. Goodman

Does a Construction Cartel Explain Rising Rents?

To a man with an antitrust hammer, everything looks like a monopoly nail. In a recent Substack, antimonopoly campaigner Matt Stoller blames the rise in rents and anemic housing supply growth since 2007 on growing concentration in the home-building industry, rather than local land-use regulations, an explanation he attributes to “noisy” YIMBYs. Is he right?...

By Jason Sorens

Biden Freezes Student Loans after Courts Stop SAVE Plan

For the last few years at FEE and National Review, I’ve spent quite a bit of energy talking about student loan forgiveness. The reason for my persistence on this topic is that the era of Covid policy has completely turned the tables on how student loans are managed. Before Covid, student loan policies were relatively...

By Peter Jacobsen

New lesson in Philosophy of Free Enterprise online course explores ‘civil society’

Northwood University is kicking off the new school year with a fresh lesson in the Philosophy of Free Enterprise, a free online course for anyone interested learning about the importance of freedom and free-market economics. “Northwood University is committed to deepening the understanding of free-market principles and their vital role in civil society. The latest...

By Kate Hessling

This is the 2024 Northwood University Freedom Seminar Lineup

The Northwood University Freedom Seminar kicks off this fall with the theme “Decision 2024: The Economic Issues of the U.S. Election.” “The Freedom Seminar is an annual series of lectures on the free enterprise system led by distinguished experts in business, government, and academia,” explained Dr. Dale Matcheck, Chair of Northwood’s Economics program. “This year,...

By Kate Hessling