Fifty years ago, Friedrich Hayek and Karl Gunnar Myrdal won the Nobel prize “for their pioneering work in the theory of money and economic fluctuations and for their penetrating analysis of the interdependence of economic, social and institutional phenomena.” Hayek’s Nobel is notable for several reasons, and each relates to the importance of intellectual humility....
Michigan is the pizza capital of the United States and, quite possibly, the world, according to a new report from the McNair Center for Free Enterprise at Northwood University and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. The study, Michigan: The Unlikely Pizza Capital of the United States (and the World?), analyzes the size and scope of...
In May 1938, or the ninth year of the Great Depression, a minister in Columbia County, Pennsylvania cast about for a sermon topic. In the past the minister, C.R. Ness, had spoken to the members of North Berwick Evangelical Church on a variety of themes: Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, the healing power of Jesus....
The US House of Representatives just passed H.R. 9495, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act. As with most federal bills, the name is pretty sympathetic. Who doesn’t want to stop the funding of terrorism? It also contains two related, but very different, proposals. According to Congress’s official website: This bill postpones...
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...