Uncategorized | True North

The last thing Michigan needs is rent control for mobile home parks

Lawmakers in Michigan are considering bills that would impose rent control on mobile home operators. Five bills before the Senate create many new regulations, including restrictions on owners of manufactured housing communities. Instead of determining their rental rates independently, they would have to submit any rent increases above the inflation rate to a state board...

By James M. Hohman

In the Beginning, Free Enterprise Built Northwood. Now Northwood Builds Free Enterprise.

As with all storied institutions, Northwood University’s history contains a mix of different chapters. Some were written on specific dates, while others only became discernible over time. It’s the latter that transpired when one looks at the progress made from Northwood’s beginnings to our present status as America’s Free Enterprise University. It was a time...

By Jennifer Panning

Champion Entrepreneur and Athlete: The Willie Davis Story

Willie D. Davis was born July 24, 1934, in Lisbon, Louisiana, and died April 15, 2020, in Santa Monica, California, just shy of age 86. Davis had the rare distinction of being revered as both an iconic entrepreneur and athlete. At age 8, Willie’s father left the family, and his mother had to raise three...

By Dr. Timothy Nash, Jeff Curtis

Remembering Dr. Gwartney: One of the most important scholars of his generation

The cause of freedom lost one of its foremost champions earlier this year when Dr. James Gwartney passed away in January at the age of 83. Dr. Gwartney lived a remarkable life, rising from humble beginnings to become one of the most important scholars and teachers of economics in his generation. His work in the...

By Dr. Dale Matcheck

The Ego vs. The Machine

Why are some people so upset about the new generative AI models? To put it simply: AI damages their ego. On the surface, the thought of radically democratizing a skill that they spent so much time, money, and energy developing and knowing that it can now be accessed by anybody, anytime, almost instantly is frustrating...

By Dylan Allman

New Jersey’s Plastic Bag Ban Backfire, Explained

There’s a famous scene in Seinfeld in which George passes on a TV pilot deal with NBC, only to later accept for less money than originally offered. “In other words, you held out for less money,” Jerry says after George tells him the deal. “You know the basic idea of negotiation, as I understand it,...

By Jonathan Miltimore

Javier Milei Delivers Argentina’s First Surplus in Over a Decade — and US Media Is Silent

Argentines witnessed something amazing earlier this month: the government’s first budget surplus in nearly a dozen years. The Economy Ministry announced the figures Friday, Feb. 23, and the government was $589 million in the black. Argentina’s surplus comes on the heels of ambitious cuts in federal spending pushed by newly-elected President Javier Milei that included...

By Jonathan Miltimore

Why Business Failures Are Good for the Economy

Many believe that a company going out of business is bad for the economy. But business failure is actually a good thing. Let’s say there are two pizza places across the street from each other. One is way more popular than the other, and eventually, the less busy restaurant has to close. Obviously, this is...

By Axel Weber

Is the US Dollar ‘Finished’?

In August 2005, a little-known financial analyst named Richard Bove issued an eight-page report for Punk, Ziegel, and Company, a boutique investment bank based in New York City. The report, titled “This Powder Keg Is Going to Blow,” noted that federal mortgage policies, including agencies like the Federal Housing Administration that “guaranteed the banks against...

By Jonathan Miltimore

‘This is the unholy intersection of Hollywood and politics’

Elected officials feel they need to show they’re doing something about jobs, and what could be a bigger spectacle than a Hollywood crew shooting a new film in their state? There has been a proliferation of states offering to pay large parts of a film production’s expenses with taxpayer dollars. And there is also an...

By James M. Hohman

The Mirage That’s Driving Mass Transit Expansion

If you build mass transit, they will come. That “Field of Dreams” thinking is one of the operating assumptions behind the unprecedented federal and state spending spree on public transportation. The Biden administration is doling out as much as $108 billion on mass transit, while states are planning enormous new projects of all kinds. As...

By James M. Hohman

The Economics of Taylor Swift’s Trip to Super Bowl LVIII

Understanding economics helps us make choices in our everyday lives — and the same is true for famous superstars! Even if one’s pocketbooks are deep like Taylor Swift’s, she still deals with scarcity and the opportunity cost of her time. What does opportunity cost have to do with which of her two private jets Taylor...

By Signè DeWind

A Tale of Two Economies

Is this the best economy or the worst economy? It depends on who you ask. Many people say that the US economy is doing great. We have had record stock prices, modest GDP growth, low unemployment, and falling inflation. Current economic forecasts have grown more positive and consumer sentiment has improved. Even real wages, which...

By Paul Mueller

Development of Robot Lawnmowers Will Be Delayed Thanks to New Antitrust Ruling

A merger between Amazon and robotic vacuum producer, iRobot, was terminated recently after the European Commission failed to approve the deal. Immediately following the deal’s termination, iRobot announced it would be laying off roughly 31 percent of its workforce and ending research into new household products. The European Commission’s reasoning for rejecting the merger is...

By Isaac Schick