Peter Jacobsen is a Writing Fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education.
You probably saw the recent headlines. Senator Bernie Sanders proposed a new bill that he claims will reduce weekly working hours from 40 to 32. This would move workers from needing to work five 8-hour days to only four. But you haven’t heard the best part. You’d get paid exactly the same amount as before!...
To start off “Ask an Economist” for the year, I have a question from Stan K. about the national debt. I’m happy to report that after asking for questions in early January, I have received the most ever. I look forward to working through all I can. Here is Stan’s question: Peter, I often bemoan...
In 2023, FEE supported a series of articles by me titled Ask an Economist. Over the course of the year, I answered 16 questions. In this article, I wanted to highlight a few of the questions and answers I received throughout the year. After that, I want to talk about the future of the Ask...
As the end of the year approaches, the IRS has announced its new late repayment penalty rate. The rate has climbed from around 3% two years ago to 8% today. Most workers in the US are W-2 employees and have taxes deducted from their paychecks each pay period. However, if those employees claim more exemptions,...
The irrational pandemonium of the 20th century was the fear of a population explosion. Estimates from scientists such as Paul Ehrlich projected population growth would lead to mass starvation, death, and environmental degradation. None of that happened. Instead, food became more plentiful, life expectancy increased, and the environment got cleaner. This is because, as economist...
The 20th century was full of attempts to centrally plan population. Scientists like Paul Ehrlich and businessmen like Hugh Moore spent their lives putting direct pressure on politicians and citizens into addressing the looming specter of “overpopulation.” Population doomer language was often dramatic and often included predictions of mass death within just decades. The predictions...
As someone who has spent time researching population economics, I’m no stranger to false bad news. It’s no secret that doom-and-gloom headlines sell better than “everything is fine.” So over the last few months seeing viral video after viral video of shoplifting going unpunished I finally had to ask, is the shoplifting problem really worse?...
It happened as I went to grab a new package of baby wipes from under the sink. I flipped on my bathroom light, and I noticed something strange—one of my three mirror light bulbs began flickering and ultimately settled at a barely luminous dim setting. My LED light went out. The problem is, I changed...