Peter Jacobsen is a Writing Fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education.
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...