Economists had enthusiastically lauded the virtues of capitalism in the first decades of the 20th century. But the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, and the total collapse of the economy and human suffering that went with it, called into question whether capitalism could still deliver the goods for the benefit of all.…
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The Myth Busting Economist
Small businesses have complicated supply chains. A supply chain is all of the steps, people, products, resources, and organizations that are needed to make and deliver what a small business sells. A chiropractor needs knowledge and hands, but also treatment tables, cleansers, lotions, towels, laundry supplies, and washers and dryers.…
One of my favorite non-fiction books is Carol Sheriff’s “The Artificial River.” Sheriff takes a unique look at the completion of the Erie Canal, 200 years ago on October 26, 1825. Instead of focusing on its engineering marvels—like most books about the canal—Sheriff shows how the canal changed the lives of Upstate New Yorkers.…
An earlier column this year asked “Where Did All of the Inflation Come From?” A big myth was busted when we discovered that the origins of recent inflation dated to Trump’s Tax Cut and Jobs Act, which injected $2.3 trillion into an economy with a 4 percent unemployment rate in 2019.…
So let’s test this claim with a close look at the last 50 years. We go all the way back to 1974, and the Presidential Administration of Gerald Ford. During the 50 years from then until now, Republicans occupied the Oval Office for 27 years, and Democrats for 23. The Republicans, and the total years of their presidencies were: Ford (3), Reagan (8), Bush I (4), Bush II (8), and Trump (4). The Democrats were Carter (4), Clinton (8), Obama…
What exactly is this presumably very bad thing called the trade deficit? It’s the difference between the dollar value of imported items (coming into the U.S. from businesses operating in other countries) and exported items (departing the U.S. from businesses operating in our 50 states).…
