Reprinted from the Future of Freedom Foundation Like the long line of school children who mindlessly marched into Pink Floyd’s meat grinder in The Wall, an estimated one million investors recently fell victim to Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto grinder. The fiasco’s silver lining is that it proves that Americans need neither statist schooling nor government regulation, two […]Read More

The Institute for Supply Management’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 49.0 percent in November, the first reading below neutral and lowest level since May 2020. The survey suggests the manufacturing sector contracted in November (see the first chart). Nearly every component index was below neutral for the month (see second chart). According to the […]Read More

One of my favorite teaching lessons in economics is the division of labor. It’s one of those ideas that reminds me of my late father’s dual roles, that of both professor of economics and part-time professional magician. The division of labor story creates that wonderful “aha” moment, similar to my father’s reveal of his latest […]Read More

In 2016, I described what Congress could have done with the then-astronomical $1.5 billion Powerball winnings. With the recent $2.04 billion Powerball prize, it’s time for an update. What could Congress do with the money if they were the sole winners of the Powerball, based on the CBO’s budget for 2022? Federal spending on education […]Read More

Initial claims for regular state unemployment insurance fell by 16,000 for the week ending November 26th, coming in at 225,000. The previous week’s 241,000 was revised up from the initial estimate of 240,000 (see first chart). The four-week average of weekly initial claims rose to 228,750, up 1,750 for the week. That was the fifth […]Read More

Reprinted from the Independent Institute The US is still in a state of emergency for Covid-19 and monkeypox. However, the country has another longstanding and quickly worsening public health concern—mental health. According to mentalhealth.gov, about 20 percent of American adults experienced a mental health issue in 2020. Nearly 1 in 20 Americans live with a severe mental illness.  Perhaps […]Read More

The latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the total number of job openings in the economy decreased to 10.334 million in October, down from 10.687 million in September. The number of open positions in the private sector decreased to 9.412 million in October, down from 9.627 million […]Read More

Real gross domestic product rose at a revised 2.9 percent annualized rate in the third quarter versus a 0.6 percent rate of decline in the second quarter and a -1.6 pace in the first quarter (see first chart). Over the past four quarters, real gross domestic product is up 1.9 percent. Real final sales to […]Read More