China Finds “Rare Earth” Monopoly Losing Money
China is the largest producer of rare earth elements, or “rare earths, “which are important for many sophisticated technology applications. In fact, it has been estimated that China has 97 percent...
Economic Commentary
Latest Housing Numbers May be an Aberration
The spate of good news about the economy, headed up by the National Association of Realtors (NAR)’s report that pending home sales increased by 7.3 percent in November from October, has...
Do Sears, K-Mart Closings Foreshadow Retail Trend?
Following a less-than-spectacular holiday shopping season, two 20th century mainstays of America’s retailing culture appear to be a step closer to historical nostalgia. As reported by the Associated Press, the parent...
Keynesian Economists Rip Obama for Failed Keynesian Policies
The results of a survey by the Associated Press of 36 Keynesian economists — economists who believe that government is the driving force behind a strong economy — are in: President...
Thanks to Market Innovation Americans Live Better for Less
According to economist Mark J. Perry a consumer doing some Christmas shopping in December 1964 with a budget of $750 could have purchased a single Sears Silvertone Entertainment Center color television...
Is the Economy Slowly Gaining Momentum?
Zachary Karabell, writing at The Daily Beast on Thursday, claimed that the latest numbers on the US’s economy were showing some modest improvement. After reviewing comments from the Federal Reserve in...
Gresham’s Law at Work: Pennies and Nickels Are Disappearing
When Kyle Bass defended his decision on BBC Radio Hard Talk on November 17th to purchase 20 million nickels, he was just putting Gresham’s Law into operation. Bass, the founder and principal...
Dependency on Government Continues to Grow
Conservative economist Robert Higgs' (pictured at left) warnings about the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Dependence on Government were already outdated when they were published on Thursday. The updated statistics from Heritage for...
The Story Behind the Best- and Worst-Run States
In its second annual survey of the best- and worst-run states, 24/7 Wall St. noted some significant changes but the same message: “States can do a great deal to control their...
House Republicans Pass Anti-regulation Bill to Save Jobs
House Republicans, accelerating efforts to combat the frenetic influx of federal regulations that continue to flood the U.S. economy, passed the Regulatory Accountability Act (RAA) Friday, which would require all federal...
Likely Collapse of the Euro Leads to Second Amendment Lessons
As the economic crisis in the European Union grows day by day, there is a proportionate degree of speculation around the world about the final extent of the damage that will...
Cornell Professor Wants to End Black Friday Madness by Taxing It
On the lookout for perceived injustices in the marketplace, Cornell University professor Robert Frank decided that Black Friday needed his attention and wrote in the New York Times about just what...
OWS Black Friday Protest Flops; Group Costs Taxpayers at Least $13 Million So Far
The ballyhooed Black Friday protest suggested by the leaders at Occupy Wall Street failed, but OWS has succeeded on two counts. ...
“Green” Jobs and Real Jobs
The Wall Street Journal virtually called the Obama administration’s efforts to create “green” jobs a joke, decrying the President’s efforts to jump-start the economy with them as mere “conjuring” and suggesting...
Latest Economic Surveys Show Little Optimism
The Republican Small Business Committee reported on November 8 that small-business optimism “remains extremely low,” and that business owners “simply are not hiring because they are pessimistic about consumer sales, the...