Public Finance 2/3

The Minimum Wage Debacle

Does an increase in the minimum wage lead to job losses or job increases? We turn from inconclusive empirics to methodical thinking.

Waxing Theoretical: Social Capital and Markets

In principles level coverage in economics, we typically identify land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship as the productive resources an...

How Bodes the US Economy?

Stock markets seem to have somewhat stabilized from the huge volatility that rocked the economy late last year. The government shutdown...

Government Shutdown Again? Nah

Today as Congressional talks on the border wall continue but look unlikely to produce the $5.7 billion funding the President has asked...

The Government Shutdown and its Cost

So the numbers are now out from the CBO about the cost of the longest government shutdown in US history. The five week shutdown cost us...

The Border Wall: Government Shutdown Game 2.0

Earlier this year I had a blog post on the government shutdown and modeled it as a modified game of chicken with ensuing predictions that...

A ‘Blip’ or Sign of a Slowdown? US Unemployment Rate Climbs to 4%

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) just released data for the month of June showing that while the economy added 213,000 jobs, the...

The Fed and the Political Business Cycle: A Cursory Look

So the Fed left interest rates unchanged in May in a year in which most economists predicted that the interest rates would rise several...

Big Pharma and the Regulation Question

Last week President Trump announced some new measures that were aimed at bringing down prescription drug prices but which apparently left...

Questionably Good Policies, but Certainly Bad Timing

The last several months have seen interesting polices coming from both the GOP led legislative arm of government and the Trump...