The Coronavirus Stimulus Is Full of Wasteful Spending
This will not end well.
Economics
How the CDC and the FDA Wrecked the Economy
The failure to conduct early and wide testing left politicians ignorant of basic facts about the COVID-19 epidemic.
Trump Wants $2 Trillion, Pelosi Wants $1 Trillion, for Next Coronavirus Spending Bill
President Donald Trump, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi all agree that a fourth spending bill will happen in April but are haggling over the cost.
Is the American Dream Dead?
When Americans feel like the future will be worse than the past, reactionary and socialist ideologies ascend.
How 'Price Gouging' Helps Consumers During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Q&A with Duke's Michael C. Munger, who also believes that big cities will see rationing and that higher education will never be the same.
When 'Price Gouging' Is Good: Michael Munger
The Duke economist and political scientist discusses the response to COVID-19, the coming recession, and the end of higher ed as we know it.
Are There Fiscal Conservatives in a Pandemic? The Club for Growth Says It Doesn't Matter.
The Club for Growth prides itself on holding lawmakers accountable "by publicizing their voting record." Except, well…not right now.
Unemployment Claims Hit 6.6 Million. It's Officially Worse Than the Great Recession.
Plus: The feds are still targeting Juul, Call of Duty wins First Amendment lawsuit, and more...
The Trump Administration Presents a False Choice Between Current COVID-19 Control Measures and 'No Intervention'
The real action in the coming months lies between those two extremes.
The Private Sector Heroes Leading the Fight Against COVID-19
The free market adjusts. We don't need "production acts" to tell us what to do.
'Let's Do a Manhattan Project Against This Virus': Thomas Massie
The Kentucky Republican took on Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi to fight against the $2 trillion coronavirus spending package. He's just getting started.
Spanish Flu Experience Might Indicate That Public Policy Interventions Don't Have Long-Term Economic Effects
Though focused on manufacturing and banking, this study sees economic optimism in quick and thorough interventions to keep people isolated.
How Much Is $2.3 Trillion? More Than Even Obama Could Imagine
The CARES Act plunges the nation into a crash course on experimental economics.—and we're the lab rats.
No, British Epidemiologist Neil Ferguson Has Not 'Drastically Downgraded' His Worst-Case Projection of COVID-19 Deaths
But he has raised his estimate of the virus's reproduction number, which implies a lower fatality rate than his research group initially assumed.
Pandemic-Related Unemployment and Shutdowns Are a Recipe for Social Unrest
That's a huge concern as forecasters expect the U.S. unemployment rate in the months to come to surpass that seen during the depths of the Great Depression.
Nearly 3.3 Million Unemployment Claims Due to Coronavirus Economic Meltdown
Much about the COVID-19 outbreak has been unprecedented and historic, but until now it's been difficult to quantify exactly how serious a blow the virus would deal to the U.S. economy.
The Private Sector's Heartening Response to COVID-19
Creativity and selflessness are on display everywhere.
Is Preventing COVID-19 Deaths Worth a Severe Recession? The Answer Depends on Controversial Assumptions About the Epidemic's Lethality.
A cost-benefit analysis of COVID-19 lockdowns highlights crucial gaps in the data.
Despite Coronavirus, Sweden Refuses To Shutter Businesses and Limit Gatherings
The Scandinavian country is betting against draconian restrictions and in favor of the free movement of people and goods.
The Feds Are Suspending Some Tariff Payments. They Should Suspend All of Them.
It's almost like Americans are paying for them, and like Trump doesn't actually believe in free trade.
Trump Is Right To Worry About the Cost of Aggressive COVID-19 Control Measures
So far politicians have been acting as if only one side of the ledger matters.
Only Social Darwinians Worry About the Harm Caused by COVID-19 Lockdowns, Andrew Cuomo Says
The point of shutting down the "nonessential" economy, New York's governor explains, is to "save lives, period, whatever it costs."
FDA Relaxes Rules To Allow for More Ventilators, Finally
Restrictions have been loosened to help ramp up production.
Trump's Top Trade Official Says China Tariffs Didn't Harm Coronavirus Preparedness. Don't Buy His Spin.
Robert Lighthizer, head of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, says tariffs aren't hurting America's response to the virus. He's also lifting those tariffs to help with the response.
We Will Regret Not Taking the Economic Effects of Mass Quarantine More Seriously
The government botched the early response to coronavirus, so why expect it to grow in competence now?
'It's a Very Large Package': Coronavirus Stimulus Plan Now Costs More Than $1 Trillion
Lawmakers are still seeking a compromise.
States Can't Shut Down Non-Essential Businesses Without Harming Essential Ones
The coronavirus outbreak offers another view of the limits of central planning.
Should the Government Break Up Companies Like Amazon and Facebook? A Soho Forum Debate
Law professors Tim Wu and Richard Epstein went head to head at a live event.
What Economic Analyses of Past Pandemics Can Tell Us About the COVID-19 Aftermath
A big contraction was followed by a bustling aftermath—but with notable negative long-term effects as well.
Should the Government Break Up Big Tech? A Soho Forum Debate
Tim Wu vs. Richard Epstein on whether antitrust laws should be applied to firms like Amazon and Facebook.
Republicans' New $1 Trillion Stimulus: Keep the Corporate Bailouts, Limit Checks for All
The new plan seeks to help an economy decimated by the coronavirus.
A Trillion-Dollar Deficit This Year Is Now Officially the Best Case Scenario
The coronavirus is going to crater tax revenues and hike spending. And the Congressional Budget Office says the deficit was going to exceed $1 trillion even before all that.
Impossible Foods: Capitalism Is the Most Powerful Lever To Fight Climate Change
Impossible Foods says that animal agriculture is a leading cause of climate change. Instead of trying to pass laws to ban meat, it's providing tasty, plant-based alternatives.
Can Our Shuttered Auto Plants Make Ventilators for Coronavirus Patients? And Will the Government Let Them?
GM’s CEO is offering to help. She shouldn't wait for the feds to figure out what to do.
Coronavirus Pandemic Inspires Private Generosity
Examples abound of the generosity and sense of community of the American people.
Don't Expect Millions To Die From Coronavirus, Says Richard Epstein
The NYU Law professor thinks we're in for a mess of bad epidemiology, ineffective stimulus, and misguided quarantines.
Will Aggressive COVID-19 Control Measures Cost More Than They Are Worth?
Politicians seem to be proceeding on the dangerous assumption that cost-effectiveness does not matter.
Richard Epstein: 'More Probable Than Not…Total Number of Deaths at Under 50,000'
The worst-case scenarios projecting millions of deaths don't take into account adaptive behaviors.
Why Price Gouging Laws Are a Bad Idea
What politicians call "gouging" is just supply and demand. Prices rise and fall all the time.
Trump's Tariffs Weakened America's Hospitals. Then Coronavirus Hit.
Some of Trump's tariffs hit medical equipment and supplies from China. We need more trade, not less, to be prepared for pandemics.
The Not-So-Great Society
Historian Amity Shlaes on the good intentions and bad results of LBJ's war on poverty
Coronavirus Is Going To Be Expensive. Too Bad the Government Is Already in Massive Debt.
Having failed to be fiscally responsible when it would have been relatively easier, our elected officials will now likely hike spending even further.
Why You Can't Solve a Public Health Problem With Economic Stimulus
Is a new stimulus package the right response to a pandemic?
Joe Biden Throws Support Behind Disastrous California Gig Economy Law
A.B. 5 has caused chaos in the Golden State.
Trump's Tariffs Are Hiking the Price of Your Favorite Whisky
American whisky and wine drinkers are being punished for trying to amicably trade what they have for what they want.
Expect 'Very Dramatic' Economic Intervention Due to Coronavirus, Says Trump
Plus: How Trump's payroll tax would work, Daily Show accuses Kamala Harris of "gaslighting," and more..
