Nick Curott / Special to IBJ

The cold, hard fact is that putting a value on human life is unavoidable.

The economy is not a machine that can be turned on or off. It is not as if President Trump, nor even Dr. Anthony Fauci, can declare, “OK, on May 17, it’s all over—everyone go back to work.” Rather, an economy is networks of relationships.

It is a safe bet that the pandemic will produce a decline in gross domestic product and unemployment rates at a level not seen since the Great Depression.

The day of reckoning comes when the U.S. Treasury has to choose between paying the interest on its bonds or paying its obligations to its pensioners.

What we call globalization is nothing new. Long-distance trade is as old as humankind.

Markets responded negatively to both Fed actions in March because the cuts themselves confirmed investors’ worst fears about the coronavirus’s impact on future profitability of American companies.

On March 3, the Federal Reserve cut its interest rate target by half a percentage point in a preemptive move to combat the economic risks caused by the coronavirus. Nevertheless, on March 9, the S&P 500 fell a stunning 7.6%.

Politicians often proclaim that certain goods and services such as health care, housing and internet service are human rights.

Trump’s proposal does little to address the rising tide of national debt.

Good economic policies are predictable. Often, the predictability is more important than the particulars of the policy itself.

A common misperception is to characterize a free market as one where businesses are “unbridled” and can do “whatever they please” in pursuit of profits.

We economists do our best to measure changes in the cost-of-living over time. Yet we suspect that many components are difficult to capture in statistics.

The economic outlook for the United States this year isn’t pretty. But at least the situation looks better here than in most other major nations.

One of the biggest issues the Indiana Legislature will face in 2020 is what to do about K-12 teacher salaries.

Unlike government by despot or militia, institutions of collective choice prize discussion, deliberation, transparency, predictable process, compromise and accommodation.

It seems to us that much of the conflict over teacher pay is the result of local districts running schools that the state pays for.

The cell phone replaced all its malefactors by giving consumers a better way of satisfying their wants. Good for consumers, but bad for the producers of outdated products.

Cheap debt encourages fiscal irresponsibility—among teenage boys and politicians.