BOHANON & CUROTT: Income-redistribution schemes make for dubious public policy
With more than 20 candidates for president and perhaps more in the offing, lots of wacky policy proposals to redistribute income are bound to emerge.
Economic Analysis
Articles
BOHANON & CUROTT: Federal Reserve should not cave to political pressure
Investors now predict a 100% chance that the Federal Reserve will lower its interest rate target at its next meeting on July 31. The impending interest rate cut is a reversal of the Fed’s recent policy stance.
BOHANON & CUROTT: June unemployment report helps explain crisis at border
Among the foreign-born residing in the United States, the labor-force participation rate is 65.8%. For the native-born population, the labor-force participation rate is lower: 62.9%.
BOHANON & CUROTT: Overtime pay advocates, be careful what you wish for
Extending overtime pay to millions of Americans who aren’t currently eligible will burden millions of American businesses. But workers probably stand to lose the most.
BOHANON & STYRING: Economist honored by Trump is neither hero nor villain
The president just awarded 78-year-old economist Arthur Laffer the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Some call the namesake of the so-called Laffer curve a kook and a fake; others see him as a hero.
BOHANON & CUROTT: Viewing Ann Dancing through lens of a public good
The statue’s boosters are trying to raise $262,000 to ensure its permanent presence. Critics argue Ann has had her day and the funds could be better used elsewhere.
BOHANON & STYRING: D-day anniversary reminds us to be vigilant against tyranny
While we honor the remaining nonagenarians who bravely fought at the beaches of Normandy, let’s not forget that the odious philosophy they fought against, National Socialism, still has traction in some circles.
BOHANON & CUROTT: Indiana will be big loser in Trump’s war with Mexico
If President Trump’s new round of tariffs–this time aganst Mexico–is implemented, it will raise costs for producers, lower returns for investors, raise prices for consumers, and destroy jobs.
BOHANON & CUROTT: How farm-labor cost concerns led to creation of giant strawberry
Because a worker can pick a greater mass of strawberry with each muscle movement, a bigger berry–like machinery–substitutes for more expensive labor.
BOHANON & CUROTT: Nation’s student-loan crisis was created by government
Over the last 15 years, total student loan debt exploded from $600 billion to more than $1.5 trillion and now exceeds credit card debt.
BOHANON & CUROTT: Beware of gloomy predictions, economic or otherwise
Where do dire prognosticators go wrong? We think it comes from seeing the world economy as a zero sum-game.
BOHANON & CUROTT: ‘Rational ignorance’ results from voters’ lack of influence
Becoming a truly informed voter takes a lot of time. But the odds that an individual’s vote decides an outcome is vanishingly small. So most voters conclude it isn’t worth the effort.
BOHANON & CUROTT: Democratic socialism raises a fundamental question
Democratic socialism is much more than bumping up federal social spending. It is designed to generate fundamental changes in our economic order.
BOHANON & CUROTT: Population slowdown problematic for economy
Unfortunately, the size of the working age population has been growing slowly and even shrank slightly last year. This poses a real problem for our nation’s finances.
BOHANON & CUROTT: Lots to consider in debate over rising insulin prices
Last month, Indy-based Eli Lilly and Co., the original innovator in insulin, introduced the first low-priced “generic” version of its current insulin product.
BOHANON & CUROTT: Fed’s growing power poses danger to financial markets
Since 2008, the Fed has explicitly tried to steer the entire economy by targeting long-term rates. This is a major expansion of Fed power.
BOHANON & CUROTT: Use incentives, not mandates to improve the climate
From an economist’s perspective, the simplest and most straightforward way to speed the evolution from fossil fuels to clean energy—if that is what we want—is by directly taxing the attribute of fossil fuel that is offending: its carbon emissions.
BOHANON & CUROTT: Little-known Jones Act is outdated and ripe for repeal
The act, passed in 1920, stipulates that cargo shipped between domestic ports must be transported by ships that are domestically built, flagged and crewed.
BOHANON & CUROTT: Higher minimum wage hurts those it’s meant to help
full-service restaurants in New York City employed 3,000 fewer workers in December 2018 than in December 2017; the city increased the minimum wage from $11 an hour to $13 in 2018.
BOHANON & CUROTT: Here’s an issue almost everyone can agree on
Americans are more divided on political issues today than at any time since the Civil War. This makes the Feb. 20 U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Timbs v. Indiana a breath of fresh air.