Michael Munger
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Financial
We Have Never Been Austere
Austerity comes from the Greek word “austeros,” connoting harsh, bitter, astringency. The first instance of the word to mean fiscal…
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Financial
Playing Chicken with the Federal Budget: The Rational Stupidity of Shutdowns
“Chicken” is a game where two people, or two groups, want different things, in a context where “I win/you lose.” …
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Financial
Peak Population: Prepare for a Shrinking World
Earth is going to hit “peak population” before the end of this century. Within 25 years, most of the world’s…
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Financial
Burger Chef and the McDonald’s Happy Meal: A Case Study in Creative Destruction
Joseph Schumpeter famously said that creative destruction is the “essential fact about capitalism.” Entrepreneurs are the moving force in Schumpeter’s…
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Financial
My Disagreement with John Tamny on SALT Deductions
In a recent essay, John Tamny, at RealClearMarkets got rather SALTy. Worth reading. John (whom I know and like, and…
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Financial
The Penny Problem Has a Third Option: Buy Them Back (With Interest)
Adam Smith recognized the importance of the “make or buy” decision. It is the maxim of every prudent master of…
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Financial
SALT in the Wound: How Tax Deductions Reward Fiscal Irresponsibility
On May 22, Donald Trump celebrated the House’s passage of HR1 , proclaiming THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL has PASSED…
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Financial
How Interest Rates Set Asset Prices: One Weird Trick
What determines the price of a stock, bond, or other income-producing asset? Interest rates play a larger role than most…
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Financial
Inside US Air Traffic Control: Conflicts of Interest and Absence of Oversight
Milton Friedman famously recognized that policy change only happens in crises: Only a crisis — actual or perceived — produces…
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Financial
My $100 Tomato: Is Self-Sufficiency Overrated?
The main principle of trade policy is make or buy. “Economics” comes from the Greek word oikonomia, deriving from oikos,…
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