Homines libenter quod volunt credunt
Posted in Central Planning, If I Really Hated the Poor ..., labor markets, Price Controls on Jan 4th, 2016
In the latest paper on the impacts of minimum wage increases on the labor market opportunities for the targeted populations: (wait, before I post the findings, you can obviously dismiss them because I have an agenda, and second, I remind you again that even if the findings below showed the opposite, that says little about […]
Posted in Central Planning, If I Really Hated the Poor ..., Price Controls on May 7th, 2015
Robert Reich is telling us: Some opponents say minimum wage workers are teenagers, seeking some extra pocket money. WRONG! About half of minimum wage workers are 35 or older, most are women and many are key breadwinners for their families.” OK, well, let’s see what the government itself tells us from the raw data: ‘ […]
Posted in Central Planning, Economic Illiteracy, Price Controls on Nov 3rd, 2014
As an unbiased paragon of science, I have scoured the professional economics literature to find out that despite college tuitions increasing at twice the rate of inflation for the past three decades, and despite the fact that college tuition as a share of median household income has more than doubled over this time period, that […]
Posted in Disingenuous, Price Controls, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Sep 14th, 2014
When I first started writing here at TUW in earnest nearly a decade ago, I actually used to spend time writing up the very simple economic arguments, rooted in price theory and the empirical literature, regarding the minimum wage and many other proposed policies. There was once a time that I persuaded myself that a […]
Posted in Economic Illiteracy, Economics Problems, Economists, Inequality, Price Controls, Taxation on Dec 14th, 2013
Try this on for size: Evidence indicates that the price elasticity of demand for labor is quite high, at least 3. That is, an increase in average wages of 1% would lead to at least a 3% decline in the number of hours of work demanded by employers. Labor economists believe, however, that the price […]
Posted in ethical foundations, Government Gone Wild, Government Thuggery, Health Care, incentives, Price Controls, Socialism, Taxation, Unintended Consequences, Voluntary Society, Welfare State, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Apr 11th, 2013
I usually hate infographics and here is another one just littered with reasons to go crazy. But focus only on the very bottom: The changes Brill suggests would allow the US to provide better care at lower costs without substituting the kind of government-provider system typical in comparison countries. Holy smokes. This is the previous […]
Posted in Price Controls, Price System, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Dec 17th, 2012
You might rightly accuse me of being a pedant when it comes to teaching students about price controls. One lesson I emphasize when teaching it is to ask students why they wish to intervene in particular markets and then to consider whether altering the incentive and informational signals embedded in prices is the right way […]
Posted in Education, Price Controls on Apr 3rd, 2011
I demand intellectual consistency for myself, especially for views that I hold most strongly. Here is a challenge to something I understand to be true. The minimum wage is really bad policy on a whole host of economic, logical, practical and ethical grounds (even IF it does not cause unemployment, the arguments remain in force). […]
Posted in Government Gone Wild, Price Controls on Jan 14th, 2011
A good friend and regular commenter Rod Wood was a dairy farmer for many years down in pretty southeastern Pennsylvania. He has a wonderful illustration of a second reason why we may be moving to fewer farms than in the past. I normally would have posted this under, “unintended consequences,” but that does not seem […]
Posted in Price Controls, Price System on May 27th, 2010
A popular view of minimum wage increases is that they “spiral up.” In other words, when the minimum wage is raised from say $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour, employers will increase the wages of low-wage workers, which will then subsequently force the wages of other workers up and wha-la … everyone is richer […]
