Category: Business Columnists

Free Economy and Social Order

Commentary  Most of us, and all of us most of the time, deal with the market economy as a definite type of economic order, a sort of “economic technique” as opposed to the socialist “technique.” For this view, it is significant that we call its constructional principle the “price mechanism.” Here we move in the…


Google Tries to ‘Out-Buff’ Bezos

Commentary Is it me or is Jeff Bezos looking pretty buff these days? As a former recreational bodybuilder myself, I know the kind of work that goes into building a great physique. I can respect the work he’s done. But beyond Bezos flexing at the gym, Amazon has been flexing its considerable muscle in the…


Why Are Women Holding Back?

Commentary Lockdowns and quarantines in 2020 had a disproportionate impact on women. Though some saw bias, the main problem was that services suffered most in that environment, and women dominate employment in this area. Now the post-pandemic recovery has disproportionately benefited services and presumably women’s employment prospects, but many who had worked before the pandemic…


A Dangerous US—Russian Version of ‘Inside Baseball’

Commentary Diplomatic negotiations are definitely not a spectator sport. You could think of discussions between Russian diplomats and their NATO and American counterparts as equivalent to Baseball’s winter meetings, where general managers haggle over trades and conspire to hold down player salaries. More like “Inside Baseball.” The recent talks extend the frets that animated diplomacy…


Washington Enacts Minimum Wage Hike via ‘Stimmy-Flation’

Commentary Much like the Biden administration’s failed vaccine mandate “workaround”—endowing OSHA with powers it doesn’t have in place of actual legislation—it seems they’ve stumbled on a work around for another pet project. One of the progressive movement’s long-time “wishlist” items has been a national minimum wage; as if the cost of living in New York…


GDP Up 6.9 Percent Is Mostly An Artificially Boosted Illusion

Commentary  The Bureau of Economic Analysis’s (BEA) advance estimate of Gross Domestic Product for the Fourth Quarter of 2021 (pdf) is 6.9 percent at a Seasonally-Adjusted Annualized Rate (SAAR). The advance estimate is preliminary and will be revised at least twice. BEA Comments “The increase in real GDP primarily reflected increases in private inventory investment,…


For BlackRock, ‘Stakeholder Capitalism’ Should Reject Partisan Rent Seeking and China Subservience

Commentary I was amused to read the Annual Letter to CEOs from BlackRock’s Larry Fink, his yearly missive to companies in which the investment manager has a stake. Fink seems to marvel that “It’s been two years since I wrote that climate risk is investment risk. And in that short period, we have seen a…


12 Ways to Boost Your Confidence in 2022

By Allison Walsh Confidence is one of the most important qualities to have in life. It impacts you on a personal level, professionally, and even socially. While it’s easy to assume confident people are just “born that way,” the reality is you can boost your confidence and self-esteem regardless of whether it’s something that comes…


Despite Raging Inflation, Fed Issues Wimpiest Statement Ever

Commentary  All the Fed pledges to do is monitor the situation while hiding behind COVID-19 concerns. Please consider the Federal Reserve’s Jan. 26, 2022, FOMC press release, emphasis mine. Indicators of economic activity and employment have continued to strengthen. The sectors most adversely affected by the pandemic have improved in recent months but are being affected by…


Home Prices Jump Another Percent, Fed Extremely Behind the Inflation Curve

Commentary  Home prices rise another percent according to Case-Shiller. The Fed does not even count that as inflation. Home prices jumped again in November according to the latest Case-Shiller Home Price Report. 10-City: +0.93 percent 20-City: +0.99 percent National: +0.90 percent CS National, Top 10 Metro, CPI, Owners’ Equivalent Rent (OER) Chart Notes The above chart…