Economics

According to various Occupy Wall Street protesters, profits hurt people and constitute injustice. For example, an Orange County protester held a sign reading, “People Before Profits”; he told Alex Epstein of the Center for Industrial Progress, “I think people’s interests [should] always come first.” I interviewed a Zuccotti Park Occupier…

Every Thanksgiving season seems to provoke a new round of lamentation over the fact that many people enjoy shopping the Friday after the feast. “Black Friday,” this day is called. But what’s so black about it? Stores and city streets glitter with holiday lights. Shoppers, often in bright-colored clothing, chatter…

Richard M. Salsman reviews Keynes Hayek: The Clash That Defined Modern Economics, by Nicholas Wapshott.

I would merrily accept a simple national sales tax as a replacement for the income tax—only if it followed the repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment. John Keel seems to misunderstand the purpose of my initial article about the so-called “Fair Tax.” I did not endorse the income tax over a…

[We received the following letter from John Keel regarding a recent post by Ari Armstrong, and we’re posting it here with Mr. Keels' permission. Mr. Armstrong will reply shortly. –Ed.] In his post “Fair Tax Looks Ugly in the Details,” Ari Armstrong makes several claims that I regard as false.…

While the “Occupy Wall Street” movement offers little in the way of a coherent message, it tends to demonize corporations (while using myriad corporate products to organize the protests), demand more political handouts and economic controls, and attack capitalism. Once in a while, though, the “occupiers” offer a tidbit that,…

Steve Jobs’ philosophy of life was the fundamental cause of his remarkable productivity, success, and happiness. Embrace it!

Zero to 28? Yes, on a good day. Henry Ford’s first two-cylinder, eight-horsepower Model A car of 1903 cost around $18,000 in today’s dollars. Since then, manufacturers have aggressively pushed forward automotive technology, producing vehicles that are faster, safer, more comfortable, and more economical to purchase and operate. Unfortunately, the…

A number of very wealthy French citizens have called for their government to raise taxes on the rich, the “justification” being that this will help curb the government’s deficit. The French government concurred and has imposed a new 3 percent additional tax on everyone making more than 500,000 euros annually.…

No wonder so many Americans want to abolish the income tax and the IRS along with it. The IRS pries into our earnings, our daily spending habits, even our mileage records. The nightmarishly indecipherable tax code imposes huge compliance costs, along with the risks of arbitrary persecution for innocent errors.…