Category Archives: Labor
Obama’s own former adviser gives thumbs down on pushing up the minimum wage
Here is a thoughtful critique of the President’s minimum wage proposal, and this is from his former Chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, Christina Romer that appeared in the New York Times on 3-2-13. Of course, a few days ago, I posted this piece on the minimum wage here on Bastiat’s Bastions. So, [...]
Tax rates, budget problems and the exodus of the rich
Without a doubt, the federal budget is in awful shape. For every dollar of federal spending, we are only taking in 60 cents of taxes, meaning that another 40 cents on the dollar is deficit spending, which must be borrowed, some from Americans and some from the Chinese. We know we cannot borrow much from [...]
Wars get us out of recessions? Robert Higgs might change your mind
Robert Higgs is an economic historian who questions a lot of “conventional wisdom.” Overcoming the intellectual inertia of conventional wisdom is very difficult. Take a look at this video of his lecture on the Great Depression, where he examines the idea that war brings about prosperity, especially examining the case of World War II supposedly [...]
And now you know why it is called a depression
I am not going to comment on this article by Hope Yen with the Associated Press. Don’t get too depressed. Keep on smiling. -MC
The national unemployment has dropped, but this may not be great news
Recently, the unemployment rate has continued to drop, falling from 8.3% in February to 8.2% in March. Good news? Maybe, but maybe not. See this press release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on the most recent employment and unemployment statistics. In our look at measures of unemployment (in ECON 212 and ECON 255), we [...]
Not just street vending, but entry barriers keep the poor out of the braiding and taxi businesses
A few days ago I posted this comment on how local governments protect existing businesses from competition by erecting barriers to entry through occupational licensing. That story reminded me of another story along similar lines, about a pair of Washington, D.C. entrepreneurs, Taalib-Din Uqdah and Pamela Ferrell who started their small business, Cornrows & Co. in 1980, [...]
Legal Barriers to Entry Monopolizing Street Vending
In class today, I talked about the “Social Interest Theory” of Regulation. Note in this article from the Freeman that it is government that is erecting huge barriers to entry and monopolizing something that seems simple, like street vending. Now why would a government change an industry that is about as competitive as an industry can [...]
Unemployment compensation, the duration of unemployment and the unemployment rate
A recent study released by the Tax Foundation and reported by the Pelican Institute (here) states that extended unemployment benefits, which has been part of the stimulus programs passed by Congress, have increased the unemployment rate and slowed our recovery. Under ordinary conditions, an unemployed individual is eligible for up to 26 weeks of [...]
Correlation, Causation and Ceteris Paribus
While you can never determine the cause of a factor, call it Y, merely by its correlation with another factor, X, you can sometimes rule out causes. Even then, one must take a great deal of care in the analysis. Remember that Y and X might be correlated because X causes Y, but Y could [...]
The government budget constraint and problems of deficit spending
Economists recognize a limit on government spending due to the sources for the spending for those dollars to be spent. Economists call this limitation the “government budget constraint.” We recognize that there is a tax to be paid one way or the other, different ways of raising the funds implies different taxes. Some of these [...]