economics Archives - The Libertarian Republic

Unemployment Claims Surpass Great Recession 0
- Front Page, Gov't Incompetence, Headline News, Opinions
- April 2, 2020
Initial claims for unemployment insurance soared to 6.65 million for the week ending March 28, exceeding last week’s shocking 3.3 million, and dwarfing the previous high of 695,000 in October 1982. During the Great Recession in 2008-09, total job losses were 8.8 million over 25 months versus a total of 9.96 million initial claims
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What Sweden Has Done Right on Coronavirus 0
- Front Page, HEALTH, Opinions, WORLD
- March 31, 2020
Until last week, only three European countries had still not closed their schools as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Then followed Britain’s sharp reverse-course and lockdown policy where Prime Minister Boris Johnson finally gave in to pressure, leaving only Iceland and Sweden with a strongly diverging policy. Iceland, a miniature country that could probably test its entire population in an afternoon
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When Atlas Is Washing His Hands 0
- Economics of Liberty, Front Page, Opinions
- March 31, 2020
What happens when Atlas stops holding up the world? In Ayn Rand’s famous (and if I may add brilliant) novel Atlas Shrugged, the producers of the world eventually get fed up with government’s continuous strangling harassment and quit. Spoiler alert: The world doesn’t fare well without the producers who keep society moving…working…innovating…building. Now, imagine a
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Economics in Rhyme: the Illuminating Poetry of Willford I. King 0
- Economics of Liberty, Front Page, Opinions
- March 30, 2020
“The Minimum Wage“ To make a horse drink It is foolish to try; It’s fully as hard To make customers buy: So, when prices are raised By law or decree, That sales will fall off Is as sure as can be; And if minimum wages By commission are set Above what the worker Would naturally
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If You Hate Empty Store Shelves, You Should Love “Price Gouging”0
- Economics of Liberty, Front Page, Opinions
- March 23, 2020
Amidst the continued spread of COVID-19, anti-price gougers have been hard at work on social media to expose the supposed moral tragedy of price gouging: greedy and exploitative sellers raising prices of necessary goods to massive heights when consumers need them most. Take the following tweet as an example: This store in NYC was fined
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Voluntary Arrangements Are Essential to Social Trust and Independence 0
- Economics of Liberty, Front Page, Opinions
- March 19, 2020
Americans frequently hear the words independence and dependence in policy discussions. Since our country was in many ways defined by the Declaration of Independence, we naturally think of independence as good and dependence as bad. As a consequence, arguments to reduce our dependence on others—whether on “foreign oil” (until recently) or on Chinese suppliers of
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