RealClearMarkets Articles

Immanuel Kant, for whom Ayn Rand called the most evil man in history, believed that reality “as it is in itself” is unknowable. It would seem from this absolute statement that the logical extension of this “reasoning” would allow man to be brainwashed into forms of thinking that have no connection with objective reality. Welcome to 2024 and the upcoming civil war! Brought to you by the American Left and sponsored by the personal injury firm of Mao, Stalin and Marx. Perhaps you’ve seen their ads on tv? “We’ve been injuring people since 1917 and are...

The Washington Examiner’s excellent Conn Carroll is the latest, but surely not the last, to gloss over the crucial truth that the only “closed economy” is the world economy. A failure to recognize this has Carroll making a case against foreign labor that arguably contradicts his case.   In a recent piece for the Examiner, Carroll ascribed to “libertarian scholars” the view that when foreign labor is allowed into the U.S., “Employers get cheap labor, immigrants get higher pay,” and “American workers aren’t hurt” by this turn of...

“China has enjoyed miraculous economic expansion for the last few decades.” Vox’s Nicole Narea wrote the latter for a piece in which she decried China’s lack of an economic plan. Narea might agree that she overcomplicated what isn’t.  Seriously, what’s so miraculous about China’s expansion “the last few decades”? As evidenced by how wildly prosperous the Chinese people are wherever they are relatively free around the world, there’s nothing surprising or miraculous at all about the country’s growth since the 1990s. It was...

Reports indicate that European Union (EU) governments may look to curb new tech rules during a time when Democrats in the U.S. are looking to push more regulations onto providers. Politico reported that a draft of EU digital policy calls on the next European Commission to strongly consider not drafting new technology-related laws. That commission serves as the EU's politically independent executive arm, and is alone responsible for drawing up proposals for new European legislation. While the draft emphasizes the importance of establishing safeguards that protect...

The American Conservative (TAC) may need to change its name to The American Khanservative — referring to those of the right whose view of antitrust policy is closer to those of Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan than Ron Paul. For example, TAC recently ran a piece entitled Enforce the Robinson-Patman Act for a Better Economy by Daniel Hanley, senior legal analyst at the pro-regulation Open Markets Institute. As the title suggests, Hanley supports Lina Khan’s efforts to revive the Robinson-Patman Act. This New Deal-era law forbids...

Last November, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed a rule that would place digital wallets — like PayPal, Venmo and CashApp — under increased scrutiny. They want to regulate them like banks. The CFPB claims that they “might uncover compliance deficiencies indicating harm or risks of harm to consumers” (emphasis added), but provides no concrete examples of what these would look like or if these hypothetical harms have ever come to fruition.Opponents like Amazon argue the rule should not apply to payment services that don’t hold funds, but really it...

Nike signed Colin Kaepernick to a major endorsement deal in 2018. As readers doubtless remember, the combination of the former NFL star with the one of the world’s foremost shoe and apparel brands reeked of politics and politicking. Nike had gone “woke,” or whatever the word was then for lefty posing by corporations. Where it becomes perhaps a little bit interesting is that Nike shares subsequently outperformed the S&P 500. While Nike’s valuation rose 103% in the three years following its splashy, high-profile deal with Kaepernick, the S&P rose 56%. Is this a...

Imagine for a glorious moment that the War in Ukraine is over. Ukraine has regained its sovereignty, and the country is enjoying the blessings of peace. Alas, not so fast. Even with peace, Ukraine will still face a long and expensive recovery process. According to World Bank estimates in May of 2023, reconstruction will cost $411 billion dollars. More current estimates put the figure at half again that amount. Where will the money come from? The Trust Deficit A major obstacle to Ukraine’s receiving the reconstruction funds needed is Ukraine’s reputation for corruption....

Recently, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two related cases about the ability of social media companies to maintain editorial control over the content users post on their platforms.  The NetChoice cases, as they’ve come to be known, were brought in response to Texas and Florida laws passed in 2021 that sought to, in the words of their authors, “defend freedom of speech” and “tak[e] back the virtual public square as a place where information and ideas can flow freely.” The 5th Circuit let the Texas law stand.  The...

Apple recently announced that it would shutter a division within the company that aimed to mass-produce automobiles. Underlying the initiative was the belief that automobiles are but computers on wheels, and as Apple is by many accounts foremost in the computer space, it was only a matter of time before it could transfer its core genius to exquisite, wildly advanced cars. Except that it wasn’t so simple. It turns out cars are quite the engineering marvel themselves, and Apple lacked the immense, in-house engineering know-how necessary to do for automobiles what it’s done for...

It wasn’t too long ago that Great Britain could claim no British-owned automakers of note. Was this a signal of the disappearance of auto manufacturing in the country that gave us Aston Martin, Jaguar, and Rolls-Royce? Quite the opposite. Amid a decline of direct-British ownership of carmakers came a surge in auto production within Great Britain. It’s just a reminder that neither bankruptcy nor buyouts signal the vanishing of businesses as much as they signal the happy, pro-employee and pro-business scenario of physical and human capital being shifted into the hands of more...

About a decade ago, I learned the hard way that banks don’t lend to startups.  It’s just not what traditional banks do.  Too much risk.  The risk associated with startups is to be assessed by venture capital, private equity, etc.  It’s why John Tamny says that banks lend to those who don’t need it.  This is all straightforward and nothing new, but before the reader is tempted to ditch this article, ask yourself, “If banks don’t extend credit to startups, due to their immense risk, why do they lend to governments?” ...

Touting historically low approval ratings rivaling that of paper cuts and hay fever, one might think Joe Biden and his handlers cared enough about voter sentiment to address the more problematic areas of his administration serving to inflame his unpopularity.  An obvious place to start would be to cut bait with the capricious, reckless, and rogue Chairman at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler. That Biden has yet to remove the haughty Gensler is an affirmation of all that is wrong with his presidency and the SEC itself, whose continued...

Everyone says they love low rates of interest, but do they really? Logic says no. Think about it. And in thinking about it, imagine if the Fed could actually decree credit costless as politicians and economists imagine it can. If so, there aren’t enough 9s after 99.9 to put a number on the percentage of Americans who couldn’t borrow money at all. Which is pretty much a statement of the obvious. It is simply because no lends or borrows “money.” Underlying every loan is the exchange of near-term access to actual resources (think trucks, tractors, computers, desks,...

If there is any city on the planet that deserves to be considered the Capital of the World it is New York City. If you haven’t made it in the Big Apple, you haven’t made it at all. The two most influential newspapers on the third rock from the Sun are both there: The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. The diamond district is there. So is the New York Philharmonic orchestra, the greatest ever (until they stopped the mostly Mozart series). There are dozens of world class universities in Manhattan alone. The list of its attractions is far too long to mention any more than...

Remember U.S. Steel? It isn’t what it used to be. Founded in 1901 by Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan, the company was the symbol of American industrial power. But employment peaked 80 years ago at 340,000; it’s now 23,000. Once the largest corporation of any kind in the world, U.S. Steel now ranks 27th among global steel producers -- and dropping. “It’s done nothing for decades,” according to steel industry analyst Charles Bradford.  Stagnation in steel is hardly inevitable. In 1969, another American steelmaker,...

U.S. stock markets are not reliant on Federal Reserve rate cuts for their vitality. Repeat the previous truth over and over again for now, while forever marveling that such a fatuous narrative ever became so ingrained in market commentary. Seriously, have you ever read something more ridiculous? To believe that equity markets take their direction from central banks is to believe that markets aren’t just inefficient, but that at least half of all market participants don’t know what the other half apparently does. Think about it. Equity markets aren’t populated by all buyers...

The RealClearMarkets/TIPP Economic Optimism Index, a leading gauge of consumer sentiment, dropped 1.1% in March to 43.5. The index has remained in negative territory for 31 consecutive months since September 2021. Reflecting the recent stock market gains, optimism among investors gained 2.8% from 49.3 in February to 50.7 in March, while it dropped by 2.9% among non-investors, from 41.3 in February to 40.1 in March. The RCM/TIPP Economic Optimism Index has established a strong track record of foreshadowing the confidence indicators issued later each month by the University of Michigan and The...

Rules and regulations often tend to lag behind the emergence of new industries, products, and services. Whether it be autonomous vehicles, drones, food delivery services, or any other market innovation, the law is frequently playing catch up. This is because innovation, by its nature, is something new that challenges the status quo. As a result, regulations often do not address the innovation in question or are hurriedly introduced after the fact. More often than not, these regulations are poorly designed, shaped by the input of competitors and critics, and are harmful to...