RealClearMarkets Articles

This article is excerpted from the forthcoming book Wrong Number (Wiley, May 12, 2026) In 1974, an economist at the University of Nevada–Reno named Bill Eadington called a conference. He invited the obvious people — mathematicians who studied gambling, statisticians who modeled probability, economists who studied risk, psychologists who treated problem gamblers, casino executives, gambling regulators. Notably, he did not invite many finance professors, who in 1974 were largely uninterested in gambling and who would in any case have constituted a different and friendlier audience....

In 2012, Ted Cruz won the Texas Senate race by campaigning as a “Tea Party” Republican who would take his oath to uphold the Constitution seriously. This meant opposing legislation that intruded on matters the Constitution reserved to the states and the people. For example, Senator Cruz constantly advocated for shutting down the Department of Education and returning control over education to states, local communities, and most importantly—parents. Senator Cruz also understood that raising children is the job of parents, not...

“Grit” is so overrated. It implies that economic growth is an effect of doing what we must to get by. What an awful existence, what an untrue presumption. If there are doubters, they need only contemplate what life was like 200 years ago. It was all about “grit.” Since work in 1826 had somewhat of a singular quality to it whereby most worked on farms from dawn until dusk six days per week, readers can likely guess the level of happiness that existed. Seriously, imagine if your daily survival were rooted in having to do one thing day after day, and week after week,...

On May 12, the Senate Agriculture Committee is set to explore the reasons behind the global food crisis and will no doubt look for solutions. Senators will seek answers from these witnesses on what exactly is contributing to the looming food shortages around the globe. However, this crisis is not being driven by the actions of American producers, but is the predictable consequence of globally-integrated supply chains operating under considerable geopolitical stress.  Since the beginning of the Iran conflict and the closure of the Straits of Hormuz, crude oil prices have roughly...

In the digital world, Artificial Intelligence moves at the speed of light. In the physical world, the infrastructure required to power it moves at the speed of a 1970s filing cabinet. The winner of the AI race will not be the nation with the cleverest algorithms, but the one that can build the most robust physical infrastructure—the data centers and energy grids that form the foundation of intelligence. But identifying the need for this physical infrastructure backbone is only half the battle. The other half is actually building it. Currently, the United States is attempting to win a...

Amazon’s new $11.57 billion agreement to acquire satellite firm Globalstar is a major step toward reshaping the satellite broadband market and intensifying competition with Starlink. That competition is good news for businesses, but even better news for taxpayers and consumers who stand to benefit from lower prices, better service, and faster innovation. The deal will add two dozen satellites to Amazon Leo’s existing network of more than 200. According to Amazon, that is just the start. The company intends to deploy some 3,200 satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), setting...

When children bury aged parents, that is to be expected. It is to be regretted of course, but it is part of nature’s plan. When such matters occur the other way around, however, it is horrid. When parents bury their children, it is perhaps one of the most devastating occurrences that can ever take place. When people pass way before their time, in their twenties, thirties and forties, any time before their properly allotted “three score and ten,” due to heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure and other such medical debilitations, that is very much not at all ok. Ditto for...

“The older generation had certainly pretty well ruined this world, before passing it on to us.” That was John F. Carter, in the Atlantic Monthly. It was September 1920, and Carter was channeling what he thought to be a post-WWI rage within young Americans over their inheritance of “this thing, knocked to pieces, leaky, red-hot, threatening to blow up.” Carter’s century-old lament is reminder that pessimism about the prospects for America’s youth is nothing new. Which is useful considering Peggy Noonan’s Wall Street Journal column from last week. In...

In two months, we will celebrate 250 years since the Founding Fathers declared our independence from European taxation. Today, European governments are levying digital services taxes written to apply only to large American tech companies. If the Trump administration is to be pugnacious on trade, they ought to fight hardest against these discriminatory taxes eroding open markets. Selective taxation from DSTs has cost American companies billions. A new study from the Tholos Foundation, a sister organization to my employer Americans for Tax Reform, indicates that European...

In today’s economy, one of the surest pathways to great wealth is to own a platform or tool that many others use.  Since the rise of the internet three decades ago, American companies have held a dominant position in the global digital economy. Yet, as we transition into the age of artificial intelligence, the leadership tables are being reset.   Donald Trump is arguably the most consequential U.S. president in decades. Two key lines of action have focused on wealth creation for the United States and the maintenance of its technological leadership globally. In pursuing...

The April jobs report delivered another reminder that the American economy is stronger than the professional pessimists, Wall Street forecasters, and Washington spreadsheet jockeys keep insisting.  Nonfarm payrolls rose by 115,000 in April, nearly double the consensus expectation of roughly 65,000. Private payrolls did even better, rising by 123,000 against expectations closer to 75,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3 percent.  That is the key point. The Trump economy is adding enough jobs to keep the labor market healthy without generating the wage-price spiral that...

You’ve probably heard the warnings: Big Tech is pouring hundreds of billions into AI data centers, chips, and power infrastructure in a frenzied race that looks suspiciously like past bubbles. Michael Burry is betting against it with Nvidia puts. Skeptics call it the “greatest capital misallocation in history.” But zoom out, and history tells a more hopeful story. Overcapacity isn’t new—and in every major case, the short-term chaos eventually gave way to long-term transformation. Let’s break it down, step by step. First, What Exactly Is...

“The WBD Deal Puts Hollywood, and Democracy, at Risk.” That was the headline for an opinion piece written by Jane Fonda last December. Fonda feared Neflix’s acquisition of Warner Brothers Discovery (WBD). Notable about what Fonda wrote was how much it was at odds with the sentiment of WBD shareholders, at least at the time. Seemingly aware of Netflix’s unrivaled ability to see around the proverbial corner of commerce, WBD shareholders likely saw the return potential of Netflix acquiring their shares. Which, of course, was not what Fonda liked. And she wasn’t...

Amid regular reports in conservative media about the exodus of jobs and people from California, the state’s affordability challenges, and its widespread homelessness, it might be tempting to write off California or regard its future as bleak. But to paraphrase Ronald Reagan, there is nothing wrong with California that what is right with California cannot fix. For starters, California epitomizes how free market capitalism has led to abundant prosperity and opportunity. This is especially true in the tech sector and its myriad of companies driving economic growth. Dynamic, innovative...

The recent controversy surrounding Replimune Group’s melanoma therapy has quickly become a proxy battle over the U.S. Food and Drug Administration itself. In the face of complex and sometimes conflicting clinical evidence, reasonable people can disagree about the merits of a particular therapy. But focusing on whether this one drug should be approved risks missing the more important issue. For innovators, the central question is not whether the FDA has strict standards. It is whether the agency applies its standards consistently. In recent months, the agency has...

“Our story wasn’t unusual. Because the median house was within our financial reach, members of my generation were able to begin homeownership early in our careers and parlay the increased value of our dwellings into larger homes for growing families.” That’s William Galston, a “token” left-wing columnist at the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page. Perhaps not asked enough by Galston is if he’s missing a much more bullish signal hidden in melancholy for the middle class. Specifically, Galston is blind to a much more enriching housing market...

Blue states’ new wealth tax proposals aren’t really taxes at all; they’re rent-seeking behavior.  These proposals are nothing more than an attempt to increase the states’ share of wealth without creating new wealth.  Ironically, they are destined to do just the opposite and become “rent-losing” behavior. There is a growing trend for wealth taxes.  They are being proposed in a variety of places, with a variety of rates, and in a variety of forms.  Hawaii’s legislature is considering a bill (H.B. 1235) that would impose a...

Meta (parent company of Facebook and Instagram) and Alphabet (parent company of Google and YouTube) recently lost a major lawsuit. The plaintiffs in the suit successfully argued that the companies manipulate their algorithms to provide compelling content that would keep their young users scrolling. According to the plaintiffs, this often meant that users saw content that caused (or reinforced) negative emotions—and even mental health issues such as negative body image, low self-esteem, and even suicidal thoughts. The lead plaintiff, a 20-year old woman known as K.G.M., claimed...

Start with a simple fact: 17,000 jobs were lost when Spirit Airlines went under. Then, connect the dots: JetBlue offered to rescue Spirit, but former President Joe Biden’s Administration rejected the offer based on the belief that bigger companies are bad for workers and for consumers. Despite the evidence, much of Washington embraces this theory. And it’s wrong. For years, government officials, academics, and journalists have repeated a simple story. Antitrust enforcement weakened beginning in the 1980s, mergers surged, industries consolidated, and competition declined. That...