John Cochrane

Meritocracy, the secret sauce of growth?    

Everyone seems tired of covid. And sure, inflation, debts, "infrastructure," competing voting narratives and so on are more fun. But covid is still with us. 

This spring's spurt of inflation clearly already means one thing: The end of "the end of inflation." 

If massive deficits, including lots of "infrastructure"  are going to boost the US economy, why did they not do so for Japan? 

As an economist, I always look first to see what's wrong in the rules of the game if I don't like the outcome. 

To many on the left, it's always 1933. Building "roads and bridges" will "create jobs," soaking up the mass army of unemployed desperate for work that they seem to see. 

What the heck is going on? Surely you know this is nonsense? 

The market is pricing in a higher probability of higher inflation. 

Financial regulators shouldn't be dreaming up climate policies. We’ll get bad policy and an even more fragile financial system if we do.

Briefly, debt doesn't matter and there are no effective supply constraints. Borrow, spend without limit is the key to prosperity. 

Monetary policy is heading back to the 1960s when the Phillips Curve ruled. The result will be the same.

Why are there no public toilets in America? The answer is simple but of course the New York Times can't figure it out.

Biden's plan would set out $160 billion for a nationwide vaccine program that would help state and local governments get the vaccine into people's arms. That's almost exactly $500...

What happens when a good is rationed? It is given out politically. 

Open smart we said last March. Now, at last, the scientist have come to the same conclusion.

 "Libertarians in a pandemic" is a good essay by Jacob Grier expanding on many themes I've written about here, whether markets though imperfect might do a better job, or at...

The botched rollout of COVID-19 vaccines highlights yet again the superiority of markets to central planning.