John Tamny

Consumption doesn't power economic growth; rather it's a consequence of it. Call consumption the harvesting of past economic growth.

To read the lofty coronavirus relief proposals from Democrats and Republicans is to detect confusion about what powers economic growth. Neither side gets it. Up front, no one seems...

Have you ever wondered why the U.S. dollar is accepted as payment around the world? Better yet, have you ever wondered why the dollar liquefied exchange in Iron Curtain countries...

“We don’t realistically anticipate that we would be moving to either tier 2 or reopening K-12 schools at least until after the election, in early November.” Those...

If he?s as doltish as they claim, what would it matter what Trump felt about the virus? Particularly in February.

Wealth disintegrates when it's forced by government out of the hands of those who created it.

As the economy grows, so grows the range of ways that people can express their unique skills and highly unique intelligence in the workplace. 

And In the End is a wildly engrossing read. Unseen or unknown is the magic that never saw the light of day thanks to Lennon dying too early, only for old wounds never to heal such...

There are so many reasons to celebrate the United States of America. Thankfully too many reasons to celebrate what’s spectacular. Countless books, articles and songs speak to...

“I wanted to stay put in Colombia to build a better future for my daughter, but we have to go back.” Those are the words of Nelson Torrelles to Wall Street Journal...

The most valuable company in the world as of 2013 has lost $267 billion in market cap since. This basic truth reminds the mildly sentient that the Fed's ability to power stock-market...

Christopher Buckley Buckley gets Trump. That he does will have some of Trump?s bitterest critics hoping for a Trump victory if only to get at least one more satire of #45 from the...

Economic discussions would be much better if it were understood that no one receives dollar, euro, yen, pound or yuan “aid.” They receive the goods that those currencies...

The U.S. would be quite a bit more prosperous if policymakers understood a few basic things. Up top would be a grasping of the simple truth that money isn’t wealth; rather...

What monetarists obsessed with so-clled "money supply" have long missed is that money is the sequel, not the original feature.

A book about happiness that can be gained from French literature is on its own a major source of laughs, and yes, happiness.

“This is the time to use the great fiscal power of the United States to….get through this with as little damage to the longer-run productive capacity of the economy as...

A focus on deficits versus surplus is a waste of time. The only number that matters is how much government spends. That's the ultimate tax on present and future productivity.

There's no such thing as a "bubble," simply because markets, by their very name, are defined by buyers and sellers. A book inspired by the question of "bubble" was doomed by the...

A rich man once told me something that surprised me. He was once not rich. Understand that his formerly deprived circumstances weren’t the surprise. The U.S. is happily dense...

Economic growth is the biggest enemy rising prices have ever known. The Fed?s inflation definition is insulting and backwards.

The whole world is watching, Americans. We deserve neither TikTok nor the very Chinese people who, if we're honest, are trying to be like Americans used to be.

At risk of sending some readers into shock in consideration of how much they, their parents, the federal government, or all three spent on their college education, odds are they...

The world is upside down, and nothing is at it once seemed.

An interesting look at the 'before' when it comes to Shanghai that helps us understand the 'after.'

If Tom Brady wanted, he could be the NFL’s fastest player. His personal trainers or someone on the Tampa Bay staff would simply need to redefine two seconds as one second, at...

For Rattner to lump this brilliant and kind person in with the ?gold bug? nuts is the equivalent of Shelton watching a Bernie Sanders speech, then presuming the Democrat in Rattner...

As always with money, it should be stressed up front how much better the monetary discussion would be if those who insert themselves into it actually understood money. Most...

Newspapers are in search of profits like any other private sector entity. That they strive to meet the needs of their customers is a statement of the obvious, not a scandal as some...

There’s no convincing the dopey left of what is a basic truth: there’s no such thing as government spending. Governments only have resources insofar as they arrogate to...

It’s too easily forgotten in what is the world’s most prosperous country, but dying of old age is a remarkable and very modern concept. It’s one that past...

Chesapeake Energy is the latest oil company to file for bankruptcy. With oil in the high thirties per barrel, the corporation has lost the ability to service its debt. Notable here...

“Our tenuous capital was the hours in the day, less the few we slept, and we spent that capital at a frenzied pace. I’d drop everything to get you the right cardiac...

Going back many, many centuries to China’s Song dynasty (960-1279), the Confucians supported private money over what government-issued currency because "the market would compel...

A drive through West Virginia is a revelation when it comes to the power of politicians. Thanks to the late Senator Robert Byrd’s extraordinary influence in Washington, many,...

Strategas’s Jason Trennert has pointed out over the years that ADP, a payroll processing company, produces at no cost to the taxpayer an extraordinarily thorough accounting of...

A drive down Fairmount or Shaker Boulevard in Cleveland, OH is a revelation. Remarkable house after remarkable house from the early part of the 20th century. Hard as it may be for...

With oil back in the $40/barrel range, U.S. oil producers are slowly re-opening wells. Financing of this activity was pretty scarce back in April since lenders no longer trusted the...

It all begins with production. The discussion of the human action that is “economics” would be so much more advanced, and so much more advancing of the human condition,...

“I’d rather be an owner of something besides money that can disappear at any time in the bank.” That’s what Robert T. recently communicated to Wall Street...

A British woman by the name of Sally Challen just inherited 1 million pounds. At first glance this is happy news, but there’s a backstory. In 2011 she was found guilty in the...

“A lot of people don’t know the blood, sweat and tears that go into being a business owner and the type of sacrifice we had to go through to get to where we’re at...

Before the heads of any readers explode, it should be made clear that what’s about to be read is not a defense of Social Security. Social Security was always a terrible idea...

On March 18th FedEx founder & CEO Fred Smith was interviewed by Fox’s Bret Baier about the new coronavirus. Smith’s entrepreneurial brilliance makes him an insightful...

Back in 1991, and while on a Semester at Sea (SAS) voyage as a student, SAS's S.S. Universe ship docked in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor. Notable about Hong Kong is that SAS was...

“If you are under 65, in reasonably good health and do not have a Vitamin D deficiency, you only have a tiny chance of dying from COVID-19. And if you are younger than 34, your...

For those out there “sheltering in place for humanity,” and who think skepticism about what you’re doing is the stuff of anti-science mouth breathers, stop and...

Deficits and borrowing are not inherently bad as some budget hawks believe â?" the real problem is government spending.

It’s not even a revelation anymore to say that “travel blogger” is a job. Amazing is that even the bloggers with limited followings are said to rate free travel,...

“I grew up in St. Clair, Michigan, flipping eggs at my parents’ diner.” Those are the words of world-renowned chef Grant Achatz in his excellent 2011 book...

"Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." - C. Northcote Parkinson, Parkinson's Law Politicians are much smarter than they appear. Think about it....

Although the forced economic contraction born of panic by politicians over the coronavirus has been harmful to most everyone, there have been winners. During times of trouble, new...

The 4G revolution was truly transformative. With 4G, GPS-enabled smartphones increasingly standard, it became possible for companies like Uber, Lyft, Postmates and others to rewrite...

“If I ever see that again from you or anybody on your team I’m going to bury the guy at the plate.” So said Roger Clemens to a Cleveland Indian on second, decades...

“Yeah, and there’s 6 billion things left to name.” Those are the words of Peter Griffin in a Biblical era Family Guy episode, which unspooled recently on the Fox...

“I would trade almost anything to play the oboe.” Those are the words of Blaire Tindall in her book, Mozart In the Jungle. Some readers are familiar with the television...

The great Austrian thinker Ludwig von Mises always rejected the idea that economics was “the dismal science.” What about the study of human action and progress could...

Peter Thiel writes that "the value of a business today is the sum of all the money it will make in the future."  This basic, pithy truth is too often forgotten when stock...

No one buys goods or services with money, nor does anyone save or invest “money.” Counterintuitive as the latter sounds, it’s a basic truth. Sadly, it’s one...

Say you’ve got a business for sale, and the buyer offers you $10 million, or 156 million toman. What are you going to do? You would likely first ask what the toman is. The...

They would stop you at job creation. Who would? Venture capitalists and other capital allocators if, when presenting your new business idea, you led with how many jobs the venture...

“After hearing of the deaths in the gutters, I think about what will happen to my family if I die.” Those are the words of Jamshed Eric, as expressed to New York Times...

“We’ve never seen this before. I’ve never seen anything slow migration like the coronavirus.” Those are the words of Ramon Marquez, in an interview with Kirk...

Regular readers of this column are familiar with this historical anecdote, but what arguably informs rates regular repeat. During World War I, U.S. exports to Scandinavian countries...

CNBC reported last week that banking giant Wells Fargo was “stepping away from the market for home equity lines of credit because of uncertainty tied to the coronavirus...

Here’s a hypothetical for readers. If you had $10,000 to invest in one company, only for your investment to turn into $300,000, what would your reaction be? The question...

In 1980 the supergroup Fleetwood Mac was on yet another one of its extravagant world tours. Band patriarch Mick Fleetwood was dating Sara Recor at the time, and this was...

Assuming there’s a 2020 NFL season and Anthony Fauci attends a Washington Redskins game, it’s not unreasonable to suggest that Fauci will be the smartest individual at...

“Martin, you can never, ever trust the communists.” Those were the words of Martin Lee's father to son Martin in 1949. Subsequent history vindicated his advice, or...

At present, more than a few are riddled by the near-term health of the stock market. They are because the economic news gets worse and worse. So why the somewhat ebullient stock...

In a 2015 opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, since deceased Harvard professor Thomas Stossel relayed to readers that “Of the 78 potential treatments for brain cancer...

“It doesn’t make sense.” Those are the words of Las Vegas resident Valicia Anderson. Interviewed by New York Times reporter Sabrina Tavernise, Tavernise reports...

Americans have a funny approach to vacation. It’s well known they’re not very good at it. Even when not working, they’re rarely not working. While Europeans are...

“I want to be back in business right this second. But we’ve got to be smart about it. What happens if we open too soon and contribute to an outbreak? Traced to the Plaza...

It came out earlier in the week that Harvard University would be availing itself of some of the so-called ‘stimulus’ money extracted by politicians from the private...

How many readers of this piece were demanding Zoom before its software was launched in 2013, or Postmates before drivers in its employ began meal delivery in 2011, or transportation...

In his essential 2018 book Burn the Business Plan, Syracuse professor and serial entrepreneur Carl Schramm laid waste to the popular notion that local governments can play venture...

In his disappointing 2018 book God Save Texas, Lawrence Wright wrote “[W]hen I tell people outside the state that I live in Texas, they often look at me...

In recent weeks we’ve heard about banks reducing their loan exposure to oil producers. With prices of crude at levels not seen in years, banks are less willing to lend toward...

“I can’t not act.  It’s what I was made to do.” Those are the words of Jennifer Lawrence, one of the highest paid actresses in the world....

A Republican businessman who’s developed somewhat of a following in the post-2017 world recently blamed "the Chinese" for an economic contraction foisted on us by U.S....

For fun, let's assume a mass declaration of freedom on local, state and national levels. If so, how many readers will immediately revert to the “old way” of doing things,...

Reuters reported over the weekend that J.P. Morgan Chase, “the country’s largest lender by assets, is raising borrowing standards this week for most new home loans as the...

“Like the great wars of the 20th century, some analysts and historians think the current crisis could fuel a new era of big government in which public officials control more of...

Ron Farmer is a Houston-based serial entrepreneur of remarkable energy. Back in 2009, and when the U.S. economy was gasping for air after a 2008 political crack-up that subsequently...

No act of saving ever subtracts from demand. Ever. Short of a saver literally stuffing unspent wealth under a mattress, saving is merely the act of shifting consumptive ability to...

In late February, and just a few weeks before a political crack-up over the coronavirus that cruelly forced economic contraction on the American people in whiplash-inducing fashion,...

In 2005, and not too long after taking over as CEO of J.P. Morgan, Jamie Dimon made plain that proprietary trading would be de-emphasized. Some were surprised given how much the prop...

“Every book about the future is unavoidably a Rorschach test of the anxieties and events of the present. That’s why so many predictions fail; they miss the markers of...

The great Arthur Laffer is unyielding in his support for open borders to foreign goods. Years ago, around 2003, Laffer explained the genius of open markets to an audience mixed with...

It seems like something from another era at this point, but no doubt some readers remember just how sensitive markets were not too long ago to protectionist trade rhetoric from...

“And while I now go to the movies for work, I also go to the movies for pleasure and for the love of art. I go because I’m curious, because I like the director or star. I...

Amid all the negativity of late, one bit of good news has come via the internet. In particular, Americans haven’t suffered slower internet speeds despite a reported uptick in...

Somewhere along the way economists, pundits and politicians got it in their heads that people exchange, invest and lend with “money.” No, money is merely the agreement...

In 2009 Arnold Kling and Nick Schulz published From Poverty to Prosperity. There were numerous excellent insights in what remains a very important book, but arguably the most...

“The Founders didn’t throw off a king only to enable a majority to do what no king would ever dare. No, they instituted a plan whereby in “wide...

Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff released This Time Is Different in 2009. It’s since given conservatives, liberals, and libertarians ammunition of sorts when it comes to...

It’s not unreasonable to assume that if asked, most who’ve heard of supply-side economics would identify it as the Laffer Curve. The previous curve, named for the great...

On Wednesday of this week a prominent oyster provider for D.C. area restaurants was forced to let 350+ workers go. Readers can likely imagine that more than a few lack any kind of...

“Much of the security of person and property in modern nations is the effect of manners and opinion rather than law.” – John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political...

In the late 1990s, and after Michael Ovitz and Ron Meyer had both left CAA (the superagency that they created, and ran together) respectively for Disney and Universal, the two...

“What would I do? I’d shut it down and give the money back to shareholders.” – Michael Dell, commenting on a near-bankrupt Apple Computer in 1997 No companies...

Every so often it’s worth restating the simple truth that just about every business ever founded in Silicon Valley has gone bankrupt. By all accounts from venture capitalists...

As of this writing, more than 20% of Americans have been told to cease activity outside their place of residence. The individuals decreeing the inability of tens of millions to work,...

At lunch last week at a diner-style restaurant with an old friend in a fancy part of northern Virginia, the friend talked of how his daughter had been working as a hostess at one of...

“The Pothole” is the title of episode 16, season 8 of the classic television series Seinfeld. In this one Jerry accidentally knocks girlfriend Jenna’s toothbrush...

It’s March 20th today, at which point it’s worthwhile to travel back in time to February 20th. Was any economist, politician or pundit calling for stimulus checks,...

Howard Marks has long made the point that the seeds of bad economic times are planted during the good times, and the seeds of good during bad. Marks’s correct vision of...

It’s sad any of this needs to be said or written, but it cannot be stressed enough that government outlays are a consequence of growth that’s already taken place. The...

What’s about to be read will surely trigger all manner of self-identified free market types, but here we go: neither Milton Friedman nor Walter Bagehot were truly for free...

It was sometime in 2004 that Cato Institute senior fellow Tom Palmer returned from a visit to Iraq. He was speaking at a Cato donor retreat, and as readers can likely remember, the...

“The only insecurity which is altogether paralyzing to the active energies of producers, is that arising from the government, or from persons vested with its authority. Against...

“Capitals are increased by parsimony, and diminished by prodigality and misconduct.” – Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, p. 367 “Raising money is hard. Over...

Investment powers economic growth. Period. If this statement of the obvious triggers certain readers, it’s probably best for the sensitive to stop reading now. For those not...

By now most readers are at least vaguely familiar with what the headline to this opinion piece references. While the video has long since been taken down from TikTok, news accounts...

It's been said that former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow has misgivings about tying his football career to the Cincinnati Bengals. With good reason. He should stand his ground. ...

It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when Robert Downey Jr. couldn’t get a movie made. Though now the highest paid actor in the world, past substance abuse...

The great Ken Fisher routinely makes a crucial point in speeches that investors would be wise to heed: your information is already priced. Whatever you think you know, or whatever...

“Money does not pay for anything, never has, never will. It is an economic axiom as old as the hills that goods and services can be paid for only with good and...

Economic discourse would be a great deal more informative if it were broadly understood that no one borrows money. What they borrow is what money can be exchanged for....

It was sometime in December of 1984, and memory says it was a Friday night. The show was Nightline. Memory also says that on the aformementioned show legendary film producer...

Readers of this column are familiar with this historical truth, but it’s worth repeating in light of the ongoing conservative crack-up over Chinese communications giant Huawei....

In The Great Successor, Washington Post reporter Anna Fifield’s very uneven and very poorly edited book about North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, she indicated that among other...

A good friend who is one of the founders of an enormously successful global investment company once explained to me one of the secrets to the success of the business: “we have...

Several weeks ago Wall Street Journal columnist Greg Ip got it half right. In an article with the subhead of “The Federal Reserve and other central banks for years had the...

It’s been said by those who know Fred Smith well that when the visionary FedEx founder is asked about the U.S. Post Office, he’s known to say that in a competitive market...

In the years after World War II, Korea’s economy was in tragic shape. In 1948, the country’s per capita income of $86 put it on par with Sudan. Disastrous policies led to...

“I was wounded in war. This is the way I manage to drive.” Those are the words of Mirza Hussain Haidiri, resident of the Afghan city Bamian. As New York Times reporters...

“There’s nobody left to impress.” Those are the words of actor Peter Gallagher. He was describing how he felt when legendary director Mike Nichols died in 2014....

A former Goldman Sachs employee, one who was Managing Director level in the investment bank's London office, once explained to me what it's like to be a GS partner. He spoke with...

“If you have a good idea, you can bet someone else doesn’t think it’s good.” Those are the words of the late Gary Starkweather, who died on December...

“If you ever do that to me again, I’m going to kill you.” The late Pete Peterson uttered those somewhat tongue-in-cheek words to Stephen Schwarzman in 1985, not...

In August of 2008 Jimmy Lee, J.P. Morgan’s legendary financier, quietly let Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman in on a harrowing truth: for three days the bluest of blue chip...

Economics is truly a 3rd grade subject, and it would be more broadly viewed as a 3rd grade subject if people broke it down to the individual. Looked at through the prism of the...

“Through these initiatives, Taco Bell aims to enhance restaurant performance, employee satisfaction and support recruitment and retention.” Those are the words from a...

On Thanksgiving Day in 2016 ESPN scrolled news of the “Breaking” variety about LSU’s soon-to-be head football coach. The school was said to be completing an...

“If you are not prepared to live frugally, do not become an owner of a startup business. You will squeeze yourself from too many directions.” Those are the words of the...

In a piece published toward the end of last year, Wall Street Journal columnist Joseph Sternberg oddly contended that the ‘most important economic story of our day is that...

If sports talk shows are to be believed, Mondays are brutal for professional and college football players. Particularly those who play for teams that lost the Saturday or Sunday...

It’s regularly pointed out that a very small, single digit percentage of applicants to schools like Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Stanford is actually admitted to those schools....

In his Wall Street Journal column from Monday, Andy Kessler helpfully reminded readers that we were still hailing cabs when the 2010s began. It should be added that the act of...