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Nov 5, 2026
In The Affluent Society (1958), John Kenneth Galbraith challenged the assumption that businesses merely satisfy independently determined consumer wants. Producers also create wants...
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Oct 31, 2026
In 2000, Best Buy wanted to build its corporate headquarters in Richfield, Minnesota. There was one obstacle: the Walser automobile dealerships owned land the company wanted, and...
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Oct 24, 2026
My first job after college, in 1984, taught me to ask a question about foreign aid that I am still asking forty-two years later: Who really benefits? I was a young MBA working for...
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Oct 17, 2026
France's latest student protests reveal an uncomfortable problem in democratic politics: a relatively small number of people can impose enormous costs on society, while the...
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Oct 7, 2026
Ronald Coase once remarked, “If you torture the data enough, nature will always confess.”
Governments increasingly rely on sophisticated statistical models to justify...
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Sep 28, 2026
Financial commentary often makes monetary policy sound mechanical. The Federal Reserve raises interest rates, borrowing costs rise. The Fed cuts rates, borrowing costs fall.
History...
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Sep 25, 2026
Economic debates about inequality usually begin with a familiar question: Who has how much income?
It is an important question. But perhaps it is not the only one we should be...
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Sep 17, 2026
Economics often presents redistribution as a trade-off between efficiency and equity.
The metaphor is familiar. Markets may produce a large pie but distribute it unevenly. Government...
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Sep 9, 2026
Eight times a year, financial America stops to listen to the Federal Reserve.
Traders watch the clock. Television networks interrupt regular programming. Economists parse individual...
Nov 5, 2026In The Affluent Society (1958), John Kenneth Galbraith challenged the assumption that businesses merely satisfy independently determined consumer wants. Producers also create wants...
Oct 31, 2026In 2000, Best Buy wanted to build its corporate headquarters in Richfield, Minnesota. There was one obstacle: the Walser automobile dealerships owned land the company wanted, and...
Oct 24, 2026My first job after college, in 1984, taught me to ask a question about foreign aid that I am still asking forty-two years later: Who really benefits? I was a young MBA working for...
Oct 17, 2026France's latest student protests reveal an uncomfortable problem in democratic politics: a relatively small number of people can impose enormous costs on society, while the...
Oct 7, 2026Ronald Coase once remarked, “If you torture the data enough, nature will always confess.” Governments increasingly rely on sophisticated statistical models to justify...
Sep 28, 2026Financial commentary often makes monetary policy sound mechanical. The Federal Reserve raises interest rates, borrowing costs rise. The Fed cuts rates, borrowing costs fall. History...
Sep 25, 2026Economic debates about inequality usually begin with a familiar question: Who has how much income? It is an important question. But perhaps it is not the only one we should be...
Sep 17, 2026Economics often presents redistribution as a trade-off between efficiency and equity. The metaphor is familiar. Markets may produce a large pie but distribute it unevenly. Government...
Sep 9, 2026Eight times a year, financial America stops to listen to the Federal Reserve. Traders watch the clock. Television networks interrupt regular programming. Economists parse individual...