Author: Kevin Tyrrell

Kevin Tyrrell (GSB ’18) is an accounting major from Hingham Massachusetts. He has a strong passion for individual freedom and economic liberty. Contact Kevin at ktyrrell@fordham.edu.

The Case for Abolishing the Minimum Wage

Kevin Tyrrell

The most recent congressional debates regarding the minimum wage have largely been over what level the minimum wage should be set at. The arguments for one minimum rather than another have been speculative, unsubstantiated, and arbitrary. Rather than arguing over the standard of living one is entitled to, which is inherently demeaning and nearly impossible to quantify, the question that ought to be discussed instead is: should minimum wage laws exist at all? Those who call for the elimination of the minimum wage have been dismissed by way of straw…

Government Debt: The Formidable Heir of Democracy and Keynesianism

Kevin Tyrrell

Today’s global economic situation, which is underscored by political myopia and reactionary policies, is the product of Keynesian economic theory. John Maynard Keynes’ influential economic work The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, has inspired much of the world’s modern economic theory. In fact, 35 years after publishing The General Theory, President Nixon is credited with saying “We are all Keynesians now.” It is a sentiment which has hardly been challenged in the White House since. At the cornerstone of Keynes’ philosophy is the manipulation of aggregate demand. His…

The Compounding, Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of Government Growth at the Expense of Markets

Kevin Tyrrell

Lately, there has been a growing anti-capitalism sentiment in the United States. A recent Harvard University study found that a majority of 18-29 year olds reject capitalism and exactly one-third (33 percent) said that they support socialism. There has been much speculation as to why the country is shifting away from its foundational economic system towards the system that has grown globally popular in the wake of the fall of state-instituted Marxism. However, it is my belief that the problem with these speculations is in their premises, not in the…

The War on Wealth

Kevin Tyrrell

The modern liberal movement has branded itself with an emphasis on fairness and equality. This has led to great social change in the country, notably successful legislation for gay and minority rights. However, the left has parlayed this momentum into the realm of economics, where their interpretations are completely misplaced. Using similar catchphrases to those which accompanied their civil rights triumphs, they have gained much public favorability in economic policies that, when analyzed in depth, are contradictory to their values of fairness and equality. The relatively successful presidential campaign of…