Category: Economics

Why Net Neutrality is the Wrong Fix for the Right Problem

Richard Koch

It’s true: the internet is imbalanced. The directional flow of internet content – as in what information reaches which people, and why – is prejudicial, invisible to consumers, and harmful to civic society. The question of who to blame for this, however, is what advocates of net-neutrality get wrong.   Supporters of net-neutrality misguidedly argue that regulating internet service providers (Verizon, AT&T, Comcast – the ISP’s) will ensure a more “free and open” internet. They want the FCC to re-reclassify these ISP’s as Title II public carriers – which is…

Promises Kept: President Trump’s First Year Review

Olivia Ingrassia

January marked one year since Donald Trump swore the oath of office and became the 45th President of the United States following an unforeseen victory on November 8, 2016. Throughout his first year occupying the White House, President Trump has made great strides in altering the trajectory of the nation from eight years of his predecessor. Despite the unrelenting attacks by the media, he has put the interests of America first, as he promised to do on the campaign trail. Early on, it became clear that those promises made were…

Democrats Should Begin to Study Universal Basic Income

Truman Stephens

Because Democrats continue to undergo an identity crisis following Donald Trump’s election in 2016 and the rising influence of the left wing of the Democratic Party, new ideas are needed to reinvigorate the party. The 2018 midterms are fast approaching, but Democrats are stuck in the muck reflecting on Donna Brazile’s impact on the election. Studying new economic ideas, like universal basic income, has the chance to reset the party’s economic message. Universal basic income (UBI) generally consists of unconditionally giving citizens a set amount of tax-free money each month.…

The Social Costs of Income Inequality

Michael Fissinger

Income inequality has remained a consistent part of recent public debate, manifesting in the problems surrounding wage stagnation and a trapped lower class of America’s “growing” economy. Despite historic job-growth numbers during Barack Obama’s presidency, critics correctly cited a lack of wage growth for bottom line workers. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) thrust the issue to the forefront during the 2016 presidential campaign. While the issue garnered a high level of attention, few practical proposals have been offered to combat the problem. Stagnating wages for the bottom half of America’s economy,…

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…

President Trump’s Economic Resolution

Cullen Steffann

Newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump has a prime opportunity, with a Republican-controlled House and Senate, to be an advocate for the significant economic reforms that our country desperately needs. Since the Great Recession, the economy has been limping along, exhibiting anemic growth that is both shameful yet unsurprising. In fact, president Barack Obama is the first president without a single year of 3% GDP growth during his administration. Continuing the overall trend of an ever-increasing presence of the federal government meddling in our economy whether it be through regulations, mandates, price…

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…