A new Gallup poll shows that one in five Americans believes Barrack Obama is Muslim. But what I can’t get my head around is why. I don’t think you can chalk it up to simple racism. Certainly there’s overlap; racists likely believe Obama is a “secret Muslim”, but not all of those who believe President [...]

Over the past few days, I’ve been thinking more and more about institutional memory as it applies to the Great Depression. Specifically, the Great Depression was two or three generations ago for most of us.  I wonder how much institutional memory (or lack thereof) plays a role in people’s positions on the current recession as [...]

The PBS series Frontline has done a pretty good job of explaining how we got where we are today – at least vis a vis the banking industry.  If you haven’t watched this, you should. Good listening for economist types: Steve Fazzari on the Keynesian model. Peter Boettke on the Austrian theory of business cycles. [...]

There’s been a lot of to-do lately about Colorado’s newly proposed House Bill 1192 that would allow chain liquor sales in the state. Specifically, outlets such as King Soopers and Safeway would be allowed to carry full-strength beer. My guess is this will also open the door for Trader Joes to enter the state (though [...]

I’m reading and reviewing The Wealth of Nations for a senior project. No better place to take notes than one’s blog: Everything in The Wealth of Nations is old. There are no new concepts. Smith talks about equilbrium prices, rationality, and why markets “just work.” What’s so amazing is that this was the genesis of [...]

The problem with rational choice economics is that assumes people act…well…rationally. If you assume that rationality can be equated with self-interest then rational choice economics says people only act in their own interest. People don’t pay $10 for a candy bar. People don’t run around asking their bosses for a salary decrease.  Then why do [...]

Paul Krugman writes about fiscal policy and the current recession. I agree with him in principle; the government should use fiscal policy in times like these to keep us out of a deep recession. The problem is that they can’t stop when it’s time to put down the checkbook.  I’m reminded of the parable of [...]

I’m in the “Friends of Liberty” group at school (no, I didn’t come up with the name) where we discuss…um…liberty, among other things. It’s not so much that I agree with most über-libertarian ideals (or even a majority) but that I enjoy debate. I believe that government intervention can be good, though it usually isn’t. [...]

Well, not really. If you’ve been paying attention, you know that recession fears (read: we’re already in one, in spite of definitions) aren’t limited to just the U.S. Most economists have been talking  about the looming slowdown in the rest of the world as brought on in part by the collapsing U.S. credit markets.The idea [...]

I’ve been seeing a lot of theories about the causes of the sub prime crisis lately, particularly as they pertain to the liquidity crisis occuring in the credit markets. One of the more common ones I’m hearing from people of a conservative bent (even moderately so), is that the sub prime meltdown can be directly [...]