Common Sense Economics

December 10, 2019 – Ryan McMaken …… The reason businesses open on Sunday is due to bottom-up pressure from consumers, not top-down conniving on the part of management. As much as some people would prefer otherwise, the fact is we live in a society where most people see no problem at all with going to the movies or shoe shopping on Sunday. Business owners merely respond by attempting to meet this demand. Continue reading →

December 9, 2019 – Barry L. Linetsky …… Had consumers in 1938 been uninterested in a feature-length cartoon, Snow White would have bankrupted the Disney studio. Instead, Walt Disney was richly rewarded for his risk-taking. Continue reading →

November 28, 2019 – Frank Hollenbeck …… The standard justification for intellectual property — i.e., patents and copyrights and trademarks — is that the creative process would be significantly reduced if such protection did not exist. But did inventors or artists starve before IP laws? The answer is no because they benefited from the first-to-market advantage. Continue reading →

November 8, 2019 – Germinal G. Van …… Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax is based on the idea that the government knows how to use wealth better than the private sector. The plan also ignores that the wealthy have been shown to flee countries with a wealth tax. Continue reading →

October 27, 2019 – Jim Fedako …… When an elected official or government bureaucrat interferes with a valid, non-coerced exchange, they may appear to be helping one individual when they are actually harming a foundation of modern society; free exchange of goods and services. Continue reading →

October 8, 2019 – Gary Galles …… It is frequently alleged that, under capitalism, people aren’t paid what they are worth to employers. But the commonly-drawn implication that state intervention will improve things is false. Continue reading →