Deep insight from Eugene White in this paper (HT: Scott Sumner) The fantastically costly failures of banks and other financial intermediaries are a consequence of appallingly bad choices made by managers. To gain unseemly executive comp ... [read more]

… is from pages 8-9 of Mark Pennington’s 2011 book Robust Political Economy: Moreover, insofar as market failure theorists are right to focus on ‘incentive compatibility’, they fail to appy this analysis to their favoured institutional ... [read more]

There are people in this country who find the NDP leadership race fascinating.   That’s good news for the NDP.   The bad news, however, is the people who find it fascinating are also the same people who enjoy watching paint dry ... [read more]

The Indian Act must goSo says the Ottawa Citizen. The paper editorializes:Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s apparent reluctance to bid good riddance to the Indian Act is perplexing. It is universally acknowledged to be a racist, paternali ... [read more]

Campaigning vs. governingMichael Barone writes about the difference between campaigning and governing. Barone is looking mostly at the Republican primaries, but also observes that President Barack Obama is very good at campaigning but i ... [read more]

… is from page 63 of John Mueller’s outstanding 1999 book Capitalism, Democracy, and Ralph’s Pretty Good Grocery: From the perspective of the intellectual, then, people in business may appear small-minded, crass, menial, and even stupid ... [read more]

Unlike most people in my line of work (and I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit this fact), I cannot bear to watch politicians speak – and I especially cannot tolerate watching any President of the United States deliver the so-called “Stat ... [read more]

Three on NewtGeorge F. Will in the Washington Post:Gingrich encourages Republican voters to believe he should be nominated because he would do best in the (at most) three debates with Barack Obama. So, because Gingrich might sparkle dur ... [read more]

Here is George Will on Mitt and Newt. There are many fine passages. Here’s one on Newt: Gingrich thinks South Carolina has catapulted him toward irresistible victory. There remain, however, 53 more delegate-selection processes — in 47 s ... [read more]

Via Todd Henderson, here’s Richard Epstein’s response to Jeffrey Sachs’s misrepresentations of libertarianism. Arnold Kling rightly laments the state of business reporting. What happens to measures of income “inequality” when the value ... [read more]

… is from page 167 of James Ted McDonald’s, Casey Warman’s, and Christopher Worswick’s paper “Earnings, Occupations, and Schooling Decisions of Immigrants with Medical Degrees: Evidence for Canada and the United States,” which is Chapte ... [read more]

Here’s a letter to the Wall Street Journal: I feel as though I’m twirling in the Twilight Zone when I read Karen Davenport, debating Michael Cannon, praise Obamacare for “requiring insurers to price premiums without regard to health sta ... [read more]

The best economics article of the year. (HT: Chris Jones) Well, the year’s early, but it’s awfully good. You will learn a lot about how the world works. It’s a look at what has happened to manufacturing employment in the US and why it h ... [read more]

… is from page 322 of the 1951 Augustus M. Kelly reissue of Frank Knight‘s 1935 collection The Ethics of Competition; specifically, it’s from Knight’s 1934 essay entitled “Economic Theory and Nationalism” (original emphasis; footnote om ... [read more]