(Source: sneurgaonkar/Flickr/Creative Commons) In 1995, we encountered a group of economic advisors to Governor John Engler of Michigan, intent on cutting property taxes. We reminded them of California’s 1979 Proposition 13. After Prop. 13 rolled back and froze property taxes, sales taxes reached crushing levels, budget crises became routine, local services collapsed, and public schools […]

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How’s your 401(k) doing? Working Americans ask themselves this question—and angst about the answer—an awfully lot these days. And why not? For most Americans, retirement has turned chillingly stark: Either you have a robust set of investments in your 401(k) or you’re facing a rocky retirement. This article was originally published in Too Much and […]

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Every American schoolchild learns about the value of the free marketplace. The thrust is that markets create optimal outcomes through a balance in the supply of goods and the demand for them. But there are some serious problems with this sunny view, like how the effects of today’s economic decisions may stretch over long spans […]

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(Steve Ballmer) On Wall Street, they’re giving Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer the bum’s rush. Ballmer has just announced he’ll soon retire. After his announcement, Microsoft’s shares shot up 7 percent. The wise guys on Wall Street obviously can’t wait to see Ballmer go. And neither can business pundits. Ballmer’s 13 years at Microsoft’s summit, they […]

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(Ronald Coase) Property isn’t a vertical relationship between a person and an object, but instead is a horizontal, reciprocal relationship of exclusions between people. Since the benefit of one person in regard to property comes at the expense of someone else, there’s no logical or coherent way to invoke liberty or classical liberal principles of […]

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