There has been a lot of talk in the past couple of weeks about the need for each of the two major political parties to unify. Some have even called for a new politics that pulls people together across party…
Category: Other
“Time release” initiatives a shell game
I’ve decided to get serious about my health. Instead of the leisurely 10-12 blocks I walk most days, I’m going to put in a brisk four miles every day — starting in 2015. No more greasy foods, no more high-carb…
Internet’s true impact is a long way off
The Internet is wonderful. I can scan the latest issues of my favorite South American newspapers before their regular readers are even out of bed. The Internet also helped me get in touch with the children of a fellow soldier…
Fannie, Freddie should be sold off
When is a bailout a bailout? Financial markets underwent gyrations Monday after Barron’s reported the federal government would soon take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. If you are thinking the government had already offered to bail them out, you…
Tough to learn right lessons from mistakes
In economic policy, as in war, it is important to learn from one’s mistakes. History demonstrates, however, that identifying the right lessons can be difficult. Few institutions carried out harsher self-examination than the U.S. Army after Vietnam. When the officers…
Ruttan’s work was a product of Midwestern roots
I wonder if Vernon Ruttan’s scholarship would have followed the same path if he had grown up on a farm on the fertile black soils of central Illinois or Iowa instead of the thin sands of northern Michigan. Ruttan, one…
Copper production is no goldmine
The electrical cable I bought this week illustrates basic economics. The 250-foot coil of ’12-2 nonmetallic cable with ground’ cost $80 at my local building supply store. That is three times what I paid for my last coil a decade…
More oversight? Really? Let the Fed be the Fed
Ongoing market gyrations are sparking calls for greater regulation of investment banks and other financial institutions. Such calls for more government oversight represent a reversal after three decades of reduced financial regulation. The political climate is such that greater regulation…
Deposit insurance good compromise
Before federal deposit insurance, people worried more about bank failures than now. If you had money in a bank and it went broke, you might lose everything. That danger motivated people to monitor the financial state of their banks. But…
Bank closures can be seamless
Failing banks make people uneasy. Many people naturally wonder how they would be affected if their own bank went belly up. Such concerns amplify other financial worries, such as fear of getting laid off, that motivate households to cut their…