Natural disasters like floods, tornados and earthquakes destroy wealth but may spur economic production. These effects vary with the situation, especially the scale of the disaster. The destruction of wealth is a constant, but the degree to which production is…
Complex issues of product liability
Ogden Nash said that for babies “a little talcum is always walcum.” That was true for decades, but a series of liability suit decisions against Johnson & Johnson, long the dominant manufacturer of baby powder, is changing things. This past…
Airbnb shows how new technologies bring new issues
Capitalism is “a process of creative destruction” according to Austro-American economist Joseph Schumpeter. That is working out right now as new communications technologies are revolutionizing sectors like short-term housing and short-distance human transportation. I use these wordings rather than “hotel”…
Effects of a new bridge hard to measure, but far-flung
People know the phrase “the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away,” without realizing that is true for government as well. We know that income redistribution programs like Medicare involve government taking from one group and giving it to another.…