Something does not compute in federal policies right now. The government subsidizes ethanol production by 51 cents per gallon and members of Congress are falling all over one another demanding even greater incentives. At the same time, the U.S. Army…
Politicians overstate their effect on economy
An observant friend asks a good question: “Gov. Tim Pawlenty has taken over the task of announcing job numbers in recent months. Is a voter to conclude that the gains are his doing?” The answer to my friend’s question is…
Health care taxes are bad economics
The Bush administration’s new rules for Medicaid limit how much states can tax health care. Such taxes are bad public policy, and eliminating them would benefit society in fairness and efficiency. But the proposed limits are part of a lousy…
ABCs of the CPI and PPI
An eagle-eyed reader caught a mistake in my column last Thursday, gently suggesting that price indexes apparently must be confusing even to experienced economists, let alone laypeople. I wrote that the Fed Funds rate was 3.9 percent when adjusted for…