Sometimes there is economics even in mundane humor. In the Jan. 21 cartoon “The Buckets,” Grandpa emerges fuming from the doctor’s office. The doc had upped the old man’s blood pressure meds but noted that this would not be necessary…
Trump tariffs have usual problems
After two years of anti-trade rhetoric, Donald Trump has taken a concrete step by imposing tariffs on imported solar panels and washing machines. This raises a number of interesting questions. One reader query concerns division of powers. “How can Trump…
Cleaning pollution that’s 40 years away
One of the fundamental lessons of economics says that if a society does not control external costs of economic activity, for example pollution, it will satisfy fewer of its people’s needs and wants from available resources than it would if…
Flying south to sunnier tax climates seems unlikely
Passage of the new GOP tax overhaul poses important questions. Will Goldman Sachs soon close its Wall Street offices to reopen in Biloxi, Miss., or Bogalusa, La.? Will Ecolab desert St. Paul for some Fayetteville, whether that be in North…