LATEST
Thomas Philippon Claims the US Has Grown Less Competitive Than Europe. Seriously?! I Take Him to Task in My NRO Review of His Book
With profits rising, productivity growth slowing, investment middling despite near-zero interest rates, and large competitors gaining market share, proponents of income redistribution insist that an increase in monopoly rents — profits earned by cooperating with competitors to raise prices and restrict output rather than competing honestly with them — has misallocated resources, increased income inequality, and slowed middle- and working-class wage growth. If cronyism increasingly misallocates resources, theoretically policymakers can redistribute income without significantly slowing growth and diminishing prosperity — the proverbial free lunch. Politicians such as Elizabeth Warren insist… Read More
I Take Sides in Taylor Swift’s Fight with Private Equity Over Music Rights on Fox Business
Ed Conard take sides in Taylor Swift’s fight with private equity over music rights Fox Business’s “Varney & Co.” Listen to Ed Conard and Stuart Varney's discussion. Read More
Debating What Warren Gets Wrong About Private Equity on FBN’s “Cavuto Coast to Coast”
Neil Cavuto and I debate what Elizabeth Warren gets wrong about investors and private equity—investment makes the US middle class 30% more prosperous than their counterparts in Northern Europe. Read More
Defending JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s $31m Salary on FBN’s Making Money with Charles Payne
Charles Payne, Heather Higgins, and I defend JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s $31 million annual salary on “Fox Business’s Making Money with Charles Payne.” Read More
American Innovation Drives Prosperity in the U.S. and Abroad on Varney & Co
I discuss how American innovation is driving economic prosperity for the middle class here in the United States and in Europe on Fox Business’s “Varney & Co.” Read More
The Success of the Most Successful Workers Benefits the Middle Class on Varney & Co.
I explain why the success of the most successful workers benefits the middle class on Fox Business’s “Varney & Co.” Read More
Sanders’ and Warren’s Wealth Tax Proposals Will Hurt the Middle Class
I explain why Bernie Sanders’ and Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax proposals will ultimately hurt the middle class. We also discuss Walmart stock performance, WeWork’s delayed IPO and leadership fight, and, surprisingly the strength of my tennis game on Fox Business’s “Varney & Co.” Read More
Warren’s Proposals Will Extract a Heavy Cost From the Middle Class
I explain why Elizabeth Warren’s proposals will extract a heavy cost on the middle class on Fox Business’s “Varney & Co.” Read More
Democrats Are Campaigning for European Socialist Policies That Would Hurt the Middle Class on FBN’s Varney & Co
David Asman and I discuss how Democrats are campaigning to bring European socialism to America which would slow growth and hurt the middle class. Read More
Debating the Logic Underpinning the Expected Fed Rate Cut on Fox Business’s “Making Money”
Charles Payne, David Nelson, and I debate the logic underpinning the expected Fed rate cut on “Fox Business’s Making Money with Charles Payne.” Read More
Ed Conard Responds to Pres. Trump’s Claim That Fed Policy Is Fostering Trade Deficits with China on FBN’s “Varney & Co.”
Ed responds to President Trump’s claim that Fed policy is fostering trade deficits with China, on Fox Business’s “Varney & Co.” Read More
A Strong Economy Makes Trump the Favorite to Win in 2020 on Fox Business’s “Varney & Co.”
America’s strong economy, driven by President Trump’s pro-growth policies of tax cuts and regulatory restraint, puts him in the best position to win in 2020, on Fox Business’s "Varney & Co." Read More
Joe Scarborough and Ed Conard Debate Pres. Trump’s Immigration Plan on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
Joe Scarborough and I debate President Trump’s new immigration plan and its emphasis on high-skilled immigration to produce economic growth on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” Read More
Matthew Continetti in NRO Analyzes My Proposal on How to Help the Middle Class
How to Help the Middle Class by Matthew Continetti for National Review Ed Conard, former business partner of Mitt Romney and author of Unintended Consequences and The Upside of Inequality, appears on the most recent episode of Conversations with Bill Kristol. The interview is worth your time. It arrives at a moment when conservatives are debating what economic policies are best for the middle class. Conard challenges some widespread assumptions and offers intelligent if controversial suggestions. First, like his American Enterprise Institute colleague Michael Strain, Conard says the middle class is neither stagnating… Read More
Debating a Book’s-Worth of Economic Issues on “Conversations with Bill Kristol”
I cover a book’s-worth of economic issues in my 90 minute discussion with Bill Kristol on “Conversations with Bill Kristol.” Read More
HIGHLIGHTS
Read Former White House CEA Chairman Kevin Hassett’s Interview of Ed Conard in National Review
In National Review, Kevin Hassett, the former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, asks Ed Conard to defend conservative free market capitalism and how it promotes entrepreneurial risk-taking that has grown middle-class incomes faster than Europe. Five Questions for Ed Conard National Review Online August 21, 2020 1) Many liberals claim capitalism no longer works for the middle and working class. Is it true? No. According to the Congressional Budget Office, prior to the pandemic, middle-class incomes had grown 60 percent more than inflation since 1980. The income of the poorest… Read More
My Oxford University Press Chapter, “The Economics of Inequality in High-Wage Economies,” Is Available Free Online
Oxford University Press has provided free online access to my chapter, “The Economics of Inequality in High-Wage Economies,” for a limited time in their new book “United States Income, Wealth, Consumption, and Inequality.” In the chapter, I argue, “Inequality is mostly the result of an increasing premium on returns from risk and high-skilled labor ushered in by technological disruption and the feedback loop of elite talent working to increase their own productivity—a logical outcome when properly trained talent constrains growth. The answer … lies in increasing the ratio of high-… Read More
Ed Conard Discusses His Oxford University Chapter at Harvard’s Program on Constitutional Government
Ed Conard recently joined Harvard’s Harvey Mansfield to discuss his Oxford University Press chapter, “The Economics of Inequality in High-Wage Economies,” at Harvard University’s Program on Constitutional Government. The video, audio, and text of his speech and the Q&A session are available below. Opening Speech AUDIO Q&A PART 1 AUDIO Q&A PART 2 AUDIO 14 Questions for Ed Conard Tom Palmer (Snr. Fellow, Cato Institute): Do we have the ability to recruit high-skilled labor from around the world? Can we identify and restrict immigration only to them? What happens to… Read More
My chapter, “The Economics of Inequality,” joins Saez, Burkhauser, and other distinguished economists in Oxford University Press’ new “United States Income, Wealth, Consumption, and Inequality”
In my chapter, “Economics of Inequality in High-Wage Economies," I argue, “Inequality is mostly the result of an increasing premium on returns from risk and high-skilled labor ushered in by technological disruption and the feedback loop of elite talent working to increase their own productivity—a logical outcome when properly trained talent constrains growth. The answer … lies in increasing the ratio of high- to low-skilled workers chiefly by training and recruiting more high-scoring domestic and immigrant workers. Rather than greater income redistribution slowing growth by dampening high-skilled productivity and incentives… Read More
CBS Sunday Morning Features “The Upside of Inequality”
“CBS Sunday Morning” feature on inequality, which includes Hitler, Marie Antoinette, beatings, starving paupers in coffins, Thomas Piketty, and poverty statistics that don’t account for the trillion dollars America spends helping the poor, gives me 20 seconds to defend capitalism. Here are all the things I said that they chose not to use. Read More
Lies, Damned Lies, and Steve Rattner’s Statistics
Lies, Damned Lies, And Steve Rattner’s Statistics If liberal economists could win the economic debate with honest arguments, they would make them. As President Reagan once joked, “Well, the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.” In his New York Times op-ed, Steve Rattner adds his name to the list of people willing to compromise their reputation to mislead the American people. No serious economist would measure a president’s performance blindly from the day they stepped into… Read More
Ed Conard Featured in CQ Researcher Report “Inequality in America: Can the Growing Wealth Gap Be Closed?”
CQ Researcher released its latest report “Inequality in America: Can the Growing Wealth Gap Be Closed?” featuring an interview with Ed Conard. Excerpts from the report: On incentivizing risk-taking to grow the economy: Edward Conard, a visiting scholar at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute (AEI), calls the wealth gap an inevitable byproduct of an economy that prospers by rewarding innovators and risk-takers. Before the coronavirus struck, the United States had enjoyed a strong economy with low unemployment rates and rising wages. After an 11-year bull market, the Dow Jones Industrial… Read More- Joe Scarborough and Ed Conard Debate Pres. Trump’s Immigration Plan on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
Joe Scarborough and I debate President Trump’s new immigration plan and its emphasis on high-skilled immigration to produce economic growth on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” Read More - My new National Review op-ed explains why CBO expects the tax cut to pay for itself
Is the tax cut expected to pay for itself? Yes — if we use the Congressional Budget Office’s forecast and any economically logical standard, the tax cut makes both current and future generations better off. The CBO now expects the nominal gross domestic product to increase nearly $750 billion more per year by 2020 than in its forecast prior to the tax cut. It originally attributed about one third of that growth to the tax-cut legislation — even by that estimate, the cut more than pays for itself. The CBO… Read More 
Read My USA Today Op-Ed: “Tax Cut Law Helps Future Generations”
Tax Cut Law Helps Future Generations A one-time increase in gross domestic product that generations can enjoy for years to come is not a 'sugar high' Borrowing to buy an asset that produces more income than the interest expense makes your children richer. The debt doesn’t make them poorer. Without this basic understanding of finance, deficit hawks can’t distinguish deficit-financed consumption from borrowing that increases the economy’s capacity to pay the interest on the borrowed money, including any resulting increase in the interest rate. The latter makes future generations richer,… Read More
My Op-ed Today’s WSJ: Is the Tax Cut Paying For Itself? By a Mile.
Tax Reform Is Covering Its Costs Faster growth is on track to outpace debt in the next decade. Is the 2017 tax reform paying for itself? It’s a complicated question, but the critics have made up their minds. Outlets like the Tax Policy Center claim the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has diminished federal revenue rather than increase it as some supporters predicted. Other skeptics lament surging government deficits and debt. Some point to last year’s brief economic spurt as evidence of the law’s failure to drive long-term growth. Even… Read More
Read My New National Review Op-Ed: “Let’s Not Kid Ourselves About 70% Tax Rates”
Let’s Not Kid Ourselves About 70% Tax Rates Their only justification is to confiscate others’ money. My op-ed in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal argued that academic justifications for 70 percent marginal tax rates, such as Peter Diamond and Emmanuel Saez’s, are nothing more than a veneer intended to deceive a wider audience that doesn’t know better. Saez’s expansion of his justification for confiscatory taxes in the New York Times does little to prove otherwise. Diamond and Saez’s original argument for a 70 percent tax rate – that it would enhance both tax revenue and social welfare – ignores the… Read More- Read My New Wall Street Journal Op-Ed: “The Crippling Cost of 70% Tax Rates”
The Crippling Cost of 70% Tax Rates Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s proposal would smother investment and innovation, leaving America poorer. Newly elected Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spent her first few weeks on Capitol Hill calling for a 70% top marginal income-tax rate, and suddenly the debate over optimal rates has reopened. To support her charge, some liberals are citing a 2011 study by economists Peter Diamond and Emmanuel Saez, which advocates for confiscatory upper-range tax rates. But a quick look at their analysis reveals grave caveats that only an advocate of higher taxes could… Read More 
Read My New National Review Op-Ed: Free-Market Republicans Risk Irrelevance by Ignoring the Concerns of Blue-Collar Voters
Free-market Republicans must recognize they can’t build a winning coalition without the president’s supporters. In our two-party democracy, agendas without winning coalitions are largely irrelevant. Edward Conard National Review Online June 16, 2018 Prior to the president’s victory, protectors of free enterprise, foreign-policy hawks, and social conservatives controlled the GOP by giving each other what they wanted most: lower taxes and restrained spending; larger defense budgets; and judges who limited the federal government. President Trump’s supporters upended this coalition, seized control of the GOP, and won the presidency with victories… Read More
Debating Inequality, Innovation, and High-Skilled Immigration on “Conversations with Bill Kristol”
Bill Kristol and I debate income inequality, innovation, and why only high-skilled immigration can grow the American economy fast enough to pay for retiring baby boomers without damaging the economy with high taxes and slower growth. Watch here on "Conversations with Bill Kristol." Read More