LATEST
Marginal Tax Rate above 30% Likely Suboptimizes Social Welfare
Stanford's Charles Jones corrects glaring shortcomings in the Diamond/Saez’s optimal tax analysis to show why top marginal tax rates of 30% or less likely maximize social welfare in an innovation-driven economy. Jones concludes: "Because ideas are nonrival, each person’s wage is an increasing function of the entire stock of ideas. A distortion that reduces the production of new ideas therefore impacts everyone’s income, not just the income of the inventor herself. These conditions lead to a new term in the Saez (2001) formula for the optimal top tax rate: by slowing the creation… Read More
Economists Agree by a 3:1 Margin; Raising Marginal Tax Rates to 70% Is a Bad Idea
Economists agree by a 3:1 margin; raising marginal tax rates to 70% is a bad idea. Read More
Americans Pay 26% Less Than the True Cost of Government
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, economists Steve Hanke and Stephen Walters show how most Americans pay 26% less than the true cost of the government services they consume because politicians hide the true cost in long-term deficits. When taxpayers pay 26% less than the true cost of government—even less as they earn less—what incentive do they have to optimize government spending and taxes? I wrote about this in my book The Upside of Inequality (pp. 108 and 248). Read More
Ed Conard Says a 70% Top Tax Rate Would Be “A Growth Killer” on Fox News “Cavuto: Coast to Coast”
Ed Conard says liberal Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s 70% top tax rate proposal would be “a growth killer” on Fox Business Network’s “Cavuto: Coast to Coast.” Read More
Ed Conard Discusses Potential U.S. Bond Rating Downgrade, China Trade on Fox Business’s “Varney & Co”
Ed Conard joins Stuart Varney on Fox Business’s “Varney & Co.” to discuss the status of trade talks with China and Fitch’s threat to downgrade the U.S. bond rating if the partial government shutdown doesn’t end soon. Read More
Krueger and Katz Agree Impact of Gig Economy Smaller Than They Claimed
According the Wall Street Journal, famed labor economists Larry Katz and Alan Krueger, former Chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors, now admit their estimate of the gig economy was overstated, after the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a study in June showing the gig economy had not grown significantly since 2005, contrary to their claim. Read More
Preponderance of Significant Results Fell From 57% to 8% of Experiments When Protocols Preregistered
Another worrisome story in the New York Times reports "...A 2015 study published in PLOS ONE followed how many null results were found in trials funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute before and after researchers were required to register their protocols at a public website. This rule was introduced in 2000 in part because of a general sense that researchers were subtly altering their work — after it was begun — to achieve positive results. In the 30 years before 2000, 57 percent of trials published showed a 'significant… Read More
Market Risen to Top Decile Equity Risk Premium
Aswath Damodaran finds the equity premium has risen to 6%—in the top decile historically. He estimates shocks from 2 of the following have already been priced in: • Slower growth • Political/economic crisis • Higher interest rates • Reduced corporate cash flows Read More
Ed Conard Discusses the Economy and Impact of Midterm Elections on Stock Market on Fox Business’s “Varney & Co”
Ed Conard discusses the state of the economy and the impact of the midterm elections on the stock market with Stuart Varney on Fox Business's "Varney & Co." Read More
Atlanta’s Living Standard Is Higher Than San Francisco (When Adjusted for Real Estate Cost)
After adjusting for the cost of real estate, Demographia finds the median standard of living in Atlanta is higher than San Francisco. Read More
Millennial Incomes Are Comparable to Prior Generations
A new Pew study finds Millennial household incomes are higher today than they have been for every other comparable generation, except in the year 2000. Using the Pew data, Ernie Tedeschi finds Millennial household incomes today are comparable to past generations after adjusting for education. But such comparisons assume education is as productivity-enhancing today as it was in the past when America educated fewer people at the margin. Bryan Caplan, for example, claims education does not increase productivity significantly at the margin, which would render Tedeschi’s adjustments unnecessary. However, a… Read More
U.S. Is Not An Outlier on Economic Mobility
Scott Winship’s indispensable review of economic mobility studies finds the “U.S. (is) not an outlier” even if absolute mobility is less because growing income gap between rich and poor “says nothing” about whether it’s harder for poor kids to become rich. Read More
Study Finds 72% of SSDI Applications Result of Recession
A new NBER study finds 72% of Social Security Disability Insurance applicants between 2008-2012 wouldn’t have applied but for the recession, resulting in 400,000 beneficiaries who otherwise would not have entered the system and increasing present value costs by $100 billion. Read More
Worrisome News About Welfare Fraud
Worrisome news from AEI’s Robert Doar in the Wall Street Journal about welfare fraud. 82 of 100 randomly selected Medicaid recipients were not qualified for all benefits received. The Obama Administration gutted income verification requirements. The recession expanded fraud. Read More
Harvard Study Finds 11% MBTA Gender Pay Gap Despite Guaranteed Equal Pay
The WSJ reports on a study by Harvard economists, Valentin Bolotnyy and Natalia Emanuel, that finds an 11% gender pay gap—“60% of the earnings gap across the United States”— among union members of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, despite rigorous seniority rules and guaranteed equal pay for equal work. The authors conclude: “The gap…can be explained entirely by the fact that, while having the same choice sets in the workplace, women and men make different choices. … Women value time and flexibility more than men.” Men worked 83% more overtime… Read More
HIGHLIGHTS
Ed Conard on Fox & Friends: Why Millions Still Support Trump
Ed Conard joins Brian Kilmeade to discuss his op-ed "What Trump Critics Still Don't Get About Him" on "Fox & Friends." Watch the latest video at foxnews.com Read More
Read My New Fox News Op-Ed: What Trump Critics Still Don’t Get About Him
Edward Conard Fox News January 31, 2018 Democrats wasted no time continuing their nonstop attacks on President Trump after his State of the Union address Tuesday. They insist Donald Trump is the worst president in American history. While President Trump has left himself open to well-deserved criticism, many still don’t understand why he was elected and continues to retain the support of millions of Americans. Here’s why: President Trump shows concern for blue-collar Americans. Most Americans don’t have college degrees and big paychecks. They worry about factories and other businesses leaving… Read More
High-Skilled Immigration Only Viable Way to Finance Rising Entitlement Spending
Stanford Hoover Institute’s John Cogan shows that rising entitlement spending is the chief reason for runaway federal spending. His graph doesn’t show federal taxation, which has hovered around 17% of GDP since the end of the WWII and where it is expected land after the recent tax cut. By claiming only punishingly higher debt or taxes relative to GDP can finance growing entitlements, Cogan overlooks America’s only realistic antidote for growing entitlements—high-skilled immigration. My recently published WSJ op-ed lays out the case for high-skilled immigration as the only viable solution for financing growing entitlement spending. Tellingly, Cogan’s op-ed is juxtaposed… Read More
Upside of Inequality Highlights
The Upside of Inequality highlights: Read More
Carnegie’s Michael Pettis Praises The Upside of Inequality
Thanks, Michael Pettis, for praising my book The Upside of Inequality. "I finally got around to reading Ed's book, a little later than I said I would, but I have a huge reading list. Frankly I expected Upside would mostly be faith disguised as debate, but I was clearly wrong, and found the book to be very thoughtful and intelligently argued. I don't agree with all of it, obviously, but I do agree with much of it and, what is far more important, I agree with an approach that tries… Read More
Ed Conard Debates Grover Norquist on the Economics of the Republican Tax Plan
Ed Conard debates Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, on the economics of the Republican tax plan with Charles Payne on Fox Business News "Making Money." Read More
My New Wall Street Journal Op-Ed: America’s Got Talent, but Not Nearly Enough
In today's Wall Street Journal, I argue that high-skilled immigration is the only way America can meet the growing cost of retiring baby boomers without growth-killing tax increases that jeopardize America’s future in an increasingly dangerous world. Read the op-ed here and below. America’s Got Talent, but Not Nearly Enough Trump is right to back skills-based immigration. But fewer green cards would defeat the purpose. President Trump has proposed cutting the number of green cards issued each year from one million to 500,000 and issuing them based on skill levels. This approach… Read More
Debating My Wall Street Journal Op-Ed on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
Ed Conard debates his Wall Street Journal op-ed, "America's Got Talent, But Not Nearly Enough," with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brezezinski on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”. Read More
More High-Skilled Immigration Good For Economy on Fox News Radio’s “Kilmeade & Friends”
Ed Conard joins Brian Kilmeade (the day of the solar eclipse) on Fox News Radio's "Kilmeade and Friends" to discuss why Trump is right to back skills-based immigration, but fewer green cards would defeat the purpose. Listen here. Read More
I Debate Austan Goolsbee on CNN: Does Trump Deserve Credit For Rising Stock Market?
Ed Conard debates Austan Goolsbee, former chairman of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, on whether President Trump has contributed to the rising stock market with Michael Smerconish on CNN's "Smerconish." Read More
Andy Puzder Reviews The Upside of Inequality
"Edward Conard’s The Upside of Inequality is one of those rare books. Conard refreshingly places the credit for economic prosperity where it belongs: On the willingness of innovators, entrepreneurs and investors to assume risk and on the availability of properly trained talent to turn risk into success..." Andy Puzder RealClearPolitics April 27, 2017 It’s a rare pleasure when a book on economic theory discusses how our economy actually works. Edward Conard’s The Upside of Inequality is one of those rare books. Conard refreshingly places the credit for economic prosperity where it… Read More
Trump’s First 100 Days, Bold Tax Cut Plan & More on Bloomberg TV’s “Daybreak Asia”
Ed Conard discusses President Trump's first 100 days, bold tax cut proposal, and more with Betty Liu on Bloomberg TV's "Daybreak Asia." Read More
The Case for a Border Tax on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”
Ed Conard debates tax reform and trade policy with Andrew Ross Sorkin, Joe Kernen, and Becky Quick on CNBC's "Squawk Box." Read More
Scott Winship Reviews “The Upside of Inequality” on Real Clear Politics
"Ed Conard’s voice is a much-needed injection of fresh thinking..." Scott Winship RealClearPolitics February 18, 2017 On the day Facebook went public in 2012, Mark Zuckerberg made $2.3 billion from the exercise of his company stock options. That amount represented the difference between the cost to public investors for 60 million shares in the social media giant and what Zuckerberg had been given the right to pay as part of his compensation package in 2005. Later that year, Zuckerberg sold about half of those shares to pay taxes on the… Read More
Commentary Magazine Reviews The Upside of Inequality
"The Upside of Inequality is a well-written, thought-provoking book. It will be invaluable to anyone who wants a clear-eyed look at the country’s economic problems and their possible solutions." John Steele Gordon Commentary Magazine January 15, 2017 Liberals are always finding crises that must be addressed immediately through government action. A couple of years ago they declared a civil-rights jihad on behalf of the transgendered, a group so few in number that my three-year-old spellchecker doesn’t have the word in its dictionary. In economics, the increase in income and asset inequality… Read More