LATEST
Frank Hill Reviews The Upside of Inequality for The North State Journal
Review: The Upside of Inequality by Frank Hill for The North State Journal Many people hear the term “income inequality” and think: “We gotta do something to fix that!” Which almost always means pass more legislation and give more power to government officials. Ed Conard, former managing partner of Bain Capital, thinks differently. He sees rising income inequality as a good sign for an economy, not as a negative. As he writes in his eminently readable book, “The Upside of Inequality”: “Rising income inequality is the by-product of an economy… Read More
I Debate the Merits of Capitalism v. Socialism with socialist Jacobin Magazine’s Bhaskar Sunkara on Fox Business’s “Making Money”
I debate the merits of capitalism versus socialism with socialist Jacobin Magazine founder Bhaskar Sunkara on “Fox Business’s Making Money with Charles Payne.” Read More
Harvard Symposium on My Views: “What Advocates of Free Enterprise Can Learn from Populism.”
Watch my Harvard symposium presentation “What Advocates of Free Enterprise Can Learn from Populism.” The symposium was hosted by Professor Harvey Mansfield and Harvard’s Program on Constitutional Government. Harvard Economics Professor Greg Mankiw participated in the discussion. Discussion Q&A Read More
Ed Conard Discusses His NYT bestselling book The Upside of Inequality at Susquehanna University
Ed discusses his top-ten New York Times bestselling book The Upside of Inequality with Matt Rousu, Dean of Susquehanna University’s Sigmund Weis School of Business and students. Discussion Q&A Read More
Dem Socialist Proposals Would Gradually Drag U.S. Growth and Wages to Stagnant European Levels
Socialist policy proposals from 2020 Democratic presidential candidates would irrevocably alter the American economy, gradually dragging it to Europe’s stagnant growth rate and lowering middle-class wages, on Fox Business’s Varney & Co. Read More
Tariff Threats May Be Needed to Negotiate Fair Trade with China on Fox Business’s “Making Money with Charles Payne”
I join Fox Business’s “Making Money with Charles Payne” to discuss how President Trump’s threatened tariffs may be needed to negotiate fair trade with China. Nothing else has worked well. We also discuss the cost of universal basic income’s incentives to work. Read More
Exposing Socialism’s Cost to the Middle Class on Fox Nation’s “Deep Dive”
I expose the cost of socialism to the middle class, its long term effect on economic growth, and whether libertarianism can win elections with the Wall Street Journal’s Mary Anastasia O’Grady. PART 2 Read More
Debating the Impact of GOP Tax Cuts and How They’re Paying for Themselves on Bold TV
Ed Conard joins Bold TV to debate the long term impact of GOP tax cuts on the economy, how they’re paying for themselves, and why they’ll make future generations better off. Read More
Ed Conard Debates Democratic Presidential Candidates’ Growth-Killing Economic Proposals on “Varney & Co.”
Stuart Varney and I debate the growth-killing economic proposals of Democratic presidential candidates Cory Booker and Andrew Yang, as well as Elizabeth Warren’s proposal to restrict oil drilling on public lands, on Fox Business’s Varney & Co. Read More
Successful CEOs Have a Single-Minded Determination to Serve Customers. That’s Not Psychopathy
I debate Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’ claim that billionaires and CEOs have psychopathic tendencies on Fox Business’s “Making Money” with Susan Li. Successful CEOs have a single-minded determination to serve customers more effectively than competitors. Read More
A Strong U.S. Economy is Capitalism’s Best Defense on Fox Business’s “Cavuto: Coast to Coast”
Ed Conard vigorously defends capitalism with David Asman on Fox Business’s “Cavuto: Coast to Coast.” A 3.8% unemployment rate, rising wages, and a 40% stock market increase since President Trump’s election demonstrate the unparalleled success of American capitalism. 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
Upside of Inequality Available in Ukrainian!
The Ukrainian translation of my top-ten New York Times bestselling book The Upside of Inequality is now available! Read More
Discussing How The Upside of Inequality Is Faster U.S Economic Growth and Higher Wages on “Varney & Co.”
Stuart Varney and I discuss my top-ten bestselling book The Upside of Inequality on Fox Business’s Varney & Co. What is the upside of inequality? It’s faster U.S. economic growth and American middle-class incomes that are 15 to 30% higher than in Northern Europe and Japan. Read More
HIGHLIGHTS
A New Year’s Resolution Worth Making
Real Clear Politics By Edward Conard | December 31, 2014 With oil prices plunging below $60 a barrel, the U.S. economy growing at an annualized 5 percent last quarter, and the Dow soaring above 18,000, it's easy to overlook academic research published in 2014 that will likely have a lasting impact on economic debate. In particular, a half-dozen highly credible studies debunked widely-held economic myths. Each of these studies illustrate the need to confront wishful thinking with a great deal of skepticism. The year began with Harvard's Raj Chetty and… Read More
Ed Conard on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
On the show, Jon Stewart and Ed discuss Unintended Consequences and why risk-taking isn't the enemy of a properly functioning economy. Read More
Ed Conard debates Vice President Biden’s former chief economist, Jared Bernstein, on income inequality
At the Milken Institute’s Global Conference in Los Angeles on Monday, a top-level discussion of income inequality, economic mobility, and poverty revealed differing interpretations of the data, their causes, and their implications for public policy. AEI visiting scholar Edward Conard faced off against Vice President Biden’s former chief economist Jared Bernstein. The Bernstein/Conard debate over inequality went something like this: Bernstein suggested that inequality was bad for the bottom of the wage scale, as evidenced by stagnant or falling wages at the lower end of the income distribution, relative to many… Read More
Ed Conard defeats the IQ2 Motion: “Income Inequality Impairs the American Dream of Upward Mobility”
Despite a highly partisan crowd of voters, Ed defeated the IQ2 Motion: "Income Inequality Impairs the American Dream of Upward Mobility.” Thirty percent of the voters moved to Ed’s side of the motion—one of the largest swings in the history of IQ2. Opening Statement If income inequality truly impaired mobility, there would be telltale signs: Growing inequality would have reduced mobility. It hasn’t. Even Emanuel Saez, of the liberal Piketty and Saez duo, admits, the chance of a low-income child reaching any higher level of income has increased. Economies with more… Read More
Ed Conard debates Nobel Prize winning economist Joe Stiglitz
Ed and Joe Stiglitz face off on economics and income inequality. Read More
The Purpose of Spectacular Wealth, According to a Spectacularly Wealthy Guy
In the New York Times Magazine Adam Davidson comments on Ed Conard's new book. Read More
Please Don’t Soak the Rich
Wall Street Journal review of Ed book, Unintended Consequences. Read More
Ed Conard on Fareed Zakaria
Ed discusses his new book and the value of risk taking for the economy. Read More
Ed Conard debates Alan Krueger on Obama’s economic record and if he’s to blame for slow growth on Bloomberg TV
Given the last five years of economic activity, is Obama the worst president since WWII? Read More
No Role for Fed in Income Distribution
NEW YORK TIMES by Ed Conard | October 27, 2014 The Federal Reserve has neither the mandate to redistribute wealth nor the tools to do it effectively. Should it try, it will likely fail. Were it to succeed, it would likely lower middle- and working-class incomes. Either way, it would violate one of America’s founding principles — no taxation without representation — as well as its mandate to promote stable prices. A blatant political act like this would justify Congressional intervention and jeopardize the Fed’s critically needed independence. A Federal… Read More
Ed Conard on ABC News
Ed argues that innovation and incentives improve the U.S. economy. Read More
Rescuing Subprime Borrowers Won’t Fix the Economy
Fortune Magazine By Edward Conard | June 11, 2014 In their new book, House of Debt, Atif Mian and Amir Sufi make a persuasive argument that a decline in consumption caused by a drop in home prices slowed the economic recovery more than a weakened banking system. Even if banks were strong, they argue, the demand for loans would still be weak. Mian and Amir Sufi blame a sharp increase in savings by highly levered homeowners for the fall off in consumption and borrowing; as a result, the authors urge taxpayers to… Read More