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 ... 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 ... 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 • ... 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 ... Read More
New Study Shows 83% of Criminals Rearrested Within 9 Years
A 9-year Justice Department study shows 44% of released prisoners are rearrested within 1 year; 83% within 9 years. 77% of drug offenders are rearrested for non-drug related crimes including 34% for violent crime. On average, released prisoners are rearrested 5 times. ... Read More
Two charts show income inequality hasn’t risen as much as we’ve been led to believe
Two charts show income inequality hasn’t risen as much as we’ve been led to believe. ... Read More
Krugman’s Misleading Scandinavian Comparison
Paul Krugman wrote a misleading post comparing U.S. wages and productivity growth to Scandinavia without admitting that Scandinavia’s test scores are much higher than America’s. Comparing Scandinavia to Scandinavian-Americans instead of to Americans more broadly is a simple way to factor out the benefit of higher Scandinavian test scores. (If anything, Scandinavians with lower socioeconomic status immigrated to America.) On average, Scandinavian-Americans earn ... Read More
