Bloomberg View By Edward Conard | November 21, 2013 President Barack Obama has shown a determination to redistribute wealth by increasing government spending, despite unsustainable deficits. We shouldn’t be surprised if Janet Yellen, the president’s nominee to be Federal Reserve chairman, shares his objective. After 30 years of Fed chairmen who pursued anti-inflationary policies, the central bank is now attempting to engineer an unexpected bout of inflation. One ... Read More
The Goal of Tax Policy
People often view debates over economic policy as debates between selfish libertarians, who seek to keep what they earn, and generous communitarians seeking to help the poor. Communitarians recognize that talent is randomly distributed among mankind and that humanity and not individuals are the rightful owners of that talent. Talented individuals have a moral obligation to the community to utilize their talents fully to improve mankind’s standard of living. They have ... Read More
What Obama Didn’t Learn From the 1990s
The Wall Street Journal By Edward Conard | August, 2012 With the prospects for a postrecession economic rebound fading, it has grown increasingly obvious that the United States must eventually raise taxes or cut spending. President Obama claims we can raise taxes on those earning over $250,000, to avoid spending cuts with little, if any, effect on growth because growth was faster in the 1990s and in the 1950s and '60s when marginal income-tax rates were ... Read More
Businessweek review by Roger Lowenstein
With his bashing of private equity, Barack Obama has given Mitt Romney a huge opening. Edward Conard, Romney’s friend and former partner at Bain Capital, is eagerly seizing that opportunity with his manifesto for private investment, Unintended Consequences: Why Everything You’ve Been Told About the Economy Is Wrong. Conard is eloquent and passionate about the virtue of investment and even the merits of America’s trade deficit. He’s the ideal guy to challenge post-crash ... Read More
Ed Conard in Bloomberg: Investment, the Engine of U.S. Prosperity, Is Underrated
By Edward Conard May 13, 2012 6:00 PM ET Proponents and opponents of income redistribution differ greatly in their explanations for the success of the U.S. Opponents argue that the discovery and commercialization of innovation are no different than any other investment. Investors must risk capital to fund failures. The potential payoffs provide the incentive to suffer the losses. Those who favor income redistribution point to the steadiness of long-term economic ... Read More
