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As the curtain has fallen upon the last of the Presidential “debates” and this current political campaign comes to an end in less than three weeks, it is time to take stock not of the candidates but rather of some of the myths surrounding them. The one I wish to tackle in this article is the myth that politicians are our “elected leaders.” Nothing

As the political season stumbles to a close, we need to remember that the historical relationship between economic policy, economic performance, and political rhetoric can be wildly unpredictable. For example, all these years later, it is worth reconsidering the presidency of Jimmy Carter, from 1977 to 1981. Many of the reforms that took place

Mt. Rushmore is famous because 60 years ago, someone carved the faces of four dead presidents into its lofty Harney Peak granite cliffs. The mountain itself is located in the Black Hills, a somewhat obscure mountain range in western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming that resembles the Southern Appalachians, which are located a couple of miles from

Hal Varian, whose mathematical textbook has been the bane of economics graduate students for many years, has now weighed in on a solution to our oil problems: increase the federal tax on gasoline. In a recent New York Times op-ed, Varian says that a stiff, new tax on gas will discourage motorists from driving, which would mean we would use less

As has recently been discussed among Austrian economists and fellow travelers, Europeans seem to be enamored with American socialists – and vice versa. There is something different about a romanticist, especially one who chooses to ignore the dirty, brutal history of socialism in this past century in his longing for a new, bright, golden age that

Mention immigration to Austrian economists and other free-market economists and you will hear a cacophony of opinions that range from “completely open the borders” to “completely close the borders.” It is hard to imagine a more divisive subject among those with libertarian philosophical and economic bents, and it plays out in the political arena

With Dick Cheney’s recent mention of the “R Word,” the unthinkable is being openly discussed: Are we headed for a recession?  Politicians in the last few years have been assuring Americans that the “New Economy” has made the dreaded business cycle passé, but don’t tell that to the dozens of venture capitalists and “dot com” folks who seem to have

While journalists and political junkies eagerly await and discuss each of Bush’s choices to serve in the cabinet, the real issue is not even on the radar screen. What about the declared purpose of the departments themselves?  Each was establish for the purpose of intervening in the rights and liberties of Americans. The machinery of the

When a presidential nominee is shot down for a post in government, the person’s first reaction is sadness and regret. But a person like Linda Chavez should look on the bright side. As an opponent of much of the policies of the Department of Labor, she won’t have to face four years of relentless frustration and anger that comes with attempting to

White House insiders have said for years that Bill Clinton has been desperately seeking a legacy for his administration – other than having been impeached and having disgraced himself and his office. At long last, he has at least two of them. The first of these is the coming recession, his first gift to the incoming administration of George W.