TweetAt CapX, I explain what motivated Phil Gramm and me to write our book, The Triumph of Economic Freedom: Debunking the Seven Great Myths of American Capitalism. A slice: Likewise with America’s own industrial revolution, the ‘Gilded Age’. American schoolchildren are taught that the final third of the 19th century witnessed John D. Rockefeller and…
Bad Economic History Fuels Bad Present-Day Economic Policies
Bad Economic History Fuels Bad Present-Day Economic Policies
28 Jun 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic history, history of economic thought, income redistribution, industrial organisation, international economics, liberalism, politics - USA, Public Choice
The Profit Motive Will Ensure Adequate Supplies of Rare Earths
21 Jun 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, international economics, politics - USA, resource economics Tags: China
TweetHere’s a letter to the Wall Street Journal: Editor: You’re correct that “Trump has no China trade strategy” (June 12). Nearly all trade talk coming from this administration is economically incoherent bluster from which we Americans can expect only diminished prosperity. You err, however, in describing China as having a “stranglehold on rare-earth minerals.” China…
The Profit Motive Will Ensure Adequate Supplies of Rare Earths
*Crisis Cycle*
02 Jun 2025 Leave a comment
in budget deficits, business cycles, currency unions, Euro crisis, fiscal policy, global financial crisis (GFC), great recession, history of economic thought, international economic law, international economics, macroeconomics, monetarism, monetary economics, Public Choice Tags: European Union
That is the new book by John H. Cochrane, Luis Garicano, and Klaus Masuch, and the subtitle is Challenges, Evolution, and Future of the Euro. Excerpt: Our main theme is not actions taken in crises, but that member states and EU institutions did not clean up between crises. They did not reestablish a sustainable framework […]
*Crisis Cycle*
Liberation Dusk? Court Strikes Down Trump Tariffs in the Midst of Trade Negotiations
30 May 2025 Leave a comment
in international economic law, international economics, politics - USA Tags: tarrifs
Below is my column in the New York Post on the decision yesterday finding that the Trump tariffs are invalid. What happens now will be, if nothing else, interesting. Dusk has come to Liberation Day. Trump has options, but the pressure will now be greater on Congress as bilateral trade agreements are moving forward. Here […]
Liberation Dusk? Court Strikes Down Trump Tariffs in the Midst of Trade Negotiations
The Import-So-That-They-Can-Export Firms
28 May 2025 Leave a comment
Much of the discussion about trade and imports is based on discussions of products and sectors of the economy. But among the researchers who study international trade, a major shift has been a focus on relatively small firms that are directly involved in international trade. It turns out that many of these firms are both…
The Import-So-That-They-Can-Export Firms
Trade sentences to ponder
25 May 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, international economics Tags: European Union
The IMF puts the hidden cost of trading goods inside the EU at the equivalent of a 45% tariff. For services the figure climbs to 110%, higher than Trump’s “Liberation day” tariffs on Chinese imports—measures many saw as a near-embargo. These barriers are not direct taxes. Instead, a construction company might find its building materials or plans, […]
Trade sentences to ponder
Excusing the Government
22 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, history of economic thought, income redistribution, international economics, labour economics, law and economics, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, urban economics
An excerpt from Chapter 3 of *Unbeatable*
Excusing the Government
David Friedman Explains Why Trump’s Tariffs Will Fail | IEA Live
21 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, David Friedman, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, international economics
Some Links
13 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, industrial organisation, international economics, survivor principle Tags: free trade, tariffs
TweetNicholas Bloom, Kyle Handley, André Kurmann, and Philip A. Luck revisit the “China Shock.” Two slices: Our research investigates the extent to which the opposing trends in manufacturing and services job growth are related. Our findings reveal that local labor markets more exposed to Chinese import competition experienced larger manufacturing job losses. But these losses…
Some Links
Tabarrok on the Movie Tariff
07 May 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, international economics, movies, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: 2024 presidential election, free trade, tariffs
The Hollywood Reporter has a good piece on Trump’s proposed movie tariffs: Even if such a tariff were legal — and there is some debate about whether Trump has the authority to impose such levies — industry experts are baffled as to how, in practice, a “movie tariff” would work. “What exactly does he want […]
Tabarrok on the Movie Tariff
The best tariff threat is one you do not have to use
06 May 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, international economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, free trade, game theory, tariffs
Following up on an earlier post, Reciprocal tariffs as a tit-for-tat strategy in a repeated prisoners’ dilemma From NY Times:Trump imposed, quickly withdrew and then threatened to bring back huge tariffs on dozens of countries. Immediately, they began calling and asking what they could do to stop him. “More than 100 countries have already come to…
The best tariff threat is one you do not have to use
Trump proposes 100% tariff on movies shot outside the United States
05 May 2025 1 Comment
in industrial organisation, international economics, movies, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election
Here is one link. Of course the proposal is not easy to understand. If it is a Jason Bourne movie, do they add up the number of scenes shot abroad and consider those as a percentage of the entire movie? Does one scene shot abroad invoke the entire tariff? o3 guesstimates that about half of […]
Trump proposes 100% tariff on movies shot outside the United States
Twisted Illogic
02 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, international economics, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: 2024 presidential election, free trade, tarrifs
TweetHere’s a letter to The Hill. Editor: Pres. Trump said that “China probably will eat those tariffs” (“Trump says China ‘probably will eat those tariffs’,” April 29). So the president believes that the tariffs will be ‘eaten’ by China – meaning, he believes the tariffs won’t result in higher prices in America of Chinese goods.…
Twisted Illogic
Can Trump’s Tariff Offensive Deliver New American Jobs?
28 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, international economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, free trade, tariffs
By Lauren Weber of The WSJ. Excerpts:”Most economists and other experts are skeptical that job creation will happen on a large scale because planning and building new factories is an incredibly complex and lengthy process. Businesses will be reluctant to do that unless they’re sure the investment is worth it over the long term. A fairly…
Can Trump’s Tariff Offensive Deliver New American Jobs?
My debate with Dani Rodrik about tariffs and free trade
22 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic history, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, international economic law, international economics, labour economics, politics - USA, unemployment Tags: 2024 presidential election, free trade, tariffs
This occurred in Knoxville, you can watch it here. Lots of fun, and p.s. I am more of a free trader than he is. We did have some disagreements.
My debate with Dani Rodrik about tariffs and free trade
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments