The “New” Monopsony Argument and the Suppression of Wages
21 Jun 2018 Leave a comment
A recent issue of The Economisthad an article on monopsony and the “non-compete“ agreements that some lower-paid fast-food chain workers have had to sign as a condition of employment. On the whole, The Economist doesn’t like this because it supposedly holds down wages. The Economist is not alone in thinking this. Even noted economists Jason Furman and Alan Krueger have said in The Wall Street Journal: “There is no reason why employers would require fast-food workers and retail salespeople to sign a noncompete clause—other than to restrict competition and weaken worker bargaining power.” What Furman and Krueger are thinking is that these employees have no “trade secrets” to reveal to other firms.
Does this make sense?
The fast-food low wage case has little to do with trade secrets. In this situation the usual argument in favor of such agreements turns on the provision of general human capital. When…
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Entrepreneurship, Growth, and Capital Gains Taxation
19 Jun 2018 Leave a comment
I wrote last month about a new book from the Fraser Institute about demographics and entrepreneurship.
My contribution was a chapter about the impact of taxation, especially the capital gains tax.
At a panel in Washington, I had a chance to discuss my findings.
If you don’t want to watch an 11-minute video, my presentation can be boiled down to four main points.
1. Demographics is destiny – Other authors actually had the responsibility of explaining in the book about the importance of demographic change. But it never hurts to remind people that this is a profound and baked-in-the-cake ticking time bomb.
So I shared this chart with the audience and emphasized that a modest-sized welfare state may have been feasible in the past, but will be far more burdensome in the future for the simple reason that the ratio of taxpayers to tax-consumers is dramatically changing.
And…
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If Wind and Sunshine are Free, Why Is It That Wind & Solar Power Are So Expensive?
13 Jun 2018 Leave a comment
Facts tend to flummox renewable energy zealots, especially the way adding wind and solar sends power prices into orbit (see above). After all, they keep telling us that the wind and sun are absolutely free, and getting cheaper all the time.
Here’s America’s top green, Michael Shellenberger taking an axe to another RE furphy.
A question that gives pause: If Solar And Wind Are So Cheap, Why Are They Making Electricity So Expensive?
Watts Up With That?
Michael Shellenberger
16 May 2018
Over the last year, the media have published story after story after story about the declining price of solar panels and wind turbines.
People who read these stories are understandably left with the impression that the more solar and wind energy we produce, the lower electricity prices will become.
And yet that’s not what’s happening. In fact, it’s the opposite.
Between 2009 and 2017, the price of solar…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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