Category Archives: Free markets and their discontents

Double Whammy: Implicit Subsidies and the Great Financial Crisis

Follow the subsidies, and you will understand why we had the crisis and why not enough has been done to prevent a recurrence.

Jumping the Abyss: Marriner S. Eccles and the New Deal, 1933-1940

An in-depth look at Marriner Eccles’ ideas and policies, and how well they have withstood the test of time.

Victorian Central Banks and the Myth of Independence

Central banks have not always been independent, inflation targeting bodies, and to treat them as such is to obscure their complex histories and alternative institutional constellations.

Revolving Doors and Regulatory Capture

Looking at the costs of and some possible responses to regulatory capture.

Shall We Kill the Hay Exports or the Cows?

Hay has become a scarce resource in Australia, and not for the best reasons.

Pigs Want To Feed at the Trough Again: Bernanke, Geithner and Paulson Use Crisis Anniversary to Ask for More Bailout Powers

The chief architects of the exercise in looting otherwise known as the post-crisis rescues are back promoting more of the same.

Why We Should Worry About Monopsony

Why the Fed is, rather late in the game, concerned about monopsony power.

Gaius Publius: Verizon Throttled Firefighters’ Data As Mendocino Wildfire Burned

Verizon shows that extortion is fundamental to its business model.

Market Power, Low Productivity, and Lagging Wages: The Real Drivers

To understand labor productivity—and growing inequality—you have to look at the “dual economy”