Remember Peak Oil?
It’s difficult to overstate just how panicked the world was over oil prices a decade ago — stratospherically high oil prices. We were, most policy makers and economists believed, in an energy crisis —...
View ArticleWhy economic growth matters (cont.)
Marginal Revolution University has a good new short video on why economic growth is so important . . .
View ArticleThe GOP tax debate
Fifteen years ago, Art Laffer, the principal advocate of the Reagan tax reforms, outlined his ideal tax code for the 21st century. In December 2001, I visited Laffer in San Diego and asked him: What...
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Great Stagnation? Or Technology Renaissance?
On Thursday, my colleagues in the American Enterprise Institute’s technology program offered views on “Cyberspace policy at home and abroad,” covering the increasingly contentious realms of hacking,...
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Pessimistic Predictions Which Do Not Fly
Lots of people think innovation is over. Robert Gordon, the author of a grand new book called The Rise and Fall of American Growth, thinks the Information Age may be finished. We disagree. Flying...
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Should companies pay damages for invalid patents?
That’s one of the questions in the recurring litigation between Apple and Samsung. Next month, the two firms will begin a fourth trial in their multiyear battle over intellectual property for...
View ArticleMy two cents on Trumpism
At the risk of wading into a swamp, here are a few thoughts on the phenomenon. We’ve seen lots of smart analyses trying to figure out how we got here, but if I were to distill my own analysis and...
View ArticleSupreme’s take Apple-Samsung case
The Supreme Court today said it will hear the Apple-Samsung dispute over the “total profits” question in design patent cases. Specifically, the Court said it will address only question 2 from the cert...
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What’s the best way to help the middle class? Targeted benefits or an...
On Sunday, Ross Douthat of the New York Times questioned the courage of Speaker Paul Ryan, asking why he hasn’t stood up more forcefully against Donald Trump. I, too, wish Ryan and other GOP leaders...
View ArticleOn Netflix admission it throttles certain mobile users but not others
[View the story “Response to Netflix Throttling Story” on Storify]
View ArticleThe Indiana Primary
As a native Hoosier, born in La Porte, now living in Zionsville, I feel a responsibility to share my views on the upcoming primary between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. The nation is at a crucial...
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The $2.7 trillion growth gap
I’ve been updating this chart for too many years now. I think it explains a lot.
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What’s behind the stunning decline in publicly traded U.S. firms?
An underreported story of the last two decades is the sharp decline in the number of publicly traded U.S. firms. In 1996, U.S. stock markets boasted 7,322 listed firms. By 2015, however, that number...
View ArticleGoogle Fiber pull-back shows broadband is difficult. But 5G will make it much...
USA Today reports that: Google Fiber is halting its rollout in 10 cities and laying off staff as its chief executive Craig Barratt steps down, dealing a major setback to the Internet giant’s ambitions...
View ArticleZero-sum thinking on zero-rating threatens 5G success
On Wednesday, the House Antitrust Subcommittee will take up AT&T’s pending acquisition of Time Warner (the owner of HBO and TBS, not the cable company). Congress has no direct role in merger...
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The Internet media free-for-all
Tomorrow, a host of Silicon Valley firms will visit Trump Tower for a meeting with the President-elect. Last week, AT&T and Time Warner visited Capitol Hill to testify about their proposed merger....
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Reasons for optimism in 2017?
A new policy direction in 2017 could substantially boost the economy. Last week I commented on the 15-year IPO winter and the possibilities for a revival of public equity financing of growing firms....
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Happy 250th birthday, Jean-Baptiste Say
JB Say, 1767-1832 Jean-Baptiste Say was born 250 years ago, on January 5, 1767. Say translated Adam Smith into French, wrote his own *Treatise on Political Economy* in 1803, and coined the term...
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Busting out of the 1.9% economy
The Congressional Budget Office yesterday published its annual 10-year economic outlook. It says, essentially, the economy will continue expanding for the coming decade at the tepid pace of the last...
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A decade of subpar growth
Here’s a supplement to our previous post on economic growth scenarios, another way to look at the past decade.
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