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News
Recent posts and articles from IGEG fellows, advisers, experts and scholars.
Prosperous Panama Success can be traced to the use of the U.S. dollar as official currency
Panama City, Panama Panama has come a long way in a short time, more than doubling its per capita gross domestic product in the past decade. At the end of June 2016, it opened the new canal next to the old one that could no longer accommodate the current generation of...
States that Work for Business Prosperity excels where taxes and regulations are kept to a minimum
If you were going to start a new business in the United States that was not location dependent, what state would choose? Countries, states and cities all compete to attract businesses — both large and small. More businesses mean more jobs and usually greater...
Private Money-Like Products Gain Traction amid Mistrust of Government As government currencies lose value, interest grows in private money-like products
We all think we know what money is, but economists have many different definitions of money (e.g., M1, M2, M4, and others) — and the problem is getting worse. Is the U.S. paper dollar you have in your wallet money? How about a one-ounce gold $50 coin minted by the...
Useless Anti-Money Laundering Laws Invasive financial rules only deter the law-abiding
Governments occasionally pass laws with good intent but which backfire because they were poorly thought out and created perverse incentives, making the situation far worse. The current effort to stop money laundering has turned into a disaster for the global poor, who...
Looking ahead to 2024 Trump may disagree, but human productivity is already poised to leap
Most new cars sold in 2024 will have self-driving capabilities so that the number of auto fatalities will be falling rapidly. That is an easy prediction, because the technologies have already been developed and roll-outs of the new cars are being planned and, in some...
Bias, Ignorance and Reality Refusal to own up to the distortions of climate science is a costly mistake
The rains have returned to California, and the six-year drought appears to be largely over. We have heard countless assertions from journalists and politicians, ignorant of the weather history of California and the other western states, that the drought was a result...
Flying off the Handle over Risks Excessive airport security encourages travelers to drive
Did the authorities, in “an abundance of caution,” take too long to reinstate operations after the tragic shootings in the Fort Lauderdale airport this past Friday? The airport was shut down immediately after the shootings and remained shut for more than 12 hours,...
Now to Defund Wasteful Global Institutions Good intentions are no excuse for harmful results
A positive side effect of President Obama’s duplicity with the anti-Israeli United Nations vote was the attention it brought to what the U.N. is actually doing and how it is wasting taxpayer dollars and undermining liberty. If the U.S. Congress had it to do all over...
The Good Economic News for 2017 America can have four percent or higher GDP growth in the coming years
The good news for 2017 is we can have 4 percent or higher real economic growth per year over the next few years — and here is how. Some of the critics of President-elect Trump have insisted that the approximately two-percent annual average GDP growth the U.S. has...
Surprising Election History Winning the U.S. Presidency without a majority vote has been commonplace
Do you know how many U.S. presidents won election with less than 50 percent of the popular vote? Many are in a dither about Donald Trump having received less than a majority of the popular vote, when in fact almost one-third of all the U.S. presidents (14, to be...
Tax Reform Complications Tax cuts pay for themselves, but it takes time
Do you want tax reform? Now, for the difficult questions: What is your definition of tax reform? And what will be the consequences of each of your proposals? Nearly all serious tax reform advocates call for a reduction in the corporate income tax rate for several very...
Castro, Socialism and the Shortsighted Admirers of fidel fail to differentiate between aspiration and reality
How many political enemies would a dictator have to kill before you would no longer want your non-adult children to meet with him? Sean Penn wrote a particularly mindless semi-tribute to Fidel Castro in the Dec. 3 edition of the Daily Beast, where he is far harsher on...
Conflict or Compatibility of Interests? If Trump is a great president, America will be great again
Other things being equal, would you prefer to stay in a hotel and/or live in a condo named The President Carter, or one named The President Reagan? One of the cardinal beliefs of the American left is that too much money is spent on political races and that he or she...
Another Fine Regulatory Mess Anti-money laundering rules have unintended consequences
If you are in business and the government will not allow you to open a bank account, what do you do? Thirty years ago, almost anyone could walk into a bank and open a bank account with no questions asked. But now it is increasingly difficult for honest people and...
The Wolf at the Door A spending freeze could help Trump defang the bite of public debt
Donald Trump is very lucky that Paul Ryan is speaker of the House. Mr. Ryan is a very serious policy wonk, which President-elect Trump is not. Mr. Ryan has spent the last several years developing sound solutions to deal with the problem of the “wolf at the door” —...
The Most Important Question Which candidate will restore the integrity of our government institutions?
If you had a son or a daughter who was a member of a school debate team, and you learned that your child was receiving the questions in advance and the other debaters were not, what would you tell your child to do? Each year there are some sport scandals, usually...
Corruption and Prosperity When the rule of law is lost, even great nations disintegrate
What is the single most important determinate as to whether a country is rich or poor? It is not the level of government spending, taxation, regulation or monetary stability — even though those factors are very important. It is the rule of law, whereby the rules are...
When Voters Have Regret Backers of third-party candidates are most likely to rue their choice
Four years from now, will you regret having voted for the person you chose this year for president? In decision theory, there is a concept called “regret,” which is the emotion experienced when realizing that an alternative course of action would have likely resulted...