
Is it a LOLR? No, It's a Trap
aier.org > article...In the 1983 film Return of the Jedi, Admiral Ackbar turns to the officers on the bridge and says what everyone already knew: "It's a trap!"... ...Of course that turned out badly for the Alliance; they shouldn't have been fooled.... ...As Richard Salsman and I argued more than a decade ago, the alternative, "Too Big to Fail," has proven disastrous....

Some Buttons That I'd Not Push, and Some That I Would Push
aier.org > article...But I'm also sufficiently influenced by the works of Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, Lord Acton, and F.A.... ...Hayek to understand that large, sudden changes to an economy or society can be dangerously disruptive, even when such changes involve reversing policies... ...For practical proposals along these lines, I'd rely on such scholars as my George Mason University economics colleague Larry White, my long-time... ...friend and banking scholar George Selgin, and other serious students of money and banking (which I am not)....

Statement by Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen and Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome H. Powell...
federalreserve.gov > pressreleases
FDIC: No Savior Then or Now
aier.org > article...If you think the US banking system has problems now, ninety years ago this month a new President shuttered the entire banking system for a week.... ...Knock on wood that does not happen again, as we would likely get a dangerous central bank digital currency (CBDC) out of it.... ...Another federal deposit insurance scheme, the Federal Savings and Loan Corporation (FSLIC, often pronounced Fizzlick) supervised and insured the... ...Come November 1932, frightened American voters ousted incumbent Republican Herbert Hoover from the Oval Office, in favor of New York governor Franklin...

Minimum Wage Hurts Whom It Claims to Help
aier.org > article...Not long ago, I flew into a small Ohio airport. Don't ask why, sometimes Ohio just happens and you have to deal with it.... ...Then my phone vibrated; I had a notification on the Hertz app: "Slot B17, code 2946," and some instructions.... ...In 2011, Marc Andreesen famously said "Software Eats the World."... ...Well, my experience in Ohio made me wonder: have the folks who once worked at the Hertz counter found new jobs?...

Pulse Checking Healthcare Choice
aier.org > article...Despite most adults" expressing approval of their own physician, many are reluctant to see a doctor due to the notoriously high costs associated... ...Only the tiny island nation of Tuvalu outpaces Americans in citizens" "choice" to spend on healthcare (as a share of GDP).... ...Medicare and Medicaid.... ...The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) report that current combined spending on Medicare ($900.8b) and Medicaid ($734.0b) makes up over a third...