When Bhashkar Mazumder, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, examined the earnings of thousands of men born between 1963 and 1968, he discovered that 17 percent of those whose fathers were in the top tenth of the income scale had dropped to the bottom third by the time they were in their late 20s or early 30s. Movement between income groups over the course of a lifetime is the norm for most Americans. The rich often get richer, but plenty of them get poorer, too. Though the top 1 percent makes a popular target, it’s actually a group no one stays in for very long. On the other hand, it’s a group that 11 percent of Americans will reach at some point during their working lives.
On this Memorial Day in America, Dan Sanchez warns against the hubris of nation building. Here’s his conclusion:
Another name Hayek had for the pretense of knowledge was, “the fatal conceit.” The numberless victims of geopolitical planners are a grim testimony to just how fatal that conceit can be.
Bob Murphy explains that, “[f]or some reason, even scholars familiar with economics lose the ability to ‘think on the margin’ when it comes to the matter of voting.” (HT David Henderson)
My Mercatus Center colleague Veronique de Rugy discusses the dangers of “tax harmonization.”
This conclusion is from the Executive Summary of a new study by Ben Gitis and Sara Rizik:
The authors estimate the impact of union membership on real economic growth, average weekly earnings growth, total wage earnings growth, and business establishment sizes. The study shows that union membership hinders economic growth, and, as a result, the decline in union membership has contributed, most likely, to increased economic, job, and earnings growth.
Bob Higgs ponders the universality of moral judgment.
According to Mike Munger, capitalism can no more be rejected than can gravity. He’s correct.
