Jeffrey Tucker sets straight the economically and factually misinformed Pope Francis I. A slice:
Let me offer my own definition of libertarianism. It is the political theory that freedom and peace serve the common good better than violence and state control, thus suggesting a normative rule: societies and individuals must be left unmolested in their associations and commercial dealings so long as they are not threatening others.
My Mercatus Center colleague Bob Graboyes warns of a bad means of lowering pharmaceutical prices.
Alberto Mingardi points us to a fascinating interview of my GMU Econ colleague Dan Klein on Sweden.
Ryan Bourne asks if Oren Cass’s case for a U.S. industrial policy stands up. Ryan answers with a resounding no. (HT David Simon) A slice:
Sadly, this view gets things completely backwards and shows a glaring contradiction with his first claim about employment. As my trade colleagues never tire of outlining, manufacturing output has continued rising and the real GDP share of manufacturing has remained steady despite a long-term decline in manufacturing employment. That’s precisely because historic productivity growth in manufacturing overall has been strong, causing (at least a large part of) the employment decline of the sector. Cass’s desire for “stable employment” and “high productivity growth” in manufacturing is thus a direct contradiction.
