Commentaries
Trump Can Have Tariff Revenues or Re-Shoring, Not Both
RealClear Markets
Monday, September 15, 2025
Jerome Powell’s Double Standard About Taxes and Inflation
Wall Street Journal
Wednesday, August 6, 2025
The Fed chairman fixates on the possible effects of tariffs but has said nothing about other tax hikes.
Op-Ed: The Peak Oil Myth is Back—and It’s Still a Myth
Hart Energy
Friday, July 25, 2025
The shale story goes that the easy targets have all been drilled. But today’s easy targets were yesterday’s hard targets. The skeptics, as always, are blind to the roles of shale experience and technology.
Is Economics a Science? What Would Einstein Say?
Wall Street Journal
Wednesday, June 4, 2025
‘The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking.’
How Much Do Tariffs Matter?
Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Their economic effect is minimal, but reordering the world-trade system would be dangerous.
Open Borders Produced the Biden Economic Boom
Wall Street Journal
Friday, May 24, 2024
Why doesn’t he get credit for strong growth? In part because he can’t defend his immigration policies.
PredictIt Triumphs Over Regulatory Arrogance
Wall Street Journal
Tuesday, August 22, 2023
An appeals court rejects the CFTC’s arbitrary order to shut down the political futures market.
Inflation Has Peaked -- Get Ready for Deflation
Wall Street Journal
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Price increases would have eased without the Fed’s tightening, which we will soon see was overkill.
The Feds Don’t Want You Betting on Elections
Wall Street Journal
Tuesday, November 1, 2022
Regulators shut down an online market for futures contracts related to political outcomes.
U.K. Energy Policy Is a Flop
Wall Street Journal
Sunday, September 25, 2022
It will keep inflation high—and markets know it.
Why Inflation Is on the Way Down
Wall Street Journal
Monday, July 25, 2022
The Fed should ask Milton Friedman. When growth of the money supply slows, so does the increase in prices.
Treasury Doesn’t Need the Fed to Finance Debt
Wall Street Journal
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
The Fed has done nothing that the Treasury couldn’t have done on its own.
Corporate Covid ‘Windfalls’ Are a Myth
Wall Street Journal
Thursday, April 1, 2021
Some big companies rose to the occasion during the pandemic and did well. But there were losers too.
The Failed Experiment of Covid Lockdowns
Wall Street Journal
Tuesday, September 1, 2020
New data suggest that social distancing and reopening haven’t determined the spread.
Worst Coronavirus Idea: A Ban on Share Buybacks
Wall Street Journal
Monday, March 23, 2020
They’re good for ordinary investors and for economic growth.
The Fed Pretends to Listen
Wall Street Journal
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Central bankers insist on promoting inflation. What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.
Don’t Panic Over the Saudi Attack and the Oil Supply
Wall Street Journal
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
OPEC would have had to cut output anyway, given the dramatic increase in American production.
Trump Is Right -- the Fed Is Still Tightening
Wall Street Journal
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Sure, the size of the balance sheet is holding steady, but leaving riskier assets in the market will slow growth.
Trump Wants to Cut Interest Rates. Powell Should Do It Anyway.
Wall Street Journal
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
The chairman made the case last year for easing if the yield curve inverts—as it did in March.
China Is Losing the Trade War With Trump
Wall Street Journal
Saturday, July 28, 2018
It’s like a drinking contest: You harm yourself and hope your opponent isn’t able to withstand as much.
Tax Reform Has Released the Bulls
Wall Street Journal
Friday, January 12, 2018
P/E ratios may seem high, but policy changes augur much better earnings in the coming years.
Sorry, But Tesla's Cool Electric Cars Can't Compete As Long As Fracking Exists
Investors Business Daily
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Will Democrats Pound SALT?
Wall Street Journal
Friday, June 23, 2017
Proposing to abolish the state and local tax deduction is the best GOP reform hope.
Yellen Gives Conservatives Something to Cheer
Wall Street Journal
Friday, February 17, 2017
With three Trump appointees, the Fed is likely to move toward rules-based policy.
For Free Traders, Trump’s Corporate Tax Cut Is the Better Way
Wall Street Journal
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Instead of making the tax ‘border adjustable,’ simply lower rates to 15%, as the president-elect proposes.
Which Trump Will Americans Get?
Wall Street Journal
Thursday, November 10, 2016
The economy depends on whether the protectionist or the tax-cutter shows up.
Trump’s Pro-Growth Path to Victory
Wall Street Journal
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
After 16 years of malaise, voters are responding to his call to make America competitive again.
Trump May Be First Since Reagan To Unleash America’s Animal Spirits
Investors Business Daily
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Will Trump be a madman for capitalism?
The Recession Caused by Low Oil Prices
The Wall Street Journal
Friday, January 8, 2016
Misery for oil incumbents from the fracking boom is spilling into the global economy. But there is cause for optimism.
The Shale Boom Shifts Into Higher Gear
The Wall Street Journal
Monday, June 1, 2015
Oil production is becoming a modern manufacturing process, with frackers using the ‘just-in-time’ approach.
Job Security Never Better, But That's The Bad News
Investor's Business Daily
Monday, September 16, 2013
The labor market is now the least dynamic it's ever been, thanks to multiple policy errors.
Regime Change Comes to Euro Policy
The Wall Street Journal
Thursday, March 28, 2013
The banking crisis in Cyprus prompted an overdue financial reckoning that, with luck, will spell the end of "too big to fail."
Estimating the LSAP effect on the stock market
Financial Times Alphaville
Saturday, March 23, 2013
We can estimate the value of stock purchases the Fed is enabling.
The 2013 Fiscal Cliff Could Crush Stocks
The Wall Street Journal
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Do the math on dividend taxes. Yields lower, stock prices lower -- maybe by 30%.
Europe's Supply-Side Revolution
The Wall Street Journal
Friday, February 17, 2012
Following Germany's lead, euro-zone nations are pursuing pro-growth reforms that Reagan and Thatcher would admire.
Newt's Bain Opportunism Is Mitt's Opportunity
The Wall Street Journal
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
This is Romney's moment to distinguish himself by making a moral case for free-market capitalism.
Professors to Koch Brothers: Take Your Green Back
The Wall Street Journal
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
No one ever questions George Soros money, but apparently this $1.5 million gift violates academic freedom.
Remembering the Real Ayn Rand
The Wall Street Journal
Thursday, April 14, 2011
The author of "Atlas Shrugged" was an individualist, not a conservative, and she knew big business was as much a threat to capitalism as government bureaucrats.
Oil Prices Won't Kill the Recovery
The Wall Street Journal
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
The 30% price spike to date isn't big enough to be a major shock, and the economy is less vulnerable today than it was in the expansion's late stages in 2008.
The Trade and Tax Doomsday Clocks
The Wall Street Journal
Monday, October 4, 2010
Tariffs against China and failure to extend the Bush-era tax cuts would repeat the worst mistakes of the Great Depression.
Why This Isn't Like 1938 -- At Least Not Yet
The Wall Street Journal
Friday, July 9, 2010
Stock prices show we've dodged another depression, but toxic, antibusiness rhetoric and policy errors like the Dodd-Frank bill are hurting the still-fragile recovery.
George W. Bush's 2010 Tax Miracle
The Wall Street Journal
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Mass conversions to Roth IRAs could produce a gusher of revenue, reducing our budget deficit by as much as half next year.
Republicans and the Populist Temptation
The Wall Street Journal
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The reaction to Scott Brown's victory has been a lurch toward antibusiness rhetoric. The stock market doesn't like it.
Why Taxing Stock Trades Is a Really Bad Idea
The Wall Street Journal
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Everyday investors shouldn't be punished for a subprime fiasco fueled by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Inflation Returns
Reason Magazine
Thursday, October 1, 2009
The Fed fears unemployment more than rising prices.
In Defense of "Flash" Trading
The Wall Street Journal
Thursday, August 27, 2009
It's no different from selling your house without a real estate listing.
Can the Fed Identify Bubbles Before They Happen?
The Wall Street Journal
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
The New York Fed’s president says it can. If only it were that easy.
Death by Rescue
National Review
Monday, November 17, 2008
How botched bailouts doomed companies that didn't need to fail.
Divided Government Is Best for the Market
The Wall Street Journal
Friday, September 12, 2008
The evidence on presidents, economic growth and stocks.
Quit Doling Out That Bad-Economy Line
Washington Post
Friday, September 12, 2008
A nation of exaggerators: Things today just aren't that bad.
Obama's Social Security Fine Print
The Wall Street Journal
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
How more taxes now will mean more taxes later.
Commodity-Price Scapegoats
The Wall Street Journal
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Investment funds are not hoarding gas.
Our 'Voluntary' Tax Code
The Wall Street Journal
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Hmmm. Perhaps Charlie Rangel is on to something.
The Greenspan Myth
The Wall Street Journal
Thursday, September 13, 2007
The last thing Ben Bernanke should be worrying about is what his predecessor would have done.
Cap-Gains Logic
The Wall Street Journal
Friday, August 10, 2007
The revenue maximizing tax rate is almost surely zero.
Big Oil: record profit, record taxes
Orange County Register
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Why slap a windfall profits tax on oil companies when they are already paying one?
Still Movin' On Up
National Review
Monday, July 4, 2005
The death of income mobility has been greatly exaggerated.
Bush Fails to Get Deserved Credit for Tax Cut Benefits
The Detroit News
Friday, August 27, 2004
Despite reporting distortions, a congressional report shows the rich pay proportionately more in taxes while all income earners do better.
Arnie's Money Man
The Wall Street Journal
Friday, August 15, 2003
Gone are the hopes that Schwarzenegger would bring his own brand of Austrian economics.
The Jihad Against Accounting Fraud
Cato Institute
Friday, September 27, 2002
The legislative attack on accounting fraud isn't about accounting -- it's about political power, and higher taxes.
Letters re: Another Option on Options
The Wall Street Journal
Tuesday, September 17, 2002
Luskin and Brenner strike back, answering a critic of their approach to accounting for options expense.
Another Option on Options
The Wall Street Journal
Tuesday, September 3, 2002
The zero-expense frying pan or the fair-value fire? There's a better solution.
Options: Perception and Reality
The National Post
Tuesday, June 25, 2002
Options induce management to dedicate much effort and time to managing perceptions rather than the company.
Where Options Belong
The National Post
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
The current push to "expense" stock options is economically wrong. The right solution is to put them on the company's balance sheet.
Options Options
The American Spectator
Wednesday, May 1, 2002
Options are risky derivatives that represent risky claims on human capital -- they should appear on companies' balance sheets.
The Levin-McCain Stock Option Tax Hike: An Option Americans Can’t Afford
National Taxpayers Union Issue Brief
Tuesday, April 16, 2002
Legislation masquerading as a post-Enron financial reform conceals a monstrous multi-billion-dollar tax hike.
Council of Institutional Investors Wish May Backfire
Pensions & Investments
Monday, April 15, 2002
Under Senate Bill 1940, every company that issues stock options would be hit with an enormous tax hike -- but technology companies that use options extensively would be hit especially hard.
Options Legislation would Bring On a Tech Industry Depression
San Jose Mercury News
Tuesday, March 26, 2002
Kicking Silicon Valley when it’s down with a huge tax increase is a dangerous idea.