There is a man from the early 1800s who would find your savings account hilarious. Not because of the amount in it. Because of what you think it is doing. His name was Jean-Baptiste Say. French economist. Cotton manufacturer. One of the first people to seriously think about what money does when nobody is looking […]
You spent four years in lecture halls. You wrote essays at 2am fueled by caffeine and quiet desperation. You walked across a stage, shook a hand, and received a piece of paper. And here is the uncomfortable question that George Stigler, the Nobel laureate economist who spent his career studying how information moves through markets,
Why Your Degree Is an Information Product, Not an Education: The Signaling Game Read More »
You would think the most attractive, successful, and interesting people would have the easiest time finding a partner. They have the most to offer. They should be snapped up immediately, like beachfront property or concert tickets for a band that is about to break up. But look around. Some of the most impressive people you
The Ricardian Dating Market: Why the “Best” People Stay Single Read More »
There is a strange irony at the heart of modern economics. The two great rival camps, socialists and capitalists, have spent over a century screaming at each other about profit. One side says profit is theft. The other says profit is the rightful reward for owning capital. And according to one quietly brilliant economist named
Why Socialists and Capitalists Both Misunderstand the Nature of Profit Read More »
There is a particular kind of anxiety that grips people when currencies wobble. You see it in the headlines. You hear it at dinner parties where someone who just discovered gold ETFs suddenly speaks with the authority of a central banker. The dollar is dying, they say. Protect yourself. Buy gold. Buy crypto. Buy Swiss
Don’t Hedge Against the Dollar. Hedge With Your Own Productivity Read More »
There is something almost poetic about a man who conquered most of Europe but could not conquer a simple economic truth. Napoleon Bonaparte reshaped borders, toppled monarchies, and rewrote the legal codes of entire civilizations. Yet when he turned his strategic mind to economics, he produced one of the most spectacular policy failures in modern
Napoleon’s Mistake: How the Continental System Proved Say Was Right About Free Trade Read More »
There is a peculiar ritual in democratic politics. Every few years, someone stands behind a podium and declares that the rich are not paying their fair share. The crowd roars. The policy passes. And then, quietly, the cost of everything you buy goes up, the jobs in your town get a little scarcer, and nobody
There is a particular kind of modern sermon that gets preached in graduation speeches, LinkedIn posts, and motivational podcasts. It goes something like this: find your passion, do what you love, and you will never work a day in your life. It sounds beautiful. It sounds liberating. Karl Marx would have found it terrifying. Not
Why Karl Marx Would Call Your “Dream Job” a Nightmare Read More »
Few words in economics carry as much emotional weight as inflation. Say it at a dinner party and watch the mood shift. People clutch their wallets instinctively, as if the very syllable could drain their bank accounts. Politicians campaign against it. Central bankers lose sleep over it. Cable news treats every uptick in the Consumer
Inflation Is Not the Villain: A Keynesian Defense of Rising Prices Read More »
You can buy a Karl Marx t-shirt on Amazon for $19.99. It ships in two days if you have Prime. The shirt says something like “I Hate Capitalism” or features Marx’s bearded face screen printed in red, and it arrives in a plastic mailer produced in a factory overseas, sold by a third party vendor