Articles written by Daniel Sutter
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 37
Stakeholders and Cooperation
From the Business Roundtable to the World Economic Forum to leading business schools, many voices promote replacing corporations governed by stockholders with “stakeholder” capitalism. Laws...
Economic Freedom in Alabama 2022
Canada’s Fraser Institute just released the 2022 Economic Freedom of North America (EFNA) index. The good news: Alabama’s economic freedom increased slightly. The bad news: we still trail three...
Labor Day Reflections on Quiet Quitting
Labor Day was established in 1894 to honor America’s workers. “Quiet quitting” refers to working no more than necessary to keep your job and then bragging about it on Tik Tok. Does quiet...
Golf on the Taxpayers
Cities across America own golf courses, but analysis from the Reason Foundation shows that many lose money on them. Is subsidizing golf a proper function of government? The Reason study found over...
Did Slavery Make America Rich?
The New York Times’ 1619 Project examines the impact of slavery on America. One essay contends that our economic system was built on slavery. Was America’s ascension as an economic powerhouse due...
Can Uncle Sam Afford Any Amount of Spending?
In 2019, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced the Green New Deal, with a price tag estimated at trillions to possibly tens of trillions of dollars. When asked whether Washington could aff...
The Prospects for Economic Freedom
The 2021 Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) rankings from Canada’s Fraser Institute show freedom essentially unchanged in the United States. But some important changes in the rankings will be...
Why Is Inflation Costly?
Inflation exceeded 5 percent in June. Double-digit inflation burdened Americans in the 1970s. Although we treat inflation as bad, economists find its costs hard to pin down. The three economic...
State and Local Barriers to Entrepreneurship
State and local governments lure businesses with incentive packages. Yet these governments impose rules stifling entrepreneurs starting new businesses, forgetting that Amazon, offered multi-billion...
Is Inflation Finally Here?
The 12-month change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) exceeded 4 percent in April for the first time since 2008. Many economists have been predicting inflation following a 25 percent increase in the...
Reforming Occupational Licensing
Occupational licensing involves government-imposed requirements for practitioners in different professions, or what critics call government permission slips to work. Despite a lack of evidence of bene...
The Freedom to Use Fossil Fuels
The Biden Administration seems intent on renewing the war against fossil fuels to combat global warming. Before going down this path, I hope Americans will consider Alex Epstein’s argument in The Mo...
Capitalism and Inequality Dealing with Scammers
Inequality is one of America’s most contentious issues. According to a popular narrative, higher taxes on the rich are needed to control growing inequality. New research from the Johnson Center...
Dealing with Scammers
Every society must protect against those who would use violence to steal from others. After controlling criminals, swindlers become a major fear and motivates many government regulations. Yet...
Will Student Loans be Forgiven?
November’s elections imply we will likely see some Federal student loans forgiven. Current student debt levels reflect the morphing of a reasonable program. Loan forgiveness may produce significant...
Public Health Mandates are Political
Governments across the country have imposed numerous public health policies to control COVID-19. A prominent one has been requiring the wearing of masks in public; Alabama has been under a mask order...
Harvesting and Selling Votes
Joe Biden has won the presidential election, although President Trump alleges fraud. Mr. Trump, however, has not yet offered credible evidence of fraud. The current controversy involves “vote harves...
The Pandemic or the Lockdown
COVID-19 has killed over 200,000 Americans while policies to stem the virus’ spread have caused enormous economic and societal harm. Any comparison must use a common metric, and economics uses...
Truly Expediating Vaccines
Two COVID-19 vaccines are in large-scale trials in the United States. Federal bureaucrats have thus far rejected human challenge trials (HCT), which would intentionally expose volunteers to the virus...
Patents, Profits and Pandemics
Knowledge is the basis of economic prosperity, and the knowledge contained in a COVID-19 vaccine or cure would be enormously valuable. We have traditionally relied on patents to reward innovation,...
Should We Trust Experts?
Experts in public health and epidemiology have driven policy making during the COVID-19 pandemic. How much should we trust experts? Critics dismiss Republicans who voice distrust of experts as...
Will Things Ever Change?
The killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin ignited nationwide protests. While we advise jurors to withhold judgment until presentation of all the evidence, video of the...
Did We Give Informed Consent?
Our Federal and state governments implemented unprecedented measures beginning in March to stem the spread of COVID-19. Informed consent provides a foundation of medical ethics. Did our elected offici...
Litigation in the Public Interest?
America needs billions of masks to protect against the Coronavirus, particularly high-grade N95 masks for healthcare workers. Nonetheless, fear of litigation delayed delivery of millions of constructi...
Billionaires and the Good Society
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders contends we should not allow billionaires. His view produced interesting debate exchanges with Michael Bloomberg, who has a net worth of $53 billion....