Tag: labor economics
AI isn’t going to leave you unemployed
January 22, 2024 | Post
From automated factory assembly lines to helping you cheat on your college term paper, AI is doing things today that were barely imagined only a few short years ago. As such, you might be wondering, “is my job at risk of being taken over by robots?” or “will we all end up unemployed?”
How minimum wage laws harm and exclude
December 1, 2023 | Post
Instead of elevating living standards and safeguarding workers from poor conditions and low pay, minimum wage laws lead to unemployment and limit job opportunities. Let’s look at how…
How immigration creates a more prosperous world
August 23, 2023 | Post
Immigration has been a huge driving force behind creating America as we know it today. Without immigrants, or with far fewer immigrants, it would be impossible to imagine the United States developing into the world’s dominant economic powerhouse as it did. Opposition to immigration has been allowed to gradually place the American dream out of reach for so many ambitious individuals and deprive the country of further potential in the process.
Should libertarians support labor unions? Here are 8 resounding reasons to say yes
August 16, 2023 | Post
At first glance, the principles of libertarianism might seem at odds with workers’ right to unionize. However, a closer examination reveals that supporting workers’ right to unionize is entirely compatible with libertarian values. Let’s examine 8 reasons why…
AI, automation, and the future of work: Navigating, automating, and … terminating?
August 7, 2023 | Post
Welcome to a world where AI and automation helps to transform the job market in ways we never imagined, and maybe, just maybe, makes us laugh along the way (we’ll get to that part).
Minimum wage laws deny low-skilled workers their autonomy
March 20, 2023 | Post
Do minimum wage laws help low-skilled workers? No. Workers are thrown out of work if they cannot produce more than the minimum wage stipulates. If the minimum wage is $15/hour and a worker can only produce $13/hour worth of goods, they will not be hired since no profit-seeking employer would employ someone at a loss.
The less work required, the happier we’ll be
March 8, 2017 | Post
Jobs are the means, not the ends in themselves.
Cutting legal immigration won’t help low-skilled American workers
February 28, 2017 | Post
Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and David Perdue (R-GA) recently introduced the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act. If it were to become law, RAISE would cut legal immigration by 50 percent over the next ten years by reducing green cards for family members of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, slashing refugees, and […]
How to get millions of people working for you
January 8, 2017 | Post
“The real price of everything, what everything really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it.” — Adam Smith
Nativists created our immigration problems—they can’t fix them
November 25, 2016 | Post
Not only have their ideas failed on their terms, they have backfired, creating more lawlessness than before.
One economist’s final words before being devoured by zombies
October 31, 2016 | Post
The final moments of an economist amidst a horde of zombies.
Senator Tom Cotton and Rep. Mike Pompeo spread four myths about immigration
October 14, 2016 | Post
If we believe in liberty for migrants as well as Americans, we must grant them liberty peacefully to travel the world unmolested and to settle wherever they find homes to rent and enterprises to work for.
Why Refugees Find Jobs Faster in the U.S. Than Germany
October 12, 2016 | Post
U.S. policymakers cannot base their estimates of how refugees will impact the labor market on the situation in Germany. Labor market institutions in the United States are better equipped to handle an influx of new workers.
From brain drain to skills-flow: How high-skilled immigrants makes us all better off
September 6, 2016 | Post
Emigration restrictions are guaranteed to injure the would-be emigrants in exchange for a very small positive effect on those who would not emigrate – if there is a positive effect at all. It’s a foolish policy that does more harm to more people than just letting skilled foreigners seek jobs where they are most highly valued.
When Jobs Kill Wealth
September 4, 2016 | Post
A focus on jobs missing the forest for the trees. We should be focused on creating wealth, not maximizing employment.
Globalization Isn't Killing Factory Jobs. Trade Is Actually Why Manufacturing Is up 40 Percent
August 5, 2016 | Post
This piece was originally published at the L.A. Times. Foreign trade took a beating at both major party conventions, with speakers blaming free-trade agreements for all but wiping out U.S. manufacturing and eliminating millions of middle-class jobs. Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have promised to renegotiate or abandon trade agreements with key U.S. trading […]
Where the Candidates Stand on Immigration
July 2, 2016 | Post
Is there any issue that divides people more than immigration? It’s an emotional topic that pits competing factions between and within parties against each other. As a result, it’s a high-profile issue this election cycle. Where do the candidates stand? In the new Learn Liberty video below, George Mason University Professor Donald Boudreaux addresses where […]
When I Look at My Donald Trump Tie Made in China, I Think About This Huge Economic Fallacy
May 13, 2016 | Post
The presidential campaign has brought up several economic issues, and international trade has been front and center of the debate. So, as I look at my Donald Trump tie that was made in China and my Donald Trump shirts that were made in Bangladesh and Indonesia, I want to clarify some basic economic concepts dealing […]
On Cinco de Mayo, Let’s Dispel 3 Common Myths About Our Relationship with Mexico
May 5, 2016 | Post
Today is Cinco de Mayo, which celebrates Mexico’s unlikely victory against its French occupiers in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The holiday is usually associated with festivities celebrating Mexico’s incredible culture. But numerous historians believe there’s an added reason to celebrate this day: If Mexico hadn’t won this battle, they argue, the […]
Will More Immigrants Make Americans Worse Off?
March 14, 2016 | Post
What do we learn if immigrants lower the wages of American high school dropouts? That we should restrict immigration? No. We shouldn’t. First, if immigrants reduce the wages of high school dropouts, it sends a very clear message: don’t drop out of high school. Indeed, this is how people have responded to competitive pressure from […]
We're Still Haunted By the Labor Theory of Value
February 26, 2016 | Post
This post by Professor Steve Horwtiz originally appeared on the Foundation for Economic Education’s blog back in November of 2015. The following are excerpts. What Menger and others argued was that value is subjective. That is, the value of a good is not determined by the physical inputs, including labor, that helped to create it. […]
Have Wages Stagnated?
January 5, 2016 | Post
In this video professor Don Boudreaux responds directly to commentator Robert Reich on the topic of wages, particularly the claim that middle class wages have stagnated in recent decades.
Is the Cost of Living Really Rising?
December 29, 2015 | Post
Bernie Sanders sure gets a lot of air time out of his class warfare rhetoric. Common arguments from him and his supports lead less knowledgeable people to believe that the middle class is at risk of an ever more exploitative wealthy elite. But is that true? Let’s take a look at just one of those […]