Ninos Malek

Professor of Economics
De Anza College
Ninos P. Malek is a Professor of Economics at De Anza College (Cupertino, California) and an Economics Lecturer at San Jose State University. He also taught Economics and Advanced Placement Economics at Valley Christian High School in San Jose, California for fourteen years.
He earned his B.A. and M.A. in Economics from San Jose State University and a Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University. Dr. Malek has been recognized for his teaching excellence at both the high school and college level and he placed second in the Economics Communicators Contest in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2008 sponsored by the Association of Private Enterprise Education. Dr. Malek has led several economics teacher workshops and student seminars for The Fraser Institute, and he was a featured speaker for the Gus A. Stavros Center for Economic Education at Florida State University.
Dr. Malek also has also written several opinion pieces for the Ludwig von Mises Institute and the Foundation for Economic Education.
Blog Posts
The Sweet Cakes case: Let the market give discrimination its just desserts.
The Oregon-based Sweet Cakes bakery has been ordered to pay $135,000 in damages for refusing to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian couple for their ceremony. In December of 2017, the Oregon State Court of Appeals upheld the decision to force the bakery to pay the couple for damages.
Learn More...What’s wrong with making money?
Social justice advocates argue that it is “society’s” duty to eliminate pain and inequality wherever and whenever it exists. What is interesting is that I have never met Mr. Society.
Learn More...The real effects of good intentions
On the first day of my economics classes, I tell my students that if they saw my paychecks that they would realize the school is exploiting me.
Learn More...Do NFL players have the right to take the knee?
We need to be careful about arguing that players have a First Amendment right to protest peacefully on the field.
Learn More...How “price gouging” could help Houston right now
The invisible hand of the market reaches out to help people in a disaster, but anti-gouging laws cut it off at the wrist.
Learn More...Why you’re just as greedy as a corporate CEO
It’s silly to think businesses and CEOs are evil and greedy, but ordinary customers are helpless victims.
Learn More...How people really decide whether to date you: The cost-benefit analysis of love.
“The marginal benefit of dating you is now equal to the marginal cost. I don’t have perfect information, but my information is good enough. So, would you marry me?”
Learn More...Why my students dump their boyfriends (and girlfriends): The 3 most eye-opening ideas in economics
Every transaction has a cost. What should you do when it doesn’t have a benefit, too?
Learn More...How to make economics not boring
Wrestling with ethical issues can bring life to the economics classroom.
Learn More...Why My Pit Bull Lives like a King
My 85-pound pit bull lives better than most people on this planet do. He eats superior food, drinks clean water, and sleeps inside a comfortable house on a comfortable bed.
Learn More...Let’s take back the meaning of “pro-choice”
Truly supporting choice means supporting the right of individuals to choose.
Learn More...Why can’t you pay for sex?
Consensual sex is legal. But as soon as one party offers cash to another in exchange for sex and that money is voluntarily accepted, it’s considered prostitution, and that is illegal.
Learn More...Not your business: Let restaurant owners make their own decisions
The free-market concept is simple — private property owners should be able to preside over whatever policies they want.
Learn More...New anti-Airbnb law protects hotels from competition (and violates private property and freedom of exchange)
Airbnb is now facing greater opposition in New York thanks to a recent bill signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo which bans advertising of short-term rentals.
Learn More...Trump’s trade policy hurts American consumers and misunderstands patriotism
Trump’s trade policies miss one of the most fundamental economic concepts: When two parties engage in trade, they are both better off.
Learn More...There’s No Such Thing as Too Much Profit
Businesses aren’t charities. They are money-making ventures that exist by and for profit. Everything else is a bonus.
Learn More...