Director of Economics & Economic Freedom at AIER, Aff. Scholar with Acton Institute and Mackinac Center, husband, and father. Views my own.
Grand Rapids, MI
Joined January 2009
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Tweet heard round the world:
.@RealEJAntoni nominated to head up the BLS. I've been on several programs with him at this point and have been impressed by two things: his inability to understand basic economics and the speed with which he's gone MAGA.
I can only hope the Senate blocks this.
YES! This is a GREAT chart, thank you @oren_cass for posting exactly this.
The manufacturing renaissance happened right when taxes fell thanks to the BBB and the drastic reduction in tariffs.
thedailyeconomy.org/article/…
Good chart from this week's The Real Economy @commonplc:
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
Supreme Court struck down IEEPA tariffs on February 20, 2026. The employment gains above trend shown in the chart occurred after the ruling. scotusblog.com/2026/02/suprem… fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MANEMP
2025: let's raise tariffs!
2026: let's lower tariffs because they're hurting affordability and our electability!
Further Modifying the Scope of Products of Canada Subject to the Additional Duties Imposed to Offset Canadian Discrimination Against the Commerce of the United States with Respect to Motor Vehicles whitehouse.gov/presidential-…
Why would removing tariffs help Republicans in the midterm???
wsj.com/politics/policy/trum…
In an insightful @WSJ piece, @greg_ip posits the "uglification" of tariffs. Tariffs were always ugly. The mask has just come off.
davehebertecon.substack.com/…
Oren Cass says that the Middletown steel plant is evidence of "tariffs working the way they are supposed to" and tells others to "learn to read." Ironically, his own sources do not support that claim. Maybe he should take his own advice.
My latest in @rc_markets:
realclearmarkets.com/article…
Exactly the same, but applied to tariffs.
Another one tries. And another one replies. And he will be ignored. What will come from MMT is something like "but he didnt read right" or "he didnt read the right paper". All the time, its goalpost shifting.
I shared tons of papers that people wrote on problematic parts of the theory and all I got was that: goalpost shifting. The MMT crowd is infuriating this way and its why people disengage (which led them to say -- we're being ignored). That Jon spent time engaging shows insane generosity given the pattern shown to other non-MMT scholars before.
Jon is going to get that goalpost shifting in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ... and 0.
Have you ever wondered how Congressional budgeting *actually* works? I spent a summer working for the Senate Committee on the Budget and wrote my dissertation on the microfoundations of public finance.
In the latest installment of @aier's Explainer Series, I bring practice and theory so YOU can understand this opaque process.
"Surprisingly interesting for a boring topic," said one esteemed reader.
aier.org/article/how-the-fed…
So deregulate milk? Problem solved!
AI is less regulated than milk, says Microsoft president bbc.in/4zpRYVb
Minimizing results while maximizing uncertainty.
I wish that any of this was a surprise. Unfortunately, economists have explained all of this for about 2 years now.
Progress toward a U.S-Mexico tariff deal has stalled after opposition from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, people familiar with the talks said, the second time that he has had a hand in upending advanced negotiations with a North American partner. on.wsj.com/4k5aKwy
This year's @NobelPrize in Economics wasn't on my bingo card, but it was a welcome one. I can summarize it in two words: expectations matter.
My latest with @aier in @thedailyeconomy:
thedailyeconomy.org/article/…
My @aier colleague, @DrJeffDegner has an Explainer on Certificate of Need out today. As always, Jeff provides clear analysis.
Check it out here: aier.org/article/explaining-…
Thanks so much for the shoutout, @RichardMorrison!
Very excited for Ep 196 of @freethe_economy! We start w/ federal vs. state rules for prediction markets (via @SolveigSinglet), the difference between Detroit and Pittsburgh (via @Dave_Hebert), and a false solution for railway safety (via @ismurray): buzzsprout.com/2096503/episo… (1/3)
You're too kind, @davidbmcgarry. Thanks so much!
I'm a little late, but this paper from @aier's @Dave_Hebert is excellent.
Technocrats often say that free markets serve the interests of capital, not labor. But their interventions, in the long term, prop up big business at the expense of workers.
aier.org/article/why-detroit…
