Richard W. Rahn

RICHARD RAHN: Don’t resurrect discredited socialism

Would you call yourself a "socialist"? Webster's dictionary defines socialism as "a theory or system of social organization which advocates the vesting of ownership and control of the means of production, capital, land, etc. in the community as a whole."

August 31, 2015

RICHARD RAHN: A global trust deficit crushes stock markets

Why has the stock market been so volatile? In part, it can be explained by the global trust deficit.

August 24, 2015

RICHARD RAHN: The Iran deal means game over for U.S. business

If you need another reason to oppose the Iran nuclear deal, the Obama administration has provided it in the fine print. Why would the U.S. government go out of its way to put American business at an internationally competitive disadvantage?

August 17, 2015

RICHARD RAHN: Financial regulation gives consumers less choice, competition

What is the purpose of financial regulation? Advocates of more and more financial regulation say it is necessary to protect the consumer against greedy bankers and other financial professionals and institutions. But what if excessive financial regulation is actually reducing consumer choice and increasing the cost of banking, saving and investing well beyond the point of any benefits?

August 10, 2015

RICHARD RAHN: Cecil killed jungle prey

"American, single-handedly, saves 600 African antelopes and 12 baby elephants -- by killing a lion." As you read the first part of the previous sentence, you most likely are thinking "this is a good guy." But when you read the last part of the sentence -- particularly if you are a cat lover -- you may be thinking "this is a bad guy."

August 3, 2015

RICHARD RAHN: Climate change very unsettled science

If you have been to the beach at Treasure Island, Florida (adjoining St. Petersburg), you will notice something very odd. The hotels (many of which were built in the 1950s and '60s) and the seawall are very far from the water in the Gulf of Mexico — giving an extraordinarily wide beach. It was not always that way. When the hotels and seawall were built, they were set back from the high tide a normal hundred yards or so; but over the years, there was a natural but unforeseen accretion to the beach — which, having grown up in the area, I observed. (It can be seen on Google Earth.)

July 27, 2015

RICHARD RAHN: Government employees not above the law

What recourse does a citizen have when government employees violate the law and do harm, and then they are protected by the government? Government was created to protect person and property and ensure liberty, but it has increasingly become the abuser rather than the protector.

July 20, 2015

RICHARD RAHN: Private pathways to sound money

What is money? The coin and currency that you have in your pocket? The balances you have in your checking, money market or savings account? How about the value of your stocks and bonds? The government (mainly the Federal Reserve) provides numbers about the money supply -- M1, M2, M3 and M0, which only goes to show that there is no simple definition on which all agree.

July 13, 2015

RICHARD RAHN: The rise of the failed states

The greatest threat to global security is the rapidly increasing number of failed states. Even though there is no agreed-upon definition of a failed state, it is generally understood that when a government can no longer provide basic security to its people due to a rise in violence or extreme poverty, or loses control over part of its territory to domestic or foreign terrorist groups, the state has failed.

July 6, 2015

RICHARD RAHN: How many more Greek tragedies?

Greece and too many other countries have been trying to defy gravity by living the good life on borrowed money. In 2001, the Greeks entered the eurozone, which gave them access to low-rate loans under the pretense that Greece was richer than it was. The seeds of the destruction that resulted in the closure of the banks this week were planted the day the Greeks adopted the euro. None of this should have been a surprise to anyone. The only thing for certain is that the Greeks will now suffer another major drop in their real incomes.

June 29, 2015

RICHARD RAHN: Puerto Rico is America’s Greece

Like Greece, the Puerto Rican government has more debt than it can service, and some are calling for a bailout by U.S. taxpayers. The major Puerto Rican state-owned or controlled enterprises are all losing money, including the power authority which is insolvent.

June 22, 2015

RICHARD RAHN: Government control of money transfers creates need for alterative currencies

If enough people have a demand for a particular product, whether it is prostitution, gambling, drugs and alcohol, or an anonymous, instantaneous and low-cost money transfer, it will be supplied. Poorly thought out regulation or prohibition raises the cost of any product, which causes innovative people to think of ways to get around the bans or regulations -- while, at the same time, fostering criminality and corruption. And both users and suppliers of the banned or overregulated product lose their respect for the law because they are deemed to be criminals.

June 15, 2015

RICHARD RAHN: OECD would destroy prosperity

Do you approve of Congress spending your hard-earned tax dollars on an international organization that lobbies governments, including the U.S. government, to raise taxes?

June 8, 2015

RICHARD RAHN: Economists for limited government must communicate founders’ message

The bad news is, once again the U.S. economy performed poorly. On Friday, the government announced that the economy actually shrank during the first quarter of this year, with the gross domestic product down at -0.7 percent. The Obama administration and its supporters blamed it on winter and the labor slowdown at the Pacific ports. (If global warming starts occurring in reality rather than just in the models of climate alarmists, the economy would grow faster -- right?)

June 1, 2015

RICHARD RAHN: A plan for strong economic growth will win White House

Of those running for president, who will give this speech?

May 25, 2015

RICHARD RAHN: Amtrak is no way to run a railroad

If taxpayers suddenly stopped subsidizing Amtrak, what do you think would happen? Before trying to answer that question, it is useful to review U.S. railroad history. The first railroads were built in the United States in the late 1820s, and by 1900, only 70 years later, almost every town in the country had rail access. Railroads were high tech, the Internet of their time. The system was built and profitably operated by private companies.

May 18, 2015

RICHARD RAHN: Gdansk, Poland: From ruins to vibrancy

Gdansk, Poland -- Over the past 1,000 years, this city on the Baltic has gone through cycles of great prosperity and almost total destruction. This is the city where World War II began 76 years ago on Sept. 1, 1939. And this is the city where the fall of European communism began in 1980.

May 11, 2015

RICHARD RAHN: Lessons from the Hanseatic League

Last week, there were reports in the Swedish and Finnish press about what was presumed to be a Russia submarine probing the harbors in both Stockholm and Helsinki. This was not viewed as a serious Russian threat but merely an extension of the general and low-level harassment the Russians have displayed against their European neighbors, particularly the Baltic nations.

May 4, 2015

RICHARD RAHN: Switzerland’s success due to limited government, low taxes make

What is the happiest place? Last week in its annual "World Happiness Report," the United Nations reported that Switzerland was No. 1. The United States ranked No. 15, and the African country of Togo came in last, at number 158.

April 27, 2015

RICHARD RAHN: Low interest rates have failed to stimulate economic growth

This past week, the International Monetary Fund again lowered its global economic forecast for 2015. From 2003 to 2007, real global growth in gross domestic product averaged more than 5 percent, but during the last five years it has averaged less than 3 percent. During the last six years of both the Reagan and Clinton administrations, real GDP growth averaged more than 4 percent in the United States, but growth has averaged only a little over 2 percent since the recession bottomed out in 2009.

April 20, 2015