Richard W. Rahn

Even minor actions by government can cause economic drag

Why are we substituting labor for capital? The Department of Labor reported last week that "labor productivity decreased 0.9 percent" in the first quarter of 2023.

May 8, 2023

U.S. government destroying the dollar’s value through inflation

Assume that the U.S. government announces it is going to issue enough money in the next three days to pay off the federal debt of $31 trillion.

May 1, 2023

Biden’s impending Watergate

Those who think they can protect President Biden by not handing up indictments or engaging in a cover-up have not learned the lessons of Watergate.

April 24, 2023

History of destructive capital gains taxes and inflation

What do you think the worst tax is? The capital gains tax is a good candidate.

April 17, 2023

More accountability and transparency needed in the age of ‘woke’ prosecutors and judges

If someone with a long rap sheet for violent behavior is let out of jail without serving a full term and then goes on to injure some citizen, does not the public have the right to know who made the bad decision?

April 10, 2023

How to destroy the U.S. dollar

Countries hostile to the U.S. and others have been meeting with another to devise ways to dethrone the U.S. dollar as the world's primary reserve currency.

April 3, 2023

Amid manufacturing loss and ‘woke’ universities, America still benefits from technology

If you were born 200 years before you were, what is the likelihood that you would have reached your present age and would have survived all the illnesses and accidents that you have endured.

March 27, 2023

Evaluating demise of Silicon Valley Bank and role of ‘regulators’

Some were shocked when Silicon Valley Bank and several other banks failed.

March 20, 2023

Biden’s proposal to double capital gains tax rate can only hurt America

It is often difficult to figure out if those who are responsible for the country's tax and spending policies are ignorant or worse, or if they think the voters are ignorant, or if it is a combination of the two.

March 13, 2023

Russia and China may try using their natural resources to back their money

China and Russia have announced they, along with Brazil, India and South Africa, are "working to develop a new global reserve currency" to compete with the U.S. dollar.

March 6, 2023

How will the U.S. debt crisis end?

"Deficits don't matter," except when they do. Congress and the Biden administration are in one of their periodic fights about lifting the debt limit, with threats about "defaulting" on the debt.

February 27, 2023

As colleges become more Stasi-like, students live in fear of being reported

Will institutions of higher education end up being instruments of oppression or places where free inquiry can liberate the mind of man?

February 20, 2023

Afraid of liberty? Academic institutions restrict free speech

Does the expression "land of the free, home of the brave" still describe America?

February 13, 2023

Embrace or fear ChatGPT?

Remember travel agencies? Yes, a few still exist, but what was common is now rare -- death by internet.

February 6, 2023

AI advances enabled by our innovative, laissez-faire economic system

"Note: This column was written by an actual person and not an artificial intelligence program."

January 30, 2023

Debt, deficits and default: U.S. should consider Swiss model of spending process reform

What happens to a family whose yearly spending rises faster than its income? A painful day of reckoning arrives, requiring drastic cuts in its spending or a declaration of bankruptcy.

January 23, 2023

COVID-19 ‘lockdowns’ were a deadly and costly mistake

There has been an enormous surge in excess deaths since the advent of COVID-19, but fewer than half of these excess deaths are due directly to COVID-19, except among the elderly.

January 16, 2023

The ‘experts’ who misled us during the COVID-19 pandemic

There are many other areas of human activity where the "science" is much less certain, even though the majority of "experts" might at a given time have a strong belief -- which is often proved wrong.

January 9, 2023

America is showing signs of an early decay

The history of the world is in good part the history of the rise and fall of empires. The USA (American) empire is the latest and is already showing signs of decay, which may be fatal.

January 3, 2023

Congress’ $1.7 trillion irresponsible Christmas gift to Americans

Congress just passed a $1.7 trillion (that is trillion with a T) budget that President Biden has signed.

December 27, 2022