fee.org

1 week ago | fee.org | Alex Tabarrok

Many people think they understand why domestic prices rise with tariffs—domestic producers take advantage of reduced competition to jack up prices and increase their profits. The explanation seems cynical and sophisticated, and it’s not entirely wrong, but it misses deeper truths. Moreover, this “explanation” makes people think that an appropriate response to domestic firms raising prices is price controls and threats, which would make things worse.

1 week ago | fee.org | Sheldon Richman

by Sheldon Richman is the editor of The Freeman and In brief. The Commerce Department (whose idea was that?) said last week that 2006 was another record year for the U.S. trade deficit. The value of imports beat the value of exports by $764 billion. That makes five record years in a row. China's trade surplus with us hit $233 billion. Ordinarily, I would ignore this nonstory because, as Adam Smith wisely said, Nothing . . . can be more absurd than this whole doctrine of the balance of trade.

1 week ago | fee.org | Mark Nayler

Could a 27-nation force even work? Europe is once again talking about forming its own defense alliance. The idea of a European army—discussed on and off since the early days of the Cold War—was revived in February by Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian president claims that Donald Trump’s retraction of military support for Ukraine and ambivalence towards the EU shows that the bloc urgently needs its own military unit.

2 weeks ago | fee.org | Rachel Chiu

The Supreme Court declined to hear a case that could have strengthened private property rights. At the end of March, the Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari in Bowers v. Oneida County Industrial Development Agency, a case involving a county confiscating a private developer’s land to give it to his business rival. Bryan Bowers, a local developer, was under contract to purchase land in Utica, New York, and planned to construct a medical office building.

2 weeks ago | fee.org | Kerry McDonald

For Chase Buffington, college isn’t a priority right now. The 18-year-old from Enfield, New Hampshire, is currently a high school senior working as a paid apprentice for a local heating, ventilation, and air conditioning company, a job that he plans to continue full-time for at least the next several years.