Cafe Hayek

Wintertime Temperatures Cold at the North Pole (by Don Boudreaux)

Here's the least-surprising headline of the day -- it's from the front page of today's New York Times: Lobbyists Swarm the Treasury for a Helping of the Bailout Pie (...)

Fannie and Freddie Haiku (by Russell Roberts)

Fannie and FreddiePrivate Gains. Public losses.Whose idea was that? (...)

Location, Location, Location (by Russell Roberts)

Why is so much of the subprime mess concentrated in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Florida? Of the 20 zipcodes with the worst negative equity, 13 are in three counties--one in CA, one in NV, and...

A T-Shirt or something, please (by Russell Roberts)

Seanooski comments:It's still amazing to me that we just had an election where both candidates promised more intervention in the economy, because the market just wasn't grown up enough to handle...

Bryan and Herbert (by Russell Roberts)

Bryan Caplan lists the 21 things Herbert Hoover mentioned in a 1932 speech just before the election that Hoover claimed help save the economy. Bryan is making the point that Hoover wasn't a free...

No More Bailouts (by Don Boudreaux)

Over in The Wonk Room, Pat Garofalo argues that "If It Happens, The Auto Industry Bailout Needs To Be Done Right." While it's true that some ways of bailing out this industry would be less harmful...

Cowen on the End of the Great Depression (by Don Boudreaux)

Here's Tyler Cowen over at Marginal Revolution on the end of the Great Depression. (...)

Everyday Global Cooperation (by Don Boudreaux)

Here's more Bastiatian wisdom from Pietro Poggi-Corradini: Imagine a small rural community where people shop at mom-and-pop type stores and most of what they buy is produced locally. Such a community...

Gay Marriage (by Don Boudreaux)

Here's a letter of mine that appears in today's Washington Times: Thomas Sowell's case against affirmative action is sound; his case against same-sex marriage is not ("Affirmative action and gay...

Kling on the mess (by Russell Roberts)

The latest EconTalk is Arnold Kling talking about credit default swaps, counterparty risk, and the political economy of financial regulation. The first half is a primer on credit default swaps and...