The Lady Gaga Economy

The Lady Gaga Economy

Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews, inspired by the seeming boundless demand for performances by flamboyant pop star Lady Gaga, meditates on "Say's Law" in economics and what it has to teach us about the current recession. Wayne reminds us that the state of the economy is not the result of a general glut of overproduction – too much stuff for sale and not enough buyers – but of a relative glut in particular sectors of the economy. While there may be too many cars for sale, the demand for concerts, music videos, and merchandise from our most popular entertainers surges ahead unabated. Thus, what we need is not a general demand-side stimulus, but a retrenchment of government policies and preferences that keep the market from re-balancing itself. Tax cuts, deregulation, privatization, and the elimination of other government distortions are the strategies that will allow the U.S. economy to expand and flourish again.

Read Crews' article here.

Shaping the Debate

Statement by John Berlau on Passage of Dodd-Frank Financial Regulation Bill

Florida's Reedy Creek Improvement District - Arin Greenwood's Issue Analysis

Cell Phones Don't Cause Cancer - Ryan Young's op-ed in The Daily Caller

With Debt, Deficit Come More Red Tape - Clyde Wayne Crews' citation in The Washington Examiner

Teaching 'stuff' about ecology - Lee Doren's citation in The Los Angeles Times

CEI's Myron Ebell Says "Professional Whitewash" of Climategate Will Not Succeed - Myron Ebell's citation in The American Spectator

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LibertyWeek Podcast

Episode 101: Urban Beekeepers Unite

Richard Morrison and Marc Scribner welcome back long-lost co-host Michelle Minton to episode 101. We discuss the sobering recommendations of the White House debt commission, the intoxicating budgetary success of Chris Christie in New Jersey, the bunker mentality of UN climate scientists, the travails of urban homesteaders and the birth of scandal-based tourism.