They Don't Make Strikes Like They Used To (Audio: Podcast)
With both Hollywood writers and United Auto Workers engaging in labor strikes, IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews discuss the declining power of labor unions, why unions strike during inflationary times, the Wage-Price Spiral, and the attitude conservatives should have toward labor unions.
An Eyewitness Account of the Drawing of the Laffer Curve (Audio: Podcast)
The story of economist Art Laffer drawing what's come to be known as the Laffer Curve on a napkin in a Washington bar in 1974 has become legendary among free market advocates. In this podcast, Galen Institute President Grace-Marie Turner, who was one of three other people watching Laffer draw his graph, tells IPI's Merrill Matthews what happened—and why it's important.
The Gender Pay Numbers Game (Audio: Interview)
IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews joins radio talk show host Bill Meyer (KMED) to run the numbers on the myth of the gender pay gap. When equalizing factors are added into the equation, the current gap reduces from the claimed 84 cents to a 1.5-cent pay gap. That’s a positive economic sign, but it won’t get much attention because some politicians need a big pay gap to demagogue.
Myth Busters: Income Inequality (Audio: Podcast)
Income inequality has become a progressive rallying cry, asserting that income inequality has exploded. Proponents claim government data show that the top 20% of workers earn 16.7 dollars for every dollar the bottom 20% earn. True? NO! A new book by former Senator Phil Gramm, Robert Ekelund and John Early explain that when all transfer payments to lower-income families are included, and when the taxes paid by higher-income families are excluded from income (because don't actually receive that money), the income inequality gap is a mere 4 to 1. On this IPI podcast, John Early, an economist who twice served as assistant commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistic, joins IPI Resident Scholar Merrill Matthews to discuss his book that demolishes the current income inequality hysterics.
America's Credit Rating Gets Downgraded (Audio: Podcast)
IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews discuss this week’s news that at least one bond analyst firm has downgraded the debt of the US Treasury. Is this the canary in the coal mine? For how long can we expect people to keep buying US debt on favorable terms despite our unfavorable fiscal behavior?
Bidenomics: Embracing the Failure (Audio: Podcast)
Talk about embracing the suck. This week President Biden announced he is attempting the impossible by running on his economic accomplishments. But there’s a slight problem: The American people are very unhappy about the economy and rate the President very low on his handling of the economy. And while IPI President Tom Giovanetti begrudgingly gives Biden points for audacity, IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews goes through the statistics and the news ain’t good. Here’s a tip: Be alert to the lie that Biden came into office during a terrible economy. In fact, the economy was robustly recovering when Biden took office, and he poured trillions of stimulus on an already demand-constrained economy.
IPI Policy Basics: What Is Industrial Policy, and Why Shouldn't We Have One? (Audio: Podcast)
The recent Obama and Trump administrations have progressively moved in the direction of industrial policy, but the Biden administration has jumped in with both feet. Oddly, some conservatives are increasingly comfortable with the government using industrial policy to influence outcomes they favor. In this IPI Policy Basics podcast, IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews explain what industrial policy is, and why it’s largely incompatible with a limited government, free-market philosophy, while also acknowledging that political reality will always be pushing toward rather than against elements of industrial policy.
IPI Policy Basics: Modern Monetary Theory, R.I.P. (Audio: Podcast)
What is “Modern Monetary Theory (MMT),” and what is it in contrast with? IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews and IPI President Tom Giovanetti discuss the heterodox economic theory that promises government can print and spend as much money as it wants to with little or no downside, and asks the musical question “But wouldn’t that cause inflation?” We talk a little monetary policy, a little Milton Friedman, a little neoclassical economics, and conclude that MMT is a load of bunk.
IPI Policy Basics: There's Nothing Wrong with Stock Buybacks (Audio: Podcast)
What are stock buybacks, and why have Democrats decided that stock buybacks should be discouraged/punished/banned? IPI President Tom Giovanetti and Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews explain what stock buybacks are and why Democrats have wrongly demonized them.
Biden's Budget Blowout (Audio: Podcast)
Today the Biden administration released its budget proposal, and it’s a progressive doozy. $5.5 trillion in new tax hikes, trillions of dollars in new spending, punishment for fossil fuels and rewards for renewables, hammering the wealthy and handing out goodies for everyone else, it’s all in there. Of course most of it will never happen, because it’s a campaign document, not a serious budget proposal. With IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews and IPI President Tom Giovanetti.
Total Records: 223
