Despite being a proud member of the University of Virginia School of Law Class of 1992, I’m an economist, not…

Over the years, I — like all defenders of free trade — have had countless conversations with protectionists who are…

The Great Depression formally began in August 1929, two months before Black Tuesday. Initially, the economic downturn that began late…

No notion in economics is responsible for more misunderstanding and misguided government policies than that of the “balance of trade”…

What do the following three dates have in common with each other? 1975. January 1, 1994. December 11, 2001. Think…

As noted in my previous column, foreign holdings of US dollars are classified as foreign holdings of US assets and,…

Donald Trump believes that US trade deficits are evidence that Americans are being “ripped off” by foreign countries. He’s not…

Economics textbooks feature a coherent theory of how markets can allocate scarce resources in ways that achieve what is plausibly…

Consider the fictional little country of Dynamia. Although, strictly speaking, this place is a product of my imagination, my imagination…

A familiar excuse for protective tariffs and other trade restrictions goes like this: It would be all well and good…