Many decision makers and commentators treat gross domestic product (GDP) as if it measures the whole of the economy. They even use “the economy” and GDP interchangeably. GDP is an accounting device—and a poor measure of economic health. Household wealth is much closer to what we mean by “the economy.” …
Many aspects of Social Security date back to 1939 and reflect an America that is long gone. One of these pays Social Security benefits to minor children—even if the parents are millionaires. Case in point: the Social Security checks sent to the three younger children of Representative Pete Stark (D–CA). …
Marriage, these days, is getting bad press. For example, a string of recent headlines claim that living together is healthier than marriage, citing a study published in the Journal of Marriage and Family. Though provocative, headlines can be misleading, focusing only on a non-representative subset of findings. A more nuanced …
In my last post, I challenged a common assumption about equality and justice—that inequality per se is inherently unjust, and therefore that the gap between rich and poor is as well. In what follows I contest another popular notion touted by redistributionists—that unequal wealth as such causes hardship for the …
