Free Enterprise In Three Minutes Podcast With Ray Keating

Ray Keating talks more about productivity and earnings. Higher earnings for workers are not about government mandating a minimum wage or a living wage. Instead, higher earnings are about increasing output, value or productivity in a competitive market. How is that accomplished?

Ray Keating talks about what people earn. Politicians often ignore economics and wind up pandering for a higher minimum wage mandate or a government-imposed living wage. But in the competitive, private marketplace, the bottom line is that earnings, or incomes, are determined by productivity, that is, output per worker.

Ray Keating talks about rent control. It says something about the poor state of teaching economics that so many bad economic ideas keep cropping up. One is rent control, with its inevitably destructive effects.

Ray Keating explains the difference between what people usually think of when it comes to “costs” and “profits,” and what economists mean when they talk about “economic costs” and “economic profits.” They key is opportunity costs.

Ray Keating talks about incentives – monetary and nonmonetary – and shows why incentives are central to economics and human decision-making.

Ray Keating counts himself as a supply-side economist, but the term “supply-side economics” has been ill-defined over the years, often for political reasons. Keating looks to set the record straight by summing up the basics of supply-side economics.

Ray Keating talks about some key pitfalls that must be avoided in economics, including problems with good intentions, claiming association is causation, and dressing up political preferences as economics.

Turning to help from Henry Hazlitt, one of the great economic thinkers of the 20thcentury, Ray Keating looks to answer the question: Why is economics plagued by so many fallacies?

Using the examples provided by Amazon’s deals with New York , Virginia and Tennessee, Ray Keating explains what corporate welfare is, and why it makes for bad economics.

Ray Keating looks at trade and international investment courtesy of the balance of payments. Keating explains the current account, the capital account, and more, and sums up that the U.S. runs a capital account surplus because it’s an attractive place to invest.

Ray Keating looks at why government doesn’t work well, that is, why government is wasteful and inefficient. After Keating notes the key reasons as explained by economics, concluding that no one should be surprised by the fact that waste and inefficiency govern in government.Get Ray Keating's new book THE REALISTIC OPTIMIST TO DO LIST & CALENDAR 2019 at Amazon.com.

Ray Keating looks at the ills of government imposing price controls, using the examples of price controls on prescription drugs and hiking the minimum wage.

Ray Keating explains the central role that prices play in a market economy, including providing information to buyers and sellers that help guide decisions and promote the efficient use of resources.

Ray Keating looks at mercantilism and international trade, and explains why it made no sense in the 18th century, and it makes no sense today.

Ray Keating looks at private property rights and how they are foundational for economic growth and progress. Most economists understand the vital importance of property rights as encouragements to invention, innovation, improvement and investment.

Ray Keating takes a look at how government spending affects the economy. Various economists and lots of politicians claim that more government spending can be good news for the economy. Keating explains why that fails basic criteria of economic common sense.

The Great Depression is mistakenly blamed on market failure. In reality, the economy sank into and persisted in a depression due to government failure. The Great Depression was all about trade protectionism, tax increases, massive increases in government spending, and unprecedented regulation.

Karl Marx got pretty much everything wrong. Yet, remnants of his mistakes persist, including his ignoring economic reality when it comes to the relationship between business owners and workers.

Ray Keating asks: Why do so many economists – including supply-side economists, like myself – favor tax relief and oppose tax increases? Are we just evil, greedy people? Of course not. Taxes matter to everyone due to the various ways taxes impact incentives, opportunity and economic growth.

Ray Keating puts aside the partisan politics and sets the record straight on the actual economics of immigration. And it turns out that immigration ranks as an economic plus.