Nikolai Wenzel

  • Jimmy Buffett and the Bourgeois Virtues

    “I often find myself lost in the cosmos, as a professor who actually wants to teach, while the thundering herds of unprepared students and compliant administrators have given up on education.” ~Nikolai G. Wenzel

    Jimmy Buffett and the Bourgeois Virtues
  • Argentina’s Canary in the Coalmine

    “How can one compare the US to Argentina, which has suffered a century of political instability, and has been a darling of IMF case studies for the past 40 years?” ~Nikolai G. Wenzel and Valentina Yayi Morales

    Argentina’s Canary in the Coalmine
  • Standing in Awe of George Washington, American Cincinnatus

    “His political restraint ensured the flourishing of a well-designed constitution. This is a victory citizens of many countries have yet to claim from their governments.” ~ Luis Carlos Araujo Quintero & Nikolai G. Wenzel

    Standing in Awe of George Washington, American Cincinnatus
  • Regulatory Alphabet Soup and the Visible Foot of Government

    “What is a wonder is that the financial and administrative costs are so invisible in daily life. The juggernaut of federal involvement in the economy is typically hidden behind a corporate veil.” ~ Nikolai Wenzel

    Regulatory Alphabet Soup and the Visible Foot of Government
  • The Biden Budget: Smoke, Mirrors, and Class Warfare

    “Beyond tired class warfare rhetoric and anti-competitive measures, the Biden administration is attempting to increase not only the size of the state (through more taxing and spending), but also the scope of the state, through misguided commercial and industrial policy.” ~ Nikolai G. Wenzel

    The Biden Budget: Smoke, Mirrors, and Class Warfare
  • Markets Feed the Poor, Government Creates Them – The Misguided Economics of Pope Francis

    “We should be wary of eating the seed corn – but also wary of killing the proverbial goose that lays the golden eggs. The world’s poor deserve no less than the full opportunity of market exchange.” ~ Hannah Mead Kling, Julia R. Norgaard & Nikolai G. Wenzel

    Markets Feed the Poor, Government Creates Them – The Misguided Economics of Pope Francis
  • Parity Without Socialism: Economic Freedom and Opportunity for Women

    “There is a simple policy solution for expanding opportunity for women and giving voice to them: increased economic freedom. Markets solve, as we discovered in undergraduate microeconomics… and without the unintended consequences of illiberal intervention.” ~ Megan V. Teague & Nikolai G. Wenzel

    Parity Without Socialism: Economic Freedom and Opportunity for Women
  • The Return of Gonzo Journalism

    “It’s harder and harder to find good reporting, as the media is increasingly concerned with advancing a particular narrative, without concern for objectivity. Understanding it as gonzo journalism provides a helpful heuristic.” ~ Nikolai G. Wenzel

    The Return of Gonzo Journalism
  • Paul Heyne and the Trouble with Economists

    “Economics is often a morality-free zone, and Paul Heyne shows why this is a mistake. In many ways, Heyne can be read as a plea to return to the oft-forgotten first half of Adam Smith.” ~ Nikolai G. Wenzel

    Paul Heyne and the Trouble with Economists