Scott Burns

  • The Thin Green Line

    “The Fed has again taken unprecedented action to respond to a crisis. Unfortunately, it has gone further towards erasing the separating monetary and fiscal policy, to the detriment of both.” ~ Scott Burns

    The Thin Green Line
  • R.I.P. Richard H. Timberlake

    “Timberlake provided a blueprint for future sound money scholars to conduct thorough and well-respected research on monetary theory and history.” ~ Scott Burns

    R.I.P. Richard H. Timberlake
  • The Fed Cannot Combat Coronavirus

    At a campaign speech on February 29, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) introduced her economic plan for combating COVID-19, more commonly known as the coronavirus.  The Warren plan has two elements. First, it calls for “a major targeted fiscal stimulus” to counteract the negative economic effects of the coronavirus. In particular, she calls for the federal…

    The Fed Cannot Combat Coronavirus
  • Bootleggers, Baptists, and Banking

    Big tech giants like Amazon, Google, and Facebook are trying to enter the banking business. But they’re facing stiff resistance from a number of sources.

    Bootleggers, Baptists, and Banking
  • Banking the Unbanked: Lessons from the Developing World

    Access to financial services, or “financial inclusion,” has long been recognized as a critical step towards escaping poverty. Having a bank account enables people to protect their savings, diversify risk, lower transaction costs and access credit to invest in their human or physical capital. Financial inclusion has become a top priority for international agencies like the…

    Banking the Unbanked: Lessons from the Developing World
  • Choice in Currency for Valentine’s Day

    Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. If you’re looking for the perfect gift for that special someone, who better to ask than an economist? In 1993, Yale economist Joel Waldfogel published a famous paper on the optimal gift-giving strategy. His assessment won’t come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the buzz-killing tendencies of the dismal…

    Choice in Currency for Valentine’s Day
  • Prohibition Is Ending in College Sports

    The NCAA has opened the door to permitting student-athletes to get paid. That’s a good thing. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, but we shouldn’t let them get in the way of progress.

    Prohibition Is Ending in College Sports
  • Krugman’s Zombie Idea: We Owe It to Ourselves

    Paul Krugman claims that the national debt doesn’t matter because “we owe it to ourselves.” This “zombie idea” is dead wrong.

    Krugman’s Zombie Idea: We Owe It to Ourselves
  • The Fed Should Not Paper Over the President’s Policy Errors

    Printing money cannot dry up a flood or produce more rainfall in a drought. And it cannot fix the very real problems that result from a trade war.

    The Fed Should Not Paper Over the President’s Policy Errors
  • NCAA Must Evolve, or Go Extinct

    California’s recent Fair Pay for Play bill isn’t the best way of reforming college sports, but it does force the NCAA to make a stark choice: evolve or go extinct. Either way, it’s time for change.

    NCAA Must Evolve, or Go Extinct