That’s the subject of the latest episode of my American Institute for Economic Research podcast, Econception. I talked to Richard Stern of the Heritage Foundation about what wealth is, what it isn’t, how it’s measured, and more. Some key points: Wealth can’t be redistributed without destroying some of it, and capitalism naturally allows people to use others’ wealth for their benefit. It was a fascinating conversation full of thought experiments and examples.
Then, I talk about why the government shouldn’t own stakes in corporations. Government ownership of the means of production is communism. Of course, 10 percent ownership of one company isn’t communism, but it is 10 percent communism in one company, and we should want 0 percent communism in all companies!
Next, I talk about my magazine piece on non-market reasons to oppose tariffs. They encourage corruption, mess with state budgets, and cause diplomatic problems, among other things. Even if supply-demand graphs are nonsense, tariffs are still a bad idea.
For the Paper of the Episode, Richard picked “Fiscal Influences on Inflation in OECD Countries, 2020-2023” by Robert Barro and Francesco Bianchi.
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