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John C. Goodman

Goodman: Why we are Divided

Goodman: Why we are Divided

The liberal media is panicking over the prospect of Larry Elder becoming governor of California. An editorial in the New York Times by Farhad Manjoo, for example, declares the Elder candidacy a “looming disaster,” a “liberal nightmare” and a possibility that is “as serious as a heart attack.” For Times editorial writer Paul Krugman, the possibility is even more frightening. Elder, he says, would be a “Trumpist governor” whose election would produce “awesome consequences” – all bad, of course.

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First Annual Awards Dinner

First Annual Awards Dinner

On Tuesday, 11 September 2021, The Goodman Institute is proud to host our first annual Awards Dinner at 1225 N. Riverfront Blvd in Texas!

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The Truth About Inequality

The Truth About Inequality

Inequality is almost universally condemned by the intellectual elite. But most of the rest of the world doesn’t think inequality is such a bad thing. According to polling by Gallup, there are 138 million people in the world today who would like to immigrate to the United States. Most of these people are poor. They tend to live in egalitarian surroundings – they and their neighbors are all equally poor. (The country with the highest percentage of would-be immigrants is Liberia.) Yet they want to come to a country with a great deal of inequality, knowing they would start out at the bottom of the income ladder.

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When Customer Service Becomes Consumer Fraud

When Customer Service Becomes Consumer Fraud

Reasonable customer service is part and parcel of what one is purchasing from our increasingly small number of mammoth retail companies. But Laurence Kotlikoff writes, “Every so often I focus on what seems, from personal experience, to represent “customer support” bordering on consumer fraud.” Examples: AJ Madison, Anthropologie, and Apple.  

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Where Have all the Economists Gone? (Environment)

Where Have all the Economists Gone? (Environment)

What does the average economist know about environmental science? Probably no more than any other reasonably educated person. Yet economists have three talents that are sorely missing from most discussions of environmental policy – particularly policies related to climate change. They understand (1) the scientific method, (2) cost-benefit analysis and (3) how costs and benefits affecting different generations can be evaluated over time.

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Where Have All the Economists Gone? (Taxes)

Where Have All the Economists Gone? (Taxes)

Joe Biden says that corporations aren’t paying their fair share of taxes. He also says his plan to raise corporate taxes won’t harm anyone who makes less than $400,000 a year. Virtually all economists know these statements are false. Yet, John Goodman thinks there has ever been a time in recent history when there has been such a large gap between what economists know and what politicians say.

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Health Care Components of the $3.5T (Or, Is It $5.5T?) Spending Plan

Where Have All the Economists Gone? (Racism)

June O’Neill, an economist who used to direct the Congressional Budget Office, and her husband Dave O’Neill produced a comprehensive survey of the economic research on this issue almost a decade ago. They concluded that while discrimination may exist, it’s not the main determinant of overall wages and incomes.

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Where Have All the Economists Gone? (Socialism)

Where Have All the Economists Gone? (Socialism)

If you search the economics departments of our nation’s colleges and universities you would be hard pressed to find a real socialist. That’s because economists know a lot about socialism. They have been studying it and thinking about it for over a hundred years. Outside economics departments, things are different. It has often been humorously estimated that there are more Marxists on the faculty of American universities than there are in Russia or China today. How is that possible? John Goodman blames the economists.

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Where Have All the Economists Gone? (Socialism)

Where Have All the Economists Gone?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says there are 18,650 economists in the United States. You have to wonder what they are all doing? No one is better qualified to comment on the economic effects of public policies than economists. Yet, only a handful of them routinely do so. Instead, they yield the public square to non-economists who are only too happy to fill the void and whose opinions are often wrong.
“Where Have All the Economists Gone?” asks John Goodman. In four separate editorials on socialism, racism, taxes and the environment, Goodman says economists who have a lot to say are holding back while too much nonsense dominates the public policy discussion.

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