Gold Coins

The Gold Standard is Bad Economics

Why, in the face of international economic ruin, did so many countries persist in maintaining the gold standard leading up to the Great Depression?
Smiling waitress making minimum wage.

How Easy is it for Minimum-Wage Workers to Get a Raise?

The minimum-wage debate has been a long point of interest for business owners and labor economists.
The White House

The Perils of Protectionism

Why does the U.S. continue to pursue policy that doesn't work?
Indenture certificate for James Rymer Junior, binding him as an apprentice to the surgeon-apothecaries Caleb Woodyer and William Newland of Guildford, signed by all parties.

Indentured Servants and The Domestic Economy

Many 18th-century households included not only relatives and slaves, but also indentured servants, people sold into bondage for a specified length of time.
A girl studying.

The Real Driver Behind Curbing Population Growth

The solution isn't minimizing poverty or supplying more contraceptives.
Benjamin Franklin

A Nation Built on Debt

What is debt and where did it come from?
Bodcaw Bank

Are Regulations Killing the Small Community Bank in America?

Will regulations aimed at large, investment-oriented banks kill the "It’s a Wonderful Life" promise of the American community bank?
Birth of Venus - Sandro Botticelli [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

What Early Economists Thought About Sex

We take a look at how sex was viewed by early economists, from Sir William Petty to Adam Smith to Jeremy Bentham.
A U.S. Treasury Note

Introducing “Treasury Notes”

Treasury Notes, a new JSTOR Daily column, will discuss money in its historical context.
Slum

America: A Welfare Nation

We think of welfare as social security for the economically vulnerable. Maybe it's time we rightfully enlarge what we mean by the term.