A short book could be written naming all the people who helped me over the years and whose encouragement, support, and sharing of knowledge led to this. It would be more than presumptuous to say that I stand on the shoulders of giants, but it would be true to say many giants have made what I do possible. In advance, all errors within Popular Economics are surely mine. So here goes.
Thank you to Alan Reynolds, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, not just for reading my first attempt at a public op-ed in 2003 but also for introducing me to National Review’s Kathryn Jean Lopez. Your introduction got me started, after which National Review’s Chris McEvoy and TechCentralStation’s Nick Schulz generously gave me my first chances to write for an audience beyond a small circle of friends.
Thank you to the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page for sparking my interest in economic policy back in the late 1980s. Thomas Sowell’s brilliant 1989 collection of op-eds, Compassion Versus Guilt, was the first book I ever purchased on economics, and his essay within Compassion, “India Versus Hong Kong,” remains the standard when it comes to clear explanations about the wonders of economic freedom.
Big thanks to CNBC’s Larry Kudlow, whom I first started watching back in the late 1980s on the McLaughlin Group and who gave me my first shot at television. Larry taught me the four basics of economic growth, which he had learned from the great Arthur Laffer. Art, if it’s possible, I’ve actually learned more from you about monetary policy than tax policy. Thank you for all your encouragement all these years.
Art wrote The Financial Analyst’s Guide to Monetary Policy decades ago with Chuck Kadlec and Victor Canto, and this essential book is rarely far from me. It was from Chuck, who taught me so much about everything economic, that I learned the essential truth, “Bull markets don’t die of old age; they succumb to policy failure.” Chuck, we all miss you and hope you hurry back.
George Gilder, widely known and revered for his brilliance, was the writer most often quoted by Ronald Reagan. I too have quoted George Gilder more than anyone else, but that doesn’t begin to describe his influence on this book. George’s essential insight that economic growth is a function of information, and more specifically, the “leap,” is at the heart of Popular Economics. I also owe a substantial debt to George’s frequent collaborator, Bret Swanson. Bret, without your thinking the chapters on inflation wouldn’t be what they hopefully are.
It is no exaggeration to say that Nathan Lewis knows more about money and correct monetary policy than any person alive. His books and op-eds on monetary policy have had an enormous influence on me, and without him, the chapters on money would be far less informative. Professor Richard Salsman of Duke University—one of the few who can talk money on Nathan’s level—years ago introduced me to the clear monetary thinking of the brilliant and generous Judy Shelton. Marc Miles likewise requires mention for having exposed the folly of the quantity theory of money in his essential book, Beyond Monetarism.
John Allison turned BB&T into a global banking behemoth before taking over as president of the Cato Institute. Allison’s book, The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure, was very useful as I set out to write my chapters on regulation. Thank you to Allison for reminding readers not just why regulations are a problem, but of greater importance, why they quite simply cannot work.
David Malpass of Encima Global, who seems to have been teaching everyone about the economics of growth for years and years, has always been patient in teaching me. Amity Shlaes, an early contributor to RealClearMarkets, was always encouraging when very few were. Her wonderful book The Forgotten Man informs many parts of mine. The Heritage Foundation’s Steve Moore has brought the notion of tax simplification to life for many. His help and influence are apparent in my chapters on taxes.
RealClearPolitics founders John McIntyre and Tom Bevan require prominent mention. They took a Gilderian “leap” into the internet back in the early 2000s when many short-term thinkers had left it for dead. Their entrepreneurialism made RealClearMarkets possible, and better yet, they made it possible for me and many others to have a voice in what some like to call the “new media.” Thank you to David DesRosiers for the introduction.
Then there are the great thinkers who left us too soon. Simply put, I wouldn’t have much to say without the amazing insights of Warren Brookes and Jude Wanniski, whose fingerprints are all over this book. And while I was never lucky enough actually to meet Robert Bartley, he was kind enough to correspond with me by email on occasion. His masterwork, The Seven Fat Years, is one of the best books on economics ever written, and Popular Economics is indebted to his insight and style.
There are also the giants of centuries past—Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Frédéric Bastiat, and Jean-Baptiste Say—who laid the foundations for the clear economic thinking that has rendered the free parts of the world wildly prosperous.
Steven Hayward is perhaps best known for his brilliant two-volume classic, The Age of Reagan. Though known as a work of history, it’s arguably even better for its economics. Without Hayward’s books, Popular Economics would be considerably blander.
The president of H. C. Wainwright Economics, David Ranson, hired me away from Wall Street back in 2002. David can articulate economic policy as few can, and for years I have benefitted from his insight through reports and monthly HCWE conference calls. Rafe Resendes of Applied Finance Group invited me to speak at an AFG conference in 2007, when no one was asking me to give speeches. Rafe, thank you and the whole AFG/Toreador Research & Trading team for believing in me when few did.
Thanks to Harry Binswanger for his forceful writing style that is uncompromising in its proper elevation of the productive, and to Jerry Bowyer for patiently reminding me that the most important form of protest is survival. Thanks to Richard Miniter’s prolific writing for the inspiration it provided and to Diana Furchtgott-Roth for telling me how to get the book started.
I’ve been sharing ideas on economic policy with Chuck Smithers, Cedric Muhammad, Steve Shipman, Reuven Brenner, Louis Woodhill and Paul Hoffmeister more than with anyone else these last ten years, and their thinking informs the chapters on money and taxes. Louis and Paul, I can’t wait for your books on monetary policy, and, Reuven, your many books were instrumental to me as I wrote mine. Your frequent discussion of the “vital few” constantly informs how I think and write.
John Batchelor, Ralph Bristol, Bill Cunningham, and Crane Durham have been hosting me on their radio shows for years. Thanks to all of you for finding me, and thank you for your many excellent questions that were hopefully answered in this book.
Russell Redenbaugh could and should write his own book, but until then, I’m grateful for his energetic promotion of economic thinking from the Classical school. If that thinking were implemented now, we would quickly enjoy a major economic rebound. Russell and his partner at Kairos Capital Advisors, James Juliano, not only believe in Classical thinking, but they’ve taken the extra—and courageous—step of very successfully applying it to the allocation of capital.
I know Russell thanks to Rich Karlgaard at Forbes. Rich has taught me so much for so long about economic policy, but more than that, he’s been a great friend who welcomed me into the commentariat back when few would give me the time of day. So did his fellow publisher at Forbes, Tim Ferguson. Tim has always been willing to meet with me during my frequent visits to New York, and he introduced me to David Asman at Fox News. Big thanks to David, someone fortunate enough in his great career to have worked for both Robert Bartley and Warren Brookes, as well as to the whole Forbes on Fox team: Elizabeth MacDonald, John Huber, Tia Tiryaki, Allegra Zagami, Sabrina Schaeffer, Mike Ozanian, Bruce Japsen, Carrie Sheffield, and my favorite lefty in the world, Rick Ungar. Rick, I’ll make a libertarian of you yet! And to the late producer of Forbes on Fox, Annie Goodman, you left us way too soon. Thank you for giving me a chance.
Jeff Beckel and Greg Parr, friends since college, patiently unearthed the facts and statistics I desperately needed when I started writing op-eds. Thanks, Jeff and Greg, for giving my rants empirical backing. Big thanks as well to the rest of my college-era crew, which includes John Cragar, Chase Belew, Jim Doran, Mike Ferry, Robert Elms, Mark Griffin, Guy Heartfield, Steve Leininger (“if it’s in the newspaper, it’s priced”) and Nico Vilgiate. You’ve all suffered my stridency for decades.
Cari Erickson, Neal and Susan Erickson, and Scott and Staci Richardson have been amazing friends and a constant source of encouragement from up in Minneapolis, and in Cari’s case, all over the world. To say that you’ve all been intensely generous to me is the definition of understatement. And to Ian and Siobhan Gilday in London, thank you for relaying to me so much financial knowledge over the years, and for giving me a place to stay during frequent visits. Millie Gilday, thank you for always agreeing with me!
On all too many nights, Patrick Simpson-Nairn and his wife, Stephanie, have had to listen to me talk monetary policy in the Hamptons and many other exciting locales. Patrick’s knowledge of Nike was valuable as I wrote Popular Economics. Thank you, and Peter Shea too, for not reaching for the hemlock during all those policy conversations.
Patrick Chauvin and Myles King have had to endure the same in Washington, D.C., and at the Greenbrier. Thank you for being such generous hosts to Kendall and me. Patrick’s expertise in the field of housing has informed my own views. Myles, we all can’t wait to visit the King’s Road! Major thanks to Todd Dorfman and Anneli Werner not just for all the encouragement, but for all the advice on marketing and style; advice that led to the crucial creation of my website.
Lesley Albanese deserves special mention for being such a great work colleague, an even better friend, and for having convinced Ed Crane, the beloved founder of the Cato Institute, to hire me in 2003. To say that Ed has made this book possible gives this champion of liberty way too little credit. Ed, I internalized far more of what you explained to me about policy over the years than you’ll ever imagine, and I’d like to think the chapters on government spending and the nature of taxation have your common sense all over them.
But perhaps the biggest gift Ed has given to me is allowing me get to know the many great supporters of Cato, whose knowledge substantially improved Popular Economics. The list is long, but it includes Rob Arnott, Cliff Asness, Scott and Vanessa Barbee, John Brynjolfsson, John Dalsheim, William Dunn, Jeff and Jill Erber, Jim Fitzgerald, Roger and Elizabeth Hagans, Nathan and Anita Hanks, Ken and Eileen Leech, Scott Grannis, Dick Kessler, Dean Zarras, Daniel Shuchman, Herb Stiles, David and Laura Thayer, Joel Trammell, Ruth Westphal, Jay and Sally Lapeyre, and Peter Goettler.
In particular, long-time Cato-ites Bob and Ruth Reingold have been amazingly kind to me, and their grandson Louis and granddaughter Juliette taught me how to ski Aspen’s double-blacks. Louis also patiently taught me the realities of the business world during freezing lift rides. Bob, your explanation of the prosperity that results from assets’ being allowed to reach their proper market level no matter the level informs much of what I wrote about a 2008 crisis that had nothing to do with finance. Thank you also for introducing me to Parkinson’s Law, but more than anything, thank you for teaching me about life.
Richard and Sue Ann Masson have been incredibly kind and generous to Kendall and me for years. Richard, it was an email exchange about Jude Wanniski back in 2005 that seemingly got me in the door for our first meeting. You were lucky enough to have known him, and I hope my book lives up to all that he taught us.
Hall and Letty McAdams, it’s no stretch to say that you watched me grow up. Without a hint of hyperbole, my life would be very different, and much poorer, without a certain visit to Little Rock in 2003. The two of you extolled my virtues to Kendall back when she was more than a bit skeptical, and then just about everything I presume to know about banking I owe to many late-night conversations that included too few cigarettes and way too many drinks. I hope the book will reveal that amid all the revelry, I took good notes.
Cato’s Tim Reuter was instrumental in making Popular Economics happen. He was an essential sounding board, occasional researcher, and a nice editor too. Tim, I can’t wait to read your many books. Tom Spence of Regnery took my rough draft and made it eminently more readable. Thanks to Tom, even those who disagree with me might think I’m smart.
My wife, Kendall, naturally rates numerous mentions, including for bringing me into her wonderful family. Her parents, Scott and Susan Brodarick, have been generous and encouraging in-laws. I’m so lucky to have them, as well as my new brother-in-law, Taylor, and his lovely, soon-to-be wife, Beth. Taylor will forget more than I’ll ever know in one sitting of Trivial Pursuit.
And then there’s my own family. A day doesn’t go by when I don’t remind myself of how lucky I was to be raised by my parents, Peter and Nancy. Their goodness and generosity to me had and has no limits, and their encouragement of my decision to pursue a different career in writing meant everything. I can’t believe my good fortune to have them as my parents, and if that weren’t enough, I’ve also got a wonderful sister in Kim. She forgets this, but it was Kim who taught me the politics of housing when we were in grade school, and as I hope the chapters on housing will reveal, her wise words stuck with me. Thank you, Kim, for always being so supportive of me despite my frequently obnoxious ways. Steve Streich, thanks for being the brother I never had. I think you’ll mostly agree with what I have to say.
An extra-special mention is reserved for Steve Forbes. Certain people elevate us in life, and outside of my family no person has had a bigger impact on me. Steve could so easily have been aloof toward me given my worship of him, but instead he welcomed me into Forbes, and most of all, for years he’s been unwavering in his encouragement of my writing. Kendall constantly reminds me to try to be like Steve, because Steve is not just an amazing thinker whose thoughts have so thoroughly informed this book, but because he’s easily the kindest and most gracious person either one of us has ever met. I’ll never be able to pay him back for all the great things he’s done for me, but it won’t be for lack of trying. And then to his daughter Catherine, thank you for doing all that you do to constantly elevate the Forbes brand. Kendall and I are so lucky to be able to call you a great friend.
Last, but surely not least, thank you to my wife, Kendall. Without you I’m surely nothing. You’re easily the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I can say with certainty that without you there is no book. I surely took a step up in April of 2014, and I’ll spend the rest of my days trying to vindicate your decision to marry me.