From the Desk of Professor Smith: A collection of guest columns in popular publications
MTSU Political Economy Research Institute
Engaging students with faculty in research that will further the understanding of business and economic principles.
MTSU Economics Professor Daniel J. Smith regularly provides insight on economic principles and policy decisions that impact the well-being of society. Check out some of his recent guest columns below on timely issues including healthcare affordability, housing costs, cryptocurrency, taxpayer-funded projects, Federal Reserve concerns, the value of higher education, big tobacco, and the importance of academic freedom.?Want to be notified when Daniel Smith has a new column published? Email [email protected] to get periodic updates.
(with Macy Scheck and Ron Shultis). Tennessean. April 5, 2022.?
?“The stated purpose of occupational licensing is to protect consumers. But, in practice, the very legislation intended to protect consumers enables licensed industries to systematically fleece consumers and stymie occupational choice and economic mobility.”?Read more.
(with Macy Scheck and Ron Shultis). The Center Square. March 30, 2022.?
“When professions utilize occupational licensing to impose unnecessarily burdensome requirements and fees to deny entry to a profession, occupational choice and economic opportunity are drastically limited in the Volunteer State. Sadly, these costs fall the hardest on the most vulnerable populations.”?Read more.
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(with William F. Ford). Wall Street Journal. March 30, 2022.??
“When President Biden first proposed increasing federal spending by trillions, he promised not to raise taxes on anyone earning less than $400,000 a year. But the Federal Reserve’s accommodation of his spendthrift policies is now creating inflation taxes that are hitting ordinary Americans in their pocketbooks. Inflation not only taxes away earnings and savings, it also amplifies a host of other taxes Americans pay.”?Read more
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Tennessean. March 22, 2022.
?“Economists have sliced and diced the data every which way, and the results are crystal clear: Claims about the economic impact of stadiums consistently turn out to be empty promises based on misleading assumptions and exaggerations.”?Read More.
Nashville Business Journal. March 14, 2022
“Despite its costs, an investment in college increasingly pays off in higher pay and better career opportunities. In fact, it is one of the key reasons there is a healthy degree of economic mobility in America.”??Read more.
Real Clear Politics. Feb. 28, 2022.?
“Under increasing pressure, big tobacco companies are doing everything possible to keep electronic cigarettes, which offer a safer nicotine alternative, from intruding upon their shelf space. You might be surprised by their allies in these efforts: regulators and politicians. But the decision to vape or not should be left to adults, not policymakers controlled by Big Tobacco.”?Read More.?
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Orange County Register. March 9, 2022.?
“Housing affordability is becoming a major concern as home prices soar in California and across major metropolitan areas across the country. Some people are blaming real estate investment trusts (REITs) — major financial companies that buy up homes to rent. But the real culprit is local zoning regulations that artificially restrict the construction of new homes.” Read more.
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(with Adam Kissel).?Tennessean. Feb. 19, 2022.
“A tension in public education today pits the democratic will of the people against the desire of schoolteachers and professors to be left alone to make their own educational choices. When is it legitimate for government officials to intrude upon academic freedom?” Read more.
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InsideSources. Jan. 27, 2022.?
“Our political institutions were explicitly designed to prevent radicalization. That’s a good thing, not a problem. Major initiatives should require debate and compromise. But policymakers with an affinity for radical agendas have grown increasingly impatient with the democratic justifiability required by the constitutional process. That’s why they’re turning to the Fed.” Read more.
(with Macy Scheck).?Tennessean. Jan. 25, 2022.?
“Despite reforming our Certificate-of-Need (CON) laws twice in the last decade, these unnecessary regulatory burdens in Tennessee continue to raise the cost of our healthcare and reduce its access and quality. The Volunteer State maintains onerous CON laws on healthcare specialties which few other states regulate. Piecemeal reforms to this outmoded regulatory system are not sufficient when our healthcare is at stake; it is time for our legislators to do some serious spring cleaning in the 2022 legislative session.” ?Read more.
Centre for the Study of Governance & Society, King's College London. Jan 24, 2022.?
?“Given its importance for free and prosperous societies, the rule of law has become a bedrock principle of government in contemporary democracies. Taxation, fiscal policy, regulation, courts, the police, and militaries are all beholden to the rule of law to prevent the abuse of public power. There is one major entity in modern governments, however, that largely operates beyond the rule of law; our monetary institutions: central banks.”?Read more. Read more.
Tennessean. Nov. 1, 2021.
?“Tennessee policymakers are touting Ford’s decision to build their electric F-Series pickups outside of Memphis. Those popping the champagne, however, are celebrating the adoption of blue-state tax-and-spend policies and promoting a strong role for government in directing the state’s economy.” Read more.
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Nashville Business Journal. Oct. 22, 2021.?
“Despite the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies, many traditional investors remain on the fence about these enigmas. Even monetary economists struggle to understand what gives crypto its value or what role, if any, it should play in a conservative portfolio. It doesn’t readily fit into the traditional asset classifications of cash or equity. However, thinking about crypto as an asset having characteristics of both cash and equity may make this newfangled medium of exchange more understandable.” ?Read more.
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Tennessean. Oct. 8, 2021.?
?“Nearly every day, Big Tech showers us with affordable innovations that make the lives of ordinary Americans easier and more enjoyable. Not to mention the jobs and economic opportunities they generate. Unfortunately, policymakers are threatening to bring this engine of prosperity to a screeching halt with draconian legislation that would hamper innovation and competition in tech and ultimately harm consumers.”?Read more.
Want to be notified when Daniel Smith has a new column published? Email [email protected] to get periodic updates.
Daniel J. Smith is the Director of the Political Economy Research Institute and Professor of Economics in the Jones College of Business at Middle Tennessee State University. He serves as the North American Co-editor of The Review of Austrian Economics and is the President of the Society for Development of Austrian Economics. His academic research and policy work uses Austrian and public choice economics to analyze private and public governance institutions. While his primary research areas are on monetary institutions and public pensions, he has also done fieldwork following natural disasters and even examined the governance institutions of brawling soccer hooligans, cyclists in the Tour de France, and the patricians of historic Venice. Other academic and policy research he has undertaken examines the effects of occupational licensing, payday lending regulation, and the morality of markets.
He is the co-author of Money and the Rule of Law: Generality and Predictability in Monetary Institutions (Cambridge University Press), written with Peter J. Boettke and Alexander W. Salter, and The Political Economy of Public Pensions (Cambridge University Press), written with Eileen Norcross. His research is published in academic journals, such as Public Choice, Economics of Governance, Constitutional Political Economy, and The Review of Austrian Economics, and in chapters in books published by Oxford University Press, Routledge, and Wiley-Blackwell. Smith has published numerous op-eds in national and regional outlets, including in the Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Investor's Business Daily, and CNBC.com. Daniel received his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University and a B.B.A. in economics and finance from Northwood University.