The Most Heartwarming Tweet of 2023

For 2023, we have the IMF and CNN in a contest for the year’s most economically illiterate tweet and we have a strange entry for the year’s most half-right tweet. Today, let’s enjoy what will probably be the year’s most heartwarming tweet. This is great news for the children of the Buckeye State. Anna Staver […]

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The Most Economically Illiterate Tweet of 2023

Earlier this month, I mocked CNN for a nonsensical tweet about inflation. The network said there was no consensus about the cause of inflation even though it is glaringly obvious that the Federal Reserve’s bad monetary policy is responsible. The title of that column was “The Most Economically Illiterate Tweet of 2023?” and you may […]

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The Most Economically Illiterate Tweet of 2023?

I periodically write columns about “most ___ tweets.” Here are some recent examples. The Most Half-Right Tweet of 2023 The Most Laughable Tweet of 2022 The Most Enjoyable Tweet of 2022 The Most Painful (for Our Leftist Friends) Tweet of 2021 The Most Morally Reprehensible Tweet of 2021 The Most (Unintentionally) Accurate Tweet about Washington The World’s Most […]

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The Most Half-Right Tweet of 2023

Here’s a mystery. How can the guy who wrote a few years ago that capitalism is “the most powerful tool for reducing global poverty and inequality” now decide that free markets are a bad thing? To be technical, Branko Milanovic of the City University of New York did not say that free markets are bad. […]

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The Most Laughable Tweet of 2022

I’ve shared some notable tweets this year. Most enjoyable Most savage Most succinct Most clueless Most informative Today, we’re going to expand on this list with the “most laughable” tweet of 2022. But this tweet from the Republican National Committee is a case of accidental humor rather than deliberate humor. As you might expect, the […]

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The Most Enjoyable Tweet of 2022

In theory, annual awards should not be bestowed until the end of the year. But I already violated that rule when writing about “2022’s Tweet of the Year” last month (in my defense, anything that mocks Oxfam deserves favorable attention). Given my weakness for premature proclamations, I may as well do it again. Being a […]

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The Most Painful (for Our Leftist Friends) Tweet of 2021

Two days ago, I shared the most morally reprehensible tweet of the year. Today, we’re going to share a tweet that also is painful to read, but in this case only our friends on the left will be discomforted. I’ve opined about Chile’s success and Venezuela’s failure on multiple occasions, but here’s the great José […]

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The Most Morally Reprehensible Tweet of 2021

I periodically highlight tweets that deserve attention because they say something important, often in a clever and succinct fashion. Best-ever tweet about inequality. Best tweet about capitalism vs socialism. The most depressing tweet. Trump’s worst-ever tweet. The best-ever counter-tweet. A joyous tweet about school choice. Today, we’re going to look at a tweet that belongs in a terrible category. Let’s […]

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The Most (Unintentionally) Accurate Tweet about Washington

Every so often, I’ll notice a tweet that has some remarkable characteristic. Best tweet about capitalism vs socialism. The most depressing tweet. Trump’s worst-ever tweet. The best-ever counter-tweet. The most-flattering tweet about Trump’s policy. The best-ever tweet about inequality. Today, we’re going to add to this collection. The Democratic National Committee sent out a tweet back in April that seems like […]

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The Most-Flattering-Ever Tweet about Trump’s Economic Policy

I pointed out yesterday that Donald Trump has increased domestic spending at a faster rate than Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, or Jimmy Carter. The day before, I castigated him for proposing a budget that expands the burden of government spending by $2 trillion over the next decade. And two days before that, I explained that […]

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The World’s Most Depressing Tweet

I periodically will make use of “most depressing” in the title of a column when sharing bad news. And new data from the Census Bureau definitely qualifies as bad news. It confirms what I’ve written about how the Washington region has become the richest part of America. But the D.C. area didn’t become wealthy by […]

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Everything You Need to Know about Bureaucracy, in a Single Tweet

My “everything you need to know” columns have a common theme of highlighting stark examples to make broader points. China’s economic policies are misguided The USA is out-performing Europe People respond to tax incentives California has remarkably bad governance Teacher unions deserve scorn and abuse Today, we have a tweet that tells us everything we […]

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The Most Important Election of 2023

There was a political earthquake in Argentina when a hard-core libertarian got the most votes in the August nationwide presidential primary. Now everyone is paying close attention to Sunday’s general election. Will voters choose Javier Milei in hopes of rescuing their moribund economy? Before taking a close look at the candidate, let’s be clear that […]

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Government Failure, Captured in One Tweet

After eight years of being head of the International Monetary Fund, where she seemingly specialized in pushing for bailouts, bigger government, and higher taxes (conveniently, her lavish salary was tax exempt), Christine Lagarde was rewarded for her mistakes by being appointed president of the European Central Bank in 2019. Amazingly, she may be an even […]

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The Most Reprehensible School Choice Hypocrite of 2023

The case for school choice is simple and straightforward. Government schools receive record amounts of taxpayer money and do a relatively poor job of educating children. There are many reasons for the failure of government schools, including natural government inefficiency, but the main reason is probably that the system is controlled by teacher unions. Indeed, […]

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Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, Which Nation Punishes Success Most of All?

Marginal tax rates (how much you are taxed for earning additional money) have a big impact on incentives to engage in productive activity such as work, saving, investment, and entrepreneurship. This is why governments should keep tax rates at modest levels. But as you can see from this map from the Tax Foundation, European governments […]

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In a Tweet, Everything You Need to Know about California

I wrote last week about the ever-expanding burden of government spending in California. And that was after writing two columns last year (here and here) about the state’s economic decline. But sometimes a specific story is more compelling than broad economic trends. So here’s a tweet that caught my eye. It tells us a lot […]

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America’s Most Depressing Chart

I periodically use a “most depressing” theme when writing about charts or tweets with grim data. I’ve done that with regional data and also looked at depressing data from specific countries. Today, we’re going to look at some “most depressing” information about the United States. Here’s a tweet from Yale Professor Alice Evans about labor […]

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In a Tweet, Everything You Need to Know about Taxes and Incentives

A big division among economists is whether taxes have a big or small impact on incentives. If taxpayers are very responsive, that means more economic damage (to use the profession’s jargon, a greater level of deadweight loss). If you’re wondering which economists are right, there’s a lot of evidence that taxpayers are sensitive to changes […]

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Biden’s Dumbest-Ever Tweet?

I’ve been wondering about Biden’s stupidest-ever tweet. Was it the one about corporate taxes, the one about class warfare, or the one about the deficit? The answer may be “none of the above.” That’s because this tweet about gas prices now may be in first place. I’ve highlighted the most absurd parts. What’s sad is […]

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Biden’s Nonsensical Class-Warfare Tweet

Trump had some economically illiterate tweets about trade during his presidency, including the infamous one about being “Tariff Man.” I think Joe Biden must be feeling envious that Trump got so much attention, so he has issued a tweet showing that he also suffers from economic illiteracy. Or maybe Biden’s problem is dishonesty because his […]

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Tweeting the Obvious: The Department of Education Has a Failing Grade

I’ve already shared a “Tweet of the Year” for 2022, as well the “Most Enjoyable Tweet” of the year. I’m going to call this the “Most Obvious Revelation Tweet” since it reaches a should-have-been-immediately-clear conclusion that the Department of Education is a net negative for the United States. I’ve already provided my two cents on […]

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Dunking on Oxfam: 2022’s Tweet of the Year

There were many notable tweets in 2021. The tweet of the year The most morally reprehensible tweet The most depressing tweet (for the left) The best counter-tweet I realize there are still more than 11 months left in 2022, but we may have a winner for this year’s best tweet. The hack leftists at Oxfam […]

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Counter-Tweet of the Year: Crushing the Inequality Narrative

I have a four-part series (here, here, here, and here) that explains why it’s much better to focus on fighting poverty rather than fretting about inequality. I also think that our friends on the left who fixate on inequality are mostly motivated by an ideological desire for bigger government (or an ideological desire to hurt the rich). […]

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School Choice and 2021’s Tweet of the Year

After three columns on the topic in the past five weeks (see here, here, and here), I wasn’t expecting to write again about school choice anytime soon, but this speech by State Senator Justin Wayne of Nebraska must be watched. What a great idea! All politicians who vote against school choice have to send their […]

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The World’s Most Economically Illiterate Statement

Back in 2014, I shared two videos, one narrated by Prof. Don Boudreaux and the other narrated by Prof. Deirdre McCloskey, making the point that grinding poverty and material deprivation were the norm for most of human history. It wasn’t until capitalism emerged a few hundred years ago that we made the jump from agricultural […]

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2020’s Tweet of the Year

Every so often, I highlight tweets that deserve attention because they say something important, usually in a clever and succinct fashion. Best-ever tweet about inequality. Best tweet about capitalism vs socialism. The most depressing tweet. Trump’s worst-ever tweet. The best-ever counter-tweet. Today, I’m highlighting what I consider to be the year’s best tweet. The tweet is from Matthew Lesh […]

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Another Contestant in the 2020 Best-Counter-Tweet Contest

I periodically share tweets that have some sort of remarkable feature, either good or bad. Clever counter-tweets are especially appreciated. I even started giving recognition to the most brutally effective response each year. In 2019, the counter-tweet of the year debunked the notion that capitalism isn’t good for workers. For 2020, the counter-tweet of the […]

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The Best-Ever Tweet about Inequality

I periodically see tweets that deserve attention because they reveal something very important, usually in a clever and succinct fashion. Best tweet about capitalism vs socialism. The most depressing tweet. Trump’s worst-ever tweet. The best-ever counter-tweet. Today, let’s add to this collection. I’ve argued, over and over again, that the best way to help the […]

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Capitalism and Workers: Counter-Tweet of the Year

In early September, I wrote about how capital and labor are both necessary to create prosperity. Economists sometimes explain this with lots of jargon, referring to capital and labor as “factors of production” and pointing out how they are “complementary.” In ordinary English, this simply means that workers earn more income when they are equipped […]

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