Dave Hebert

Director of Economics & Economic Freedom at AIER, Aff. Scholar with Acton Institute and Mackinac Center, husband, and father. Views my own.

[Dave Hebert @Dave_Hebert]

Someone should tell him that self reliance is literally "depending on one country for 100% of everything."

[Department of State @StateDept]

SECRETARY RUBIO: "The United States, and I would argue the world, cannot depend on 1 country for 90% of anything."

[𝙱𝚛𝚢𝚊𝚗 𝚁𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚢 🗽🇺🇸 @FreeTradeBryan]

From 2001 (China joins the WTO) to 2012, every dollar in increased imports of manufactured goods from China corresponded to a $1.41 increase (not decrease) in U.S. manufacturing GDP. Since then, U.S. manufacturing growth has far outpaced imports of manufactured goods from China.

[Dave Hebert @Dave_Hebert]

People should have a better understanding of statistics. By that, I don't mean "you should go take a stats course." I mean, "people should understand what certain statistics actually mean."

The Import Price Index is one such statistic and my latest @aier Explainer provides exactly this:

https://t.co/4PjCez8iLl

[American Institute for Economic Research @aier]

Should you encourage your kids to take on debt for college? @DrPaulMueller poses this practical question to @DrJeffDegner and @Dave_Hebert in the newest episode of The Economist Next Door.

[Dave Hebert @Dave_Hebert]

@JimVinoski Exactly. It's not rocket science!

[Dave Hebert @Dave_Hebert]

Great. Here are three policy reforms that would actually address these issues:

1) Lift the tariffs. America already has the most productive manufacturing workers on the planet, bar none. Let them have access to the materials they need to do the work they can do.

2) Look into permitting/regulatory reform so that we can get American miners to work doing actual mining instead of mountains of paperwork and navigating bureaucratic red tape. Same goes for refining.

3) Repeal the Jones Act so that we can actually ship things around the country more effectively. It's absurd that New England has a harder time getting natural gas from Texas than virtually any other place on the planet. The Jones Act is what stands in the way of addressing this.

[Rapid Response 47 @RapidResponse47]

.@SecScottBessent: "A nation that cannot manufacture, mine, ship, or refine its needs gradually cedes its strength and sovereignty to others. That is a dangerous dependency for any country; it is an unacceptable one for the United States of America."

[Samuel Gregg @DrSamuelGregg]

With all due respect, @USTradeRep, since Adam Smith’s time, good theory has helped us understand what happens to the real economy when it is impacted by the type of mercantilist policies that the #Trump administration is pursuing: massive opportunity costs, severe misallocation of #capital, #cronyism on stilts, and declining competitiveness. The costs of all this are borne by consumers - ie 335 million Americans.🇺🇸

If you want to do something concrete about #affordability for #businesses and #consumers, may I suggest that you

1) reverse the present trajectory of US #tradepolicy and stop penalizing Americans from trading with whom they want, and cease the kowtowing to lobbyists seeking privileges for special interests as well as trade lawyers whose very existence (and incomes) depends upon a complicated and difficult-to-navigate tariff schedule.

2) discontinue the use of #industrialpolicy that is just as susceptible to cronyism and pours taxpayer dollars into sectors where there is little to no demand but where there are plenty of rent seekers anxious to persuade everyone that their particular line of business is somehow a vital national security concern.

As for your call for richer empirical tools in @IMFNews, the tools we have for studying trade are quite good, and, thanks to them, we have a very solid grasp of how free trade progressively enriches the United States and discourages Americans and American businesses from becoming uncompetitive and thinking that the world somehow owes us a living.

Certainly, good economic theory, sound empirical inquiry, and the tools with which they furnish us, are always in a state of development. They should be open to critique because that is one way we grow in our understanding of how the real economy works.

But we don’t change the tools because they give us results that some may not like. Indeed, part of the job of economists is to tell us what we may not want to hear: that trade offs are real; that interfering with the price system blinds us to the realities of supply and demand; that undermining property rights damages the general welfare; that #tariffs undermine our competitiveness, etc.

Ignoring these truths serves neither sound inquiry nor the formulation of good policy. And in no world is that good for the #UnitedStates 🇺🇸

[Randy Tobler @RandyToblerMD]

#MOU #EconomyWatch #AI and more on tap tomorrow 7-10ET/6-9CT #ToblerShow @NewstalkSTL with @ProducerJerome and guests:

@Dave_Hebert
@kjglobal88
Jared Knott-Tiny Blunders/Big Disasters

Be our guest—where AI stands for ALL IN!

[Dave Hebert @Dave_Hebert]

People think China owns a bunch of land in the US. My @aier colleague @peter_c_earle sets the record straight.

[Samuel Gregg @DrSamuelGregg]

Wherein my @aier colleague @peter_c_earle weighs into the issue of Chinese land ownership in America.
https://t.co/WIeDVp9wHd

[Jeffery Degner @DrJeffDegner]

My daughter taught me a lesson about Memorial Day that I'll never forget. I'm sharing wisdom that came from the 'mouth of a babe' 18 years ago in today's @thedailyeconomy from @aier :

https://t.co/nB3qhaO5pz

[Dave Hebert @Dave_Hebert]

I've been having a TON of fun using Claude to write Substack posts based on lecture slides I developed over the years. I will continue trying to figure out how to list Claude as a co-author:

https://t.co/DC8Q9TTbqD

[Dave Hebert @Dave_Hebert]

.@Roger_Koppl writes fascinating stuff and is one of those authors who constantly makes me think. Roger's co-authored paper here should be read by anyone who cares about AI and its effect(s) going forward.

[Roger Koppl 🗽 @Roger_Koppl]

I'm very happy "Why Claude is conscious" got 185 downloads in its first 7 days on Phil Papers. I'm told that's a good number. Available here:
https://t.co/ddawDgD64w

[Samuel Gregg @DrSamuelGregg]

Excellent analysis by my @aier colleague @lydiamnewman on the dilemma that faces the new @federalreserve chair #KevinWarsh ⬇️
https://t.co/kSY6DlDqLY

[Dave Hebert @Dave_Hebert]

My @aier colleague, @DrPaulMueller, and I argue that trade policy over the past 15 months looks more like vigilantism than "justice" and that this has caused serious problems.

A snippet:

https://t.co/jXTTyXdr9Q

[Dave Hebert @Dave_Hebert]

Here's the obvious: people don't like to get fired.

Here's the not so obvious: sometimes, there is asymmetric accountability, and that can produce some otherwise weird-looking results.

My latest with @Econlib: https://t.co/RLskwRgu1p

[Dave Hebert @Dave_Hebert]

My excellent @aier colleague @thomas_savidge with an equally excellent Letter in tomorrow's @WSJopinion:

https://t.co/hCZEGatt2Z

[Dave Hebert @Dave_Hebert]

@Roger_Koppl @aier Thanks, Roger!

[Justin Wolfers @JustinWolfers]

I made a chart to show how severely they cherry-picked this data.

[Dave Hebert @Dave_Hebert]

The whack-a-mole tariffs continue. The likely next step? Section 338, a Depression-era statute. But this, too, has problems not the least of which being a skeptical court.

My latest with @aier in @thedailyeconomy:

https://t.co/ziDkK3QqUJ

[Dave Hebert @Dave_Hebert]

@WGMDRadio Thanks for having me on, always a pleasure!