Hal Snarr

Hal Snarr

Hal W. Snarr is an assistant professor of economics at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Articles by Hal Snarr

The Consequences of California’s New Minimum Wage Law

What is the Mises Institute?

The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.

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The Consequences of California’s New Minimum Wage Law

The law that establishes California’s minimum wage rate at twenty dollars per hour is purportedly aimed at uplifting the state’s working poor. The role of economics is to evaluate such claims through economic theory and empirical evidence. In mainstream economics, commonly taught in introductory college courses, the conventional analysis indicates that such laws may lead to heightened unemployment only if the new minimum wage exceeds the market wage. While this insight is important, it does not tell the full story. This limitation stems from the assumptions inherent in the labor market model, which presume that firms and workers are homogeneous.However, the real world does not conform to this assumption of homogeneity. Each market participant is different, and each, unlike a stick or a

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The Price-Gouging State

Politicians and the media are blaming businesses for inflation when, in fact, the skyrocketing prices of nearly everything have a government stamp on them.

Original Article: "The Price-Gouging State"
This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon.

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The Price-Gouging State

Friends and family are talking, on Facebook, about the rapid rise in the price of eggs. Their posts also report that there are plenty of eggs in the dairy sections of local grocery stores. A few people, along with some reporters, blame this rapid increase in the price of eggs on price-gouging corporations.

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Why Medicare for All Would Require Huge Tax Increases

Medicare for All is listed as the top priority of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. He describes it as a single-payer system that is “free at the point of service” as there will be no premiums, deductibles, copays, or surprise bills. It will cover more services (dental, hearing, vision, long-term care, substance abuse treatment, etc.) than what the present Medicare system covers. It will also stop the “pharmaceutical industry from ripping off the American people” by capping prescription drug prices.

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