In this episode of The Economist Next Door, host Paul Mueller speaks with economist Vance Ginn about one of the most contentious issues in state and local fiscal policy: property taxes. Ginn argues that property taxes pose a fundamental challenge to private ownership, since homeowners must continue paying taxes on their property even after paying off their mortgage.

The conversation explores alternatives to the current system, including the possibility of replacing property taxes with broader sales taxes. Ginn outlines a reform framework that emphasizes spending restraint, tax base broadening, and a gradual "buy-down" approach to reducing reliance on property taxes over time.

Mueller and Ginn also discuss how different tax structures shape government behavior, interstate competition, and housing markets, as well as the trade-offs between stability in revenue and economic distortions. Could a consumption-based tax system offer a more transparent and less burdensome foundation for funding local government? Listen and find out!

In this episode of The Economist Next Door, Paul Mueller is joined by fellow American Institute for Economic Research scholars Jeff Degner and Dave Hebert to examine the economics behind America's student debt crisis.

The conversation explores how decades of federal aid and subsidized student loans helped fuel tuition inflation, reshape university incentives, and transform higher education into a debt-driven consumption economy. The scholars discuss credential inflation, luxury campus amenities, signaling theory, Austrian business cycle theory, and the unintended consequences of government intervention in higher education.

They also examine why so many students leave school with debt but no degree, how colleges use price discrimination, and whether reforms such as shorter degree programs, income-sharing agreements, and AI-driven education tools could lower costs and improve outcomes.

No PhD required.

In this episode of The Economist Next Door, host Paul Mueller joins scholars Pete Earle and Jeffery Degner to explore why socialism continues to hold intellectual and popular appeal despite a long record of practical failure. The conversation examines the emotional and moral narratives that sustain socialist ideas, from claims about fairness and control to dissatisfaction with perceived inequalities in modern market economies. It also revisits the historical economic debate over central planning versus market coordination, drawing on insights from the Austrian tradition and the calculation debate.

The discussion then turns to the core mechanisms of market economies—prices, profits, and dispersed knowledge—and why these remain difficult to replicate through central planning or algorithmic systems, including modern claims about artificial intelligence.

Along the way, Paul and his guests unpack how interventions, regulations, and political incentives shape economic outcomes in ways that often obscure the role of markets themselves. The result is a broad examination of socialism's enduring appeal and the persistent challenges it faces in practice.

In this episode of The Economist Next Door, economist Paul Mueller sits down with AIER Senior Research Fellow Peter C. Earle to explore one of the biggest questions in global finance: Is the U.S. dollar losing its dominance?

Drawing on Earle's extensive research into dollarization and international monetary systems, the conversation examines how the dollar became the world's reserve currency, why it remains central to global trade and finance, and what growing efforts to bypass the dollar could mean for America and the world.

From the hidden advantages Americans enjoy under dollar dominance to the rise of alternative payment systems and growing efforts to bypass the dollar, Paul and Pete explore how sanctions, Federal Reserve policy, mounting U.S. debt, and technological change are reshaping the global financial order — and what it could mean for America's economic future.

Is the dollar's dominance truly fading or simply evolving? Listen and find out!

In this episode of The Economist Next Door, host Paul Mueller is joined by AIER colleagues Tom Savidge and Julia Cartwright to examine one of the most persistent claims in American politics: that billionaires pay little or nothing in federal taxes while ordinary workers carry the burden.

The conversation breaks down the federal tax system — including taxes on income, capital gains, corporate earnings, and payrolls — showing why headlines about the ultra-wealthy often obscure reality. Along the way, the scholars explain why high-income earners still account for a disproportionate share of federal revenue even as the code contains a maze of deductions, exemptions, credits, and loopholes.

The scholars explore the deeply convoluted — and often regressive — nature of the tax system, including the compliance costs, incentives, and distortions it creates for workers, investors, and entrepreneurs alike. The discussion touches on the "Bootleggers and Baptists" dynamic in tax policy, where moral arguments about fairness often align with the interests of well-connected groups that benefit from preserving complexity and special carveouts. The episode also examines the Laffer Curve and the idea that excessively high tax rates can discourage productive activity and ultimately reduce economic growth and tax revenue.

What would a simpler, less distortionary tax system look like? And why is meaningful reform so difficult? Listen and find out!

What is the Austrian school of economics—and why does it still shape debates about markets, money, and government today? In this episode of The Economist Next Door, host Paul Mueller is joined by economists Pete Earle and Jeff Degner to break down one of the most influential—and controversial—traditions in economic thought.

From the marginal revolution to modern debates over central banking, they explore how Austrian economists think about prices, knowledge, and human behavior. The conversation covers the socialist calculation debate, the role of interest rates in boom-bust cycles, and why ideas from Mises and Hayek continue to resonate in business, finance, and policy circles today. It also asks a provocative question: Who is the greatest economist to ever live?

Is the Federal Reserve Chair the most powerful person in the free world? In this episode of The Economist Next Door, host Paul Mueller is joined by Lydia Newman (Director of Monetary Policy, AIER) and William Luther (Director of AIER's Sound Money Project) to analyze the nomination of Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve.

Together, they unpack Warsh's views on inflation, the Fed's nearly $7 trillion balance sheet, and the role of forward guidance—along with what "reform" might actually look like in practice. Along the way, they examine the Fed's evolving footprint in financial markets, the tension between independence and accountability, and whether current policy is contributing to today's affordability challenges.

From interest rates and stock markets to grocery bills and housing costs, this episode breaks down how decisions made in Washington ripple through everyday life—and what a different approach to monetary policy could mean for the economy going forward.

Shownotes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seOZ2IWD85s)

0:00 – Is the Fed Chair the most powerful person in finance? 1:24 – Who is Kevin Warsh? 7:17 – Warsh's views on inflation and the balance sheet 12:53 – The problem with forward guidance and dot plots 25:57 – Can one person really change the FOMC? 37:59 – AI, shocks, and the future of the US economy 44:51 – Why the Fed needs to get out of the MBS business 52:35 – Making the Fed boring again

In this episode, Paul and his guests discuss the following: The All-Star Nominee: Kevin Warsh's journey from the youngest-ever Fed Governor at 35 to the potential next Chair Monetary Policy Reform: Why Warsh is skeptical of dot plots and favors a laser focus on price stability Shrinking the Footprint: The plan to get the Fed out of the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) business and reduce its outsized role in credit allocation Independence vs. Accountability: Balancing the Fed's need for insulation from politics with the public's right to transparency The K-Shaped Economy: How past Fed policy decisions contributed to the current affordability crisis in housing, healthcare, and education Political Theater: How ongoing criminal investigations and Supreme Court cases are impacting the current transition of power Stay Connected:

Follow Paul Mueller: Senior Research Fellow at AIER. Follow The American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) Subscribe: to The Economist Next Door for more deep dives into policy and economics. #FederalReserve #KevinWarsh #Economics #Inflation #InterestRates #MonetaryPolicy #Finance #AIER #Podcast

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In this episode of The Economist Next Door, host Paul Mueller is joined by AIER colleagues Lydia Mashburn Newman and Pete Earle to discuss the 2008 financial crisis, from the collapse of Bear Stearns to the failure of Lehman Brothers and the emergency response to AIG.

They examine how shifting government actions created uncertainty during the crisis, and how the Federal Reserve's response—near-zero interest rates, liquidity facilities, and large-scale asset purchases—transformed monetary policy and reshaped financial markets for the next decade.

How do these monetary decisions and decimal points affect the everyday lives of Americans? Listen and find out!

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In this episode of The Economist Next Door, host Paul Mueller speaks with Jeff Degner and Aidan Grogan about the global fertility crisis and the sharp decline in family formation across advanced economies. Are falling birth rates primarily an affordability problem—or the result of deeper cultural changes?

The conversation connects inflation, housing costs, and economic uncertainty with delayed marriage, shifting fertility preferences, and the emergence of dating apps as large-scale matching platforms that alter incentives, selection, and relationship formation. The discussion also introduces the concept of an "inflation culture" and its potential effects on time preference, planning horizons, and family decisions.

The episode closes by examining what population decline means for economic growth, social cohesion, and the future of government.

In this episode of The Economist Next Door, host Paul Mueller sits down with Nobel Prize–winning economist Vernon Smith to explore how markets actually work—and how people really behave within them.

Smith, who received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002 for pioneering experimental economics, explains how simple market experiments reveal powerful truths: prices emerge from decentralized interactions, markets converge toward equilibrium even with limited information, and people learn quickly through exchange and experience.

The conversation goes beyond economics into philosophy, drawing on Adam Smith's The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations. Smith argues that economic order is rooted in moral psychology, social norms, and bottom-up rules formed through everyday human interaction.

From asset bubbles to spontaneous order, this episode offers a deeper look at markets not just as engines of wealth, but as systems of discovery, learning, and human cooperation.

SHOW NOTES

WN - ​An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations [Cannan Edition (Vol. 1 & 2)](https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/smith-an-inquiry-into-the-nature-and-causes-of-the-wealth-of-nations-cannan-ed-in-2-vols TMS - https://www.econlib.org/library/Smith/smMS.html Nobel lecture - https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1061&context=esi_pubs Bubbles, Crashes, and Endogenous Expectations in Experimental Spot Asset Markets - https://www.academia.edu/17750757/Bubbles_Crashes_and_Endogenous_Expectations_in_Experimental_Spot_Asset_Markets Asset Bubbles, Learning and Information - https://www.academia.edu/17767320/Stock_market_bubbles_in_the_laboratory