Free To Choose Network

What does it actually take to build a governing majority? According to Milton Friedman, not a broad coalition of people who agree — but a series of targeted deals with concentrated groups. Find a bloc that will vote for you on the strength of one promise. Then another. Then another. Once you've assembled enough of them, you've got your 51%. The general public, whose interests are spread thin across every issue, can't compete with that kind of focused political pressure. Friedman added one caveat worth sitting with: special interests have historically needed to frame their agenda as something the whole country benefits from. The arithmetic is built from narrow stakes. The language used to justify it rarely is.

A moment of silence for Spirit Airlines and all those affected by its sudden closure.

And now that we've done that, whose fault is it? Elizabeth Warren for blocking its merger with JetBlue? The current administration for the fuel price spikes due to the current Iran conflict? That raccoon in the ceiling tiles?

Join Lou and Phil as they spill the tea on summertime travel shenanigans in this week's episode of Happy Hour Econ.

https://happyhourecon.org/

Spoiler: Yes, they do.

From "The Real Adam Smith:"

The data is shockingly clear: in countries that allow free trade, entrepreneurship, and voluntary exchange, everyone—including and especially the poorest of the population—is better off than in those that don't. These elements of capitalism work so well that they don't even need to be fully or perfectly implemented in order to raise standards of living.

Generosity is a wonderful impulse, as is care for the impoverished. And by far, the most effective, efficient, and far-reaching anti-poverty initiative ever developed isn't a charity or government program. It's simple economics.