Veronique de Rugy

Common Myths About How Taxes Work kiteandkeymedia.com/videos/no-one-…

Technosocialism won’t work, because the problem with central planning was never about computing power.

My latest at Reason on tariff revenues promises vs reality reason.com/2026/03/17/pet…

Anyone ask Saez/Zucman why they are using significantly different (and more favorable) avoidance assumptions now? In 2019, they used an elasticity of -8, which should imply avoidance of ~33% at a 5% rate. Today, they just assume 10% avoidance. x.com/alex_durante_/…

Thanks for sharing our @HooverInst research, @chamath. CA’s proposed Billionaire Tax Act would harm innovation and cost CA billions. And -$25 billion doesn't even explicitly model all the founders who now will move after Series B at the latest, taking jobs with them.

If successful entrepreneurs leave CA because they don't want to pay yet another new tax he designed then SO BE IT says the Berkeley prof with a shrug. SO BE IT that @elonmusk, Ellison, Brin, Page, and Zuckerberg have all left??? No interest in what you might be doing wrong?

@marcjoffe How many of California's legacy media outlets have drawn attention to the fact that under Newsom's recklessly profligate governorship, CA has increased spending by 68% and the number of state employees by 26%—while depopulating CA for the first time in its history as a state?

If California’s problem is spending, not revenue, would the proposed “Billionaire Tax” solve anything? Hoover Senior Fellow @joshrauh breaks down the math around California’s $93 billion deficit. Read Hoover research on the impacts of the tax proposal: hoover.org/news/californi…

Look, everyone has ideological biases. But explicitly progressive economists studying inequality over the past 20 years have mostly shown that their biases have dominated and undermined the quality of their research time and again.

We mourn the loss of Brian Doherty (1968–2026) and celebrate his many contributions to libertarian history and thought. Brian Doherty was a senior editor at Reason magazine, and he authored several books, including "Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement" (2007). Doherty’s reporting and commentary have appeared in dozens of radio and TV programs and in over 100 publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Mother Jones, Wired, and Spin. He also won the Center for Independent Thought’s Thomas S. Szasz Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Cause of Civil Liberties in 2011. Last year, Doherty published "Modern Libertarianism" (2025) with Libertarianism.org and the Cato Institute. In it, Doherty provides a concise, thorough account of the intellectual roots of the American libertarian movement, with helpful summaries of key figures, institutions, and events.

It warrants mention that Adrian Vermeule did not convert to Catholicism until 2016. Vermeule was already promoting a Postliberal constitutional order built around Nazi philosopher Carl Schmitt in 2011. Catholicism is not a prerequisite of Vermeule's authoritarian doctrines.

@scottlincicome @veroderugy There is a problem with only issuing H1-B visas to high tech/high paying applicants. The low skill/low pay complementary jobs still must be performed. Make immigration safe, sane, and timely for all. The market will sort out skill demand.

So you’re saying one set of analysts did a serious job and the other set was sloppy.

"H-1B households generate substantial positive fiscal balances at every level of government... The average H-1B household contributes $30,050 net annually — 2.6 times the $11,530 contribution of a typical U.S. household" eig.org/fiscal-impacts…

A devastating train tragedy is clouding JD Vance’s judgment washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/…

Great piece by John Shelton. Many in Republican circles turning away from deregulatory agenda that was catalyst for economy in Trump 1.0

Although @brad_setser keeps repeating this line, the documentation from the Trade Act of 1974 is against him. The House report specifically associates BoP deficits with official reserve depletion. The Senate report even includes a chart distinguishing BoP from trade deficits

It’s time to abolish the FCC. If Republicans were serious about shrinking government they would do it now. When libs tried to silence Rush with Fairness Doctrine many conservatives promised to abolish FCC if they got the chance. Today many Republicans prefer to use govt to wield power like the Left

This week's EconTalk episode with Mike Munger (the Babe Ruth/Hank Aaron/Barry Bonds of EconTalk with 51 appearances and counting) marks the 20th anniversary of the program. EconTalk has been supported from the beginning by Liberty Fund, an Indianapolis-based foundation started by an Indianapolis businessman, Pierre Goodrich, who believed in great books, conversations around the ideas in those books, and the importance of liberty. So while LF was started long before the internet, EconTalk (conversations around ideas) seemed very much in his spirit. When I started, I didn't know how hard it would be to do. Early on, I realized we had to come out every week. In the early years, we took off a week or two for the holiday break of Christmas and New Year's. But we stopped doing that long ago. We haven't missed a Monday for something like 850 weeks. LF pays me to produce the podcast and then we give it away which is wonderful. And being a Hoover Fellow also allows me to put in the time necessary to produce the podcast. So I am grateful to both organizations for the freedom to create EconTalk over the last 20 years. And now Hoover will be releasing episodes on YouTube as they come out. You can head over to the Hoover Institution page on YouTube and find EconTalk every Monday morning along with other video Hoover produces: @HooverInstitution/videos" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@HooverInstitu… All 1041 episodes are available without charge at the EconTalk.org website, and at my website, russroberts.info. Most (if not all) podcast sites like Spotify or the iPhone podcast app have all the past episodes as well. You can also find all the past episodes at EconTalk's YouTube page, @econtalkwithruss" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@econtalkwithr…, which is a little complicated now that Hoover is also distributing them but I assume you will figure it out. The older episodes don't always have video... Doing 1041 EconTalk episodes over 20 years has been an extraordinary experience. I have grown tremendously. My interests have widened. It has shaped me in ways I'm sure I don't completely appreciate. I like to think EconTalk has stoked my curiosity about the world around me. When I was younger, I wondered if I would hit some goal like the 1000th episode and stop. Now I think I will only stop when I can't do the job the way I think it should be done. So as long as I can keep reading, hearing, thinking, an speaking, and I can have a good internet connection, I hope to continue. What a privilege it has been to speak to smart, interesting people every week for 20 years and to be able to share that with my listeners. I am grateful to everyone at EconTalk who supports the program and helps me get this done. These days that's Lauren Landsburg, Rich Goyette, Les Cook, Katie Flavin, Marla Goldfinger, Sarah Skwire, Shelly Rogers, Cassandra Karnick, Blake Van Der Kamp, Pat Lynch, and Sean Shelby. And many thanks to those who started with me at Liberty Fund way back at the beginning or nearly so, Emilio Pacheco, Jim Cote, and Amy Willis. And now there is a new team at Hoover who is working on the YouTube side: Shana Farley, Jonathan Movroydis, Vy Nguyen, and Imagine Gonzales. I apologize if I have forgotten anyone. And of course, I am grateful to all of you who listen and who have stuck with the program even as we moved away from focusing on economics. I always enjoy hearing from you. Thanks for being part of the journey. See you next Monday.

NYT News Flash: "Someone who earns $50k from working a job pays higher taxes than someone who makes $50k from selling an investment.” So unfair!! But wait, they already paid income tax when they earned the $ to buy the investment. And the investment likely was in a business that paid taxes too. Hmm.