As Glen Whitman argues, "What distinguishes good economic thinking from bad is recognition of the subtle, creative, and often unforeseen ways that people respond to incentives."

Studying economics these days, it is quite possible to get a degree without ever having come across the name of a single economist. This is a pity and it is not really appropriate to a social science.

An empirical study found that in advanced economies, the greatest factor that has increased the growth of government is the welfare state. Economists are highly sceptical about such transfers.

Fortunately, New Zealand consistently ranks near the top of international indices measuring economic freedom. But this also means that we might take it too much for granted.

George W. Bush allegedly once said, "the problem with the French is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur." Indeed, most people have no idea what entrepreneurship really means.

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Polonius's advice was "Neither a borrower nor a lender be For loan oft loses both itself and friend." In contrast, borrowing and lending between strangers makes the world a better place.

It is through competition between wants and different ways of satisfying them, that markets create prosperity. In economic thinking, competition has two main functions.

Central banks stand at the apex of the banking confidence pyramid but cannot insulate the public from the consequences of collective fiscal and financial follies.

Few economists are more famous than the commonly regarded founder of economics, Adam Smith. Over 238 years later, his ideas are still relevant.