The fact that many private expenditures are mutually offsetting actually happens to constitute a remarkably good bit of fiscal news. Mutually offsetting spending patterns are wasteful in the same way that military arms races are. In such situations, if each… — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
No one could argue with a straight face that the couples getting married today are much happier just because their wedding celebrations cost three times as much as those in 1980. Bigger mansions and costlier parties are wasteful in the… — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
If the search is for examples that contradict the predictions of standard economic models, a good rule of thumb is to start in France. — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
When people bump up against one another in the course of pursuing their goals, it is in everyone's interest to resolve any resulting problems… — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
It is no exaggeration to say that rising inequality has driven many of the 99 percent into a financial ditch. It also helped spawn… — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
We could curtail private spending by several trillion dollars a year without requiring painful sacrifices from anyone. That would be more than enough to… — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
The most glaring deficiency in traditional economic models is that they completely ignore the role of context in evaluation. — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
Adam Smith's uncritically enthusiastic modern disciples portray his invisible hand theory as saying that market forces reliably harness selfish individuals to serve the common… — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
Trusting others puts us at risk. Yet failure to trust entails risk as well. The ability to navigate through this minefield successfully is one… — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
Rising inequality hasn't really accomplished anything of value for its ostensible beneficiaries, the top one percent. They've all built bigger mansions and staged more… — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
As economists have long noted, the puzzle is not that so few people vote, it's that so many do. After all, no individual's vote… — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
Pass down values every day through your actions, your words and your time with your kids. — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
When the rich build bigger, they shift the frame of reference that shapes the demands of the near rich, who travel in the same… — Robert H. Frank Copy Share Image
