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This week for Ask an Economist I’m answering a question sent to me by Lawrence.

War had already been waging in Europe for months when Pope Benedict issued a plea from Rome on Dec. 7, 1914 to leaders of Europe: declare a Christmas truce.

"It's hard not to be sad about the passing of old, personalistic cultural tropes. But entrepreneurs exploiting microphone technologies on digital platforms are going to wipe out most of them. And it’s just as well,…

“New housing permits fell again in November as low affordability suppresses demand. Very low homebuilder sentiment suggests an unfavorable outlook for housing.” ~ Robert Hughes

"Worse than simply refusing to see our self-deceit, we feel morally justified in transgressing against others. Smith was right, self-deceit is responsible for much of the suffering of humanity." ~ Barry Brownstein

The federal government is running annual $1 trillion to $2 trillion budget deficits, which is more than the entire gross domestic product of most nations.

"If my choices are to have wealth but no job, or to have a job but no wealth, I’d rather have the wealth.  But we don’t have to choose: we can have both wealth and jobs, if we don’t go around breaking all the darned…

The first biography of Adolf Hitler I ever read was John Toland’s 1976 work, Adolf Hitler, which I picked up in college.

"As consumers, we must remember that in a market-based system, consumers determine what is of value, what is demanded, and what is consumed. To maintain such authority, we would be wise to use our wallets, rather than…

"Until states decide to impose a strict spending limit based on a maximum rate of population growth plus inflation, cut and eliminate burdensome taxes, and scrap burdensome regulations, economic freedom will continue to…