UF law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan comments on a recent positive development in the economics profession—a move beyond the narrow notion of “Pareto efficiency” that economists have used for decades to support trickle-down economics. Buchanan explains the significance of this development, with the caveat that the change will likely not make much difference in actual economic policies.

Neil H. Buchanan, a University of Florida Levin College of Law professor and economist, argues that a 2020 win for President Donald Trump would likely to lead to the end of constitutional democracy. Buchanan points out that the demise would be due not only to what Trump would do if reelected, but also what the Democratic Party and the media would do to pretend that the victory resulted from legitimate processes.

University of Florida Levin College of Law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan argues that, notwithstanding some commentators’ claims to the contrary, President Trump poses an existential threat to democracy in the United States and removing him from office via impeachment would be less messy and divisive than defeating him at the ballot box in November 2020. Buchanan points out that there is no reason to believe that Trump will accept losing the 2020 election, and there is every reason to fear that the inevitable protests by the majority of Americans whose votes defeated Trump will be met with violence.

University of Florida Levin College of Law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan calls upon Democratic presidential candidates Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar to step up and say what they are for, rather than merely what they are against. While Buchanan acknowledges that he does not fully agree with Warren’s Medicare-for-All proposal, but he praises her for being bold enough to put forth a plan, unlike many of her competitors.

University of Florida Levin College of Law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan argues that Democrats should draft broad articles of impeachment. As Buchanan points out, if the Democrats do not lay out the full case against Trump, everything that is left out will have been validated and will become a precedent for future misdeeds by this or any other President.

University of Florida Levin College of Law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan criticizes Democratic pundits and presidential candidates for trying to force Senator Elizabeth Warren to say explicitly whether she intends to raise taxes to pay for her healthcare-for-all plan. Buchanan points out that their insistence on this point essentially does Republicans’ work for them, rather than setting the table for an honest and clear discussion about the financial costs (by any name) of reform.

University of Florida Levin College of Law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan comments on a recent essay by Binyamin Appelbaum and highlights what he perceives as Appelbaum’s most important arguments with respect to the economics profession. Buchanan argues that we should welcome the decline of economics because it exemplifies an academic field given too much responsibility with too little accountability.

University of Florida Levin College of Law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan argues that Biden’s campaign promise of a return to “normal” if he is elected President could result in the country’s situation becoming even worse than it currently is. Buchanan suggests that if Biden wins the nomination and the presidency and he is not seen as a serious fighter, he will lose a generation of voters forever.

University of Florida Levin College of Law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan explains why providing free college tuition for all students is the best investment the United States can make in its own future. Buchanan addresses several of the most common arguments against free college tuition, arguing that they purely moralistic objections that do not hold up to scrutiny.

In this second of a two-part series of columns, University of Florida Levin College of Law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan argues that Americans do not have to—and should not—support Trump simply because he claims (erroneously) to have revitalized the economy. Buchanan argues that for a voter to cast a vote purely on account of a perceived improved economy would require her to devalue every other issue—effectively selling the country’s soul.

In this first of a two-part series of columns, University of Florida Levin College of Law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan responds to the claim that President Trump is helping the U.S. economy. Buchanan argues that beneath the “somewhat good” aggregate numbers, most people in this country are suffering genuine damage, including not having health care insurance and being perpetually on the verge of financial ruin.

University of Florida Levin College of Law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan cautions liberals, particularly the Democratic presidential candidates, not to treat Donald Trump as unbeatable—as though he were some sort of undefeatable science-fiction villain. Buchanan argues that while liberals should not make the same mistake they made in 2016 of being overconfident, they should also not overstate his ability to win, lest they make that perspective a self-fulfilling prophecy.

University of Florida Levin College of Law professor Neil H. Buchanan laments the current precarious situation of our constitutional democracy. He argues that a constitutional democracy becomes unsustainable and ultimately dies when a party abuses and changes the system to maintain its power, which he observes Republicans are doing now.

University of Florida Levin College of Law professor Neil H. Buchanan considers whether America, having elected Donald Trump, must consequently accept everything he does as “democracy at work.” Buchanan argues that constitutional processes exist not only to protect democracy not only in word but also in spirit, and that extreme consequences of legal action can still threaten the future of democracy.

GW law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan points out that while liberals reject radical left-wing ideas, conservatives do not similarly reject radical right-wing ideas. By way of example Buchanan discusses the theory of Modern Monetary Theory, a persistent fringe theory has been embraced by a few prominent left-leaning politicians despite being rejected by economists across the political spectrum.

GW law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan continues his series of columns discussing how the establishment left, particularly the media, is treating the policy and politics of Senator Bernie Sanders (and others) irresponsibly and superficially as “extreme left,” reinforcing false equivalence and “bothsidesism.” Buchanan provides additional support for his thesis across these columns that the supposedly extreme ideas of Sanders and others are actually hugely popular and not at all radical.

GW law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan argues that Democrats’ supposedly unpopular extreme-left policy proposals are actually both moderate and popular. Buchanan points out that polls show that Americans overwhelmingly embrace policies that are mischaracterized as extreme left.

GW law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan argues that pundits on the anti-Trump right erroneously conflate two different categories of objections, substance and process. Buchanan points out that by attacking the substantive policies supported by Democrats and not distinguishing substance from process, Republicans risk weakening the Constitution’s political processes.

GW law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan responds to a Washington Post guest column by Ian Birrell—a speechwriter for the United Kingdom’s former prime minister David Cameron—in which Birrell argues that Brexit is worse than Trump. Buchanan makes the case that Trump’s negative legacy is likely to be both worse and longer-lasting than Brexit’s.

GW law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan looks at recent electoral developments in the United Kingdom and the United States (Brexit and Trump’s election) and argues that the justification that Leave/Trump voters “voted their pocketbooks and fears” is no longer supportable. Buchanan points out that democracy does not require that one side excuse the choices of voters who, in the face of overwhelming evidence, voted the wrong way.