Texas Tech University

Alexander Salter

Comparative Economics Research Fellow and Georgie G. Snyder Associate Professor of Economics

Dr. Alexander Salter, Comparative Economics Research Fellow

Alexander William Salter is Comparative Economics Research Fellow at the Free Market Institute and Georgie G. Snyder Associate Professor of Economics in the Jerry S. Rawls College of Business Administration at Texas Tech University.

Dr. Salter earned his B.A. in economics from Occidental College and his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University.

Dr. Salter's research focuses on comparative political economy and institutional analysis. He is interested in monetary economics and macroeconomics, and especially the question of which monetary and macroeconomic institutions best promote economic stability. His research interests also include the economics of governance in the tradition of the Virginia School of political economy, investigating which governance rules effectively align the incentives of governors with the welfare of the governed.

He has authored more than 70 scholarly publications and more than 100 articles for the general public. In 2021, Cambridge University Press published his first book (co-authored with Peter Boettke and Daniel Smith), Money and the Rule of Law: Generality and Predictability in Monetary Institutions.

In addition to conducting scholarly research, Dr. Salter is a senior fellow with the American Institute for Economic Research's Sound Money Project, and serves as an associate editor of The Journal of Private Enterprise.

For more information about Dr. Salter, please visit www.awsalter.com or his Social Science Research Network (SSRN) page: Alexander William Salter.

Recent Publications

Cachanosky, N., Salter, A. W. & Savanti, I. (2022). Can Dollarization Constrain a Populist Leader? The Case of Rafael Correa in Ecuador. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 200: 430-442.

Albrecht, B. C., Hendrickson, J. R. & Salter, A. W. (2022). Evolution, Uncertainty, and the Asymptotic Efficiency of Policy. Public Choice, 192: 169-188.

Cachanosky, N., Cutsinger, B. P., Hogan, T. L., Luther, W. J. & Salter, A. W. (2021). The Federal Reserve's Response to the COVID-19 Contraction: An Initial Appraisal. Southern Economic Journal, 87(4): 1152-1174.

Piano, E. E. & Salter, A. W. (2021). The Fundamental Coase of Development: Property Rights Foundations of the Effective State. Journal of Institutional Economics, 17(1): 37-52.

Salter A.W. (2021) Political Property Rights and Entangled Political Economy. In Hebert D.J., Thomas D.W. (Eds.) Studies in Public Choice: Emergence, Entanglement, and Political Economy (pp. 111-123). Springer Nature.

Working Papers

Recent Op-Eds and Short Articles

May 6, 2022 — America Has Forgotten Its LiberalismWall Street Journal

May 4, 2022 — Lisa Cook is Unqualified for the Federal Reserve Board — AIER Sound Money Project

May 4, 2022 — For the Least of These: Against Inflation Economics — Witherspoon Institute Public Discourse

April 21, 2022 — Jesus a Socialist? That's a MythWall Street Journal

April 8, 2022 — The Fed's Dual Mandate Is RedundantNational Review

April 1, 2022 — Economics for EveryoneLaw and Liberty

March 28, 2022 — Who Needs the Dual Mandate? — AIER Sound Money Project

March 17, 2022 — Mandate drift at the Fed is par for the courseThe Hill

March 13, 2022 — How to Think about Inflation — AIER Sound Money Project

March 7, 2022 — Sarah Bloom Raskin Does Not Belong at the FedWall Street Journal

March 6, 2022 — Salter: Reason for rights: Liberty and the good lifeLubbock-Avalanche Journal

March 3, 2022 — America Abroad: Leader of the Free World or Imperial Power?Divided We Fall

February 17, 2022 — We Need Binding Rules to Solve Our Inflation ProblemsNational Review

February 14, 2022 — Lina Kahn won't solve inflationThe Hill

February 6, 2022 — Salter: Free and equal: Liberty and natural rightsLubbock Avalanche-Journal

February 5, 2022 — Modern monetary theorists have no answer to raging inflationWashington Examiner

February 3, 2022 — Trade less, raid less: Decoupling lowers the risk of war with ChinaFortune

January 22, 2022 — Out-of-control Congress and Fed need binding rulesFox News

January 19, 2022 — How Politicized Economists Got Inflation Wrong—on Both SidesNewsweek

January 6, 2022 — Some Frustrating Economics in the Wall Street Journal — AIER Sound Money Project

December 30, 2021 — The Fed and Inflation: Wrong on AverageNational Review

December 30, 2021 — Instead of BBB, Biden should pursue supply-side liberalismWashington Examiner

December 22, 2021 — Monetary policy is about money, not interest ratesWashington Examiner

December 14, 2021 — Industrial Policy Is Unwise But Not ImpossibleNational Review

December 6, 2021 — Salter: Local liberty and how freedom helps us flourishLubbock Avalanche-Journal

November 16, 2021 — A Space Treaty to Stop the Sky From FallingWall Street Journal

November 9, 2021 — That's Not Real Socialism!National Review

October 28, 2021 — Fed Tapering Won't Beat InflationWall Street Journal

October 18, 2021 — Inflation is More Complex Than You ThinkNational Review

October 6, 2021 — Quit Playing Games with Bank RegulationNational Review

October 5, 2021 — Dangers of a Digital DollarWall Street Journal

September 22, 2021 — Salter: The constitution and the concept of libertyLubbock Avalanche-Journal

September 17, 2021 — Constituting Constitutional Economics — AIER Daily Economy News

September 8, 2021 — Searching for Good Governance — AIER Daily Economy News

August 30, 2021 — The Debt Ceiling Provides a Moment of TruthWall Street Journal

August 29, 2021 — The Economics of Orbital ClutterAerospace Tech Review

August 15, 2021 — Making the dollar as good as goldLubbock Avalanche-Journal

August 15, 2021 — 50 years ago the U.S. closed its gold window, triggering the failure of our monetary systemThe Dallas Morning News

August 4, 2021 — Alexander Salter Letter: The dollar's not-so-golden anniversaryAbilene Reporter News

August 2, 2021 — Lessons for Today From the Gold StandardWall Street Journal

July 25, 2021 — The principles of '76: Libertarianism and the Declaration of IndependenceLubbock Avalanche-Journal

July 22, 2021 — Cuba Reminds Us There Is No Political Freedom without Economic FreedomNational Review

July 20, 2021 — How to stop a flip-flopping FedThe Dallas Morning News

July 13, 2021 — Economically and morally, more immigration is right Washington Examiner

July 11, 2021 — Freedom is not a treasure to hoard but an inheritance for American's to pass onThe Dallas Morning News

July 4, 2021 — Salter: Conserving Liberty: Why Libertarianism deserves a hearing Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

June 29, 2021 — Outer Space Is Becoming the Final Junkyard National Review

June 28, 2021 — Politicians hate Big Tech, but they haven't explained why big is badThe Dallas Morning News

June 28, 2021 — Republicans or the Republic Abilene Reporter News

June 20, 2021 — How inflation hides our real economic problemsThe Dallas Morning News

June 17, 2021 — A new era of constitutional drift Acton Institute

June 17, 2021 — A Public Letter of Concern about the Federal ReserveNational Review

June 15, 2021 — Biden's Signal to the Fed Presumes Too MuchThe Wall Street Journal

June 14, 2021 — What causes disastrous inflation? Money mischief and fiscal folliesWashington Examiner

June 6, 2021 — Salter: Mr. President tradeoffs are not optionalLubbock Avalanche-Journal

June 4, 2021 — Constitutional Conundrums and Fiscal Follies: In Defense of the Articles of ConfederationNational Review

May 28, 2021 — There's Nothing Modern About MMTReason Magazine

May 25, 2021 — Money and the Rule of Law fifteeneightyfour (Cambridge University Press Blog)

May 20, 2021 — Time to rein in Federal Reserve's lawless monetary policyThe Washington Times

May 20, 2021 — 'Common Good' Conservatism's Catholic RootsThe Wall Street Journal

May 18, 2021 — Who's Afraid of Inflation?Washington Examiner

May 4, 2021 — Great Power Competition in the Final Frontier: How to Keep the Peace in SpaceNational Review

May 3, 2021 — A Moral Case for Capitalism — Intercollegiate Studies Institute

April 27, 2021 — Bidenomics is winning without a fightWashington Examiner

April 18, 2021 — Biden 'Stimulus' Will Deaden InnovationThe Wall Street Journal

March 31, 2021 — Is Economics a Liberal Art?National Review

March 30, 2021 — The zombie economics of demand-site fundamentalismWashington Examiner

March 25, 2021 — End the Fed's Mission CreepThe Wall Street Journal

March 16, 2021 — Conservatives will never agree on everything. But this might help them get alongWashington Examiner

March 14, 2021 — America Doesn't Need More StimulusThe Wall Street Journal

March 14, 2021 — Message to Washington: Conserve the nation's capitalLubbock-Avalanche Journal

March 3, 2021 — Will the $1.9 trillion stimulus package cause runaway inflation?The Wall Street Journal

March 2, 2021 — The politics of hearth and homeLubbock-Avalanche Journal

February 28, 2021 — The Federal Reserve Is Financing Future Debt ProblemsThe Wall Street Journal

February 26, 2021 — Conservatives need Congressional supremacyWashington Examiner

February 23, 2021 — The shocking economics of power and pricesWashington Examiner

February 19, 2021 — Is Inflation Still a Thing? National Review

February 18, 2021 — The Federal Reserve is a threat to self-governanceWashington Examiner

February 7, 2021 — By supporting Trumpism, the GOP is in danger of losing libertarian supportThe Dallas Morning News

January 27, 2021 — How Economics Lost Itself in DataThe Wall Street Journal

January 25, 2021 — To 'lower the temperature' raise commitments to federalismThe Hill

January 2, 2021 — Why The Real Villain of 2020 was Big Government — FEE

December 27, 2020 — The Federal Reserve Should Get Back to BasicsThe Wall Street Journal

December 23, 2020 — Beijing's Iron Grip on Corporate ChinaNational Review

December 14, 2020 — Making a Point with Moon RocksNational Review

December 8, 2020 — Profit Keeps Corporate Leaders HonestThe Wall Street Journal

December 2, 2020 — 'Zombie Reaganism' Is Alive and WellNational Review

November 30, 2020 — Letter: Divided government, fed spendingLubbock-Avalanche Journal

November 24, 2020 — How Will Joe Biden Handle Outer Space?National Review

November 6, 2020 — The Artemis Accords: A Giant Leap for Space CommonsNational Review

October 30, 2020 — Let's Make Outer Space the Free Market FrontierNational Review

October 29, 2020 — The least you can do.Lubbock-Avalanche Journal

October 12, 2020 — Fiscal Stimulus Is Ineffective. The Fed Requesting It Is Even Worse.National Review

October 4, 2020 — It's time to reckon with space junkThe Hill

September 28, 2020 — Markets Don't Have Much Reason to Believe the Federal ReserveNational Review

September 26, 2020 — Celestial property rights: How we can achieve a new, commerce-fueled space age — Space News

September 26, 2020 — Money, Markets, and Economic Order — AIER

September 16, 2020 — NASA is Paying for Moon Rocks. The Implications for Space Commerce are Huge — AIER Daily Economy News

September 10, 2020 — Rockets and Profits: How corporations will make us a permanent spacefaring civilizationThe Hill

September 9, 2020 — Meet the New Fed, Same as the Old Fed: Jerome Powell's Inflation Revelation Falls Flat — AIER

September 7, 2020 — Where Does Money Come From — AIER

September 5, 2020 — For-Profit Companies Must be the Backbone of the New Space Age — AIER Daily Economy News

August 31, 2020 — Outer Space Needs Private LawThe Space Review

August 28, 2020 — Why the Attacks on Judy Shelton by Fed Insiders Are Cause for ConcernReal Clear Markets

August 7, 2020 — Judy Shelton is Right About the Gold Standard — AIER

August 3, 2020 — Celestial property rights: How we can achieve a new, commerce fueled space ageSpace News Magazine

July 28, 2020 — The Federal Reserve Is Both Too Politicized and Too Powerful — FEE

July 16, 2020 — That Civilized Relic: A Monetary System as Good as Gold — AIER

July 16, 2020 — A Rush to Mine the Moon Will Be Good for HumanityReal Clear Science

July 8, 2020 — The Fed's Creeping Mandate is Cause for ConcernReal Clear Markets

July 2, 2020 — Don't Let the Fed Use COVID to Justify Irresponsible PoliciesThe American Conservative

June 24, 2020 — COVID-19 Made the Federal Reserve Sick — AIER Daily Economy News

June 21, 2020 — Salter: Money mischief: Fed's response to COVID-19Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

June 12, 2020 — The Fed's state and municipal lending is a bad ideaThe Hill

June 7, 2020 — It's Time to End the Fed's Dual Mandate — AIER

June 2, 2020 — Doux Commerce Amidst the Stars — AIER Daily Economy News

May 22, 2020 — Powell Admits that the Fed's Actions Vastly Exceed Its Mandate — AIER

May 20, 2020 — The Fed is Falling, Again — AIER

May 13, 2020 — How the Fed's COVID-19 Response Undermines Federalism — AIER

May 11, 2020 — The Fed Wants to Become a Financial Central Planner — AIER Daily Economy News

May 4, 2020 — Salter: Federalism is the forgotten idealLubbock Avalanche-Journal

May 3, 2020 — Incompetent Experts and Bad Government — AIER Daily Economy News

April 19, 2020 — Can Medical Supply Autarky Save Us from Pandemics?AIER Daily Economy News

March 15, 2020 — Salter: Your health care is priceless; that's a big problemLubbock Avalanche-Journal

October 4, 2019 — 60 years of space junk: The challenge of orbital debrisThe Hill

September 13, 2019 — Why Progressivism WinsThe American Conservative

September 13, 2019 — Why Aren't There More Conservative Anarchists? On Recovering a Consistent Philosophy of Conservative Anti-StatismFront Porch Republic

Recent Radio and Podcast Interviews

June 14, 2021 — Daniel Smith and Alexander Salter on *Money and the Rule of Law: Generality and Predictability in Monetary Institutions — Mercatus Center's Macro Musings

May 31, 2021 — Money and the Rule of Law: Generality and Predictability in Monetary InstitutionsCato Daily Podcast

April 27, 2021 — Texas Tech's Alexander Salter predicts Biden's stimulus will deaden innovation — AM 650 WIND Chicago's Morning Answer

January 15, 2021 — Classical Liberalism and the Common GoodDiscourse Magazine Podcast

September 16, 2020 — Economist Alex Salter (Texas Tech) on the Fed and profits from spaceThe Ross Kaminsky Show

September 15, 2020 — The Bryan Hyde Show hour two 9-15-2020The Bryan Hyde Show

September 2, 2020 — The Bryan Hyde Show hour two 9-2-2020The Bryan Hyde Show

August 31, 2020 — Ed, Dread, & The FedBorn With a Five O'Clock Shadow

June 2, 2020 — Bob Murphy Show ep 122: Alex Salter on State Capacity and What Really Happened in SomaliaThe Bob Murphy Show

March 18, 2019 — True Conservatism Means AnarchismThe Tom Woods Show

April 30, 2018 — Podcast 4 - Alexander SalterInnovativeGovernance.org

February 6, 2018 — Should Texas Give SpaceX Another $5 Million For Its Brownsville Spaceport?Texas Standard

July 21, 2016 — An Austrian Perspective on Central BankingReinvent Money

October 6, 2015 — Heartland Daily Podcast - Alex Salter: The Legal Policy of Space JunkBudget & Tax News Podcast

Recent Television Interviews and Appearances

November 18, 2022 — Texas Tech expert warning of dangerous space debris after Russian anti-satellite missile test — KAMC Lubbock

December 28, 2020 — Analysis: President Trump signs COVID relief bill — FOX5 Washington DC

December 3, 2020 — SpaceWaves: Avoiding celestial anarchyFreightWaves TV

Contact

Email: alexander.w.salter@ttu.edu
Phone: (806) 834-8186
Offices: 167A Administration
NW307 Rawls College of Business

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