Articles by J.D. Foster

Energy

Obama’s Economic Slide

J.D. Foster | August 27, 2010

The Commerce Department today revised down its estimate for second quarter gross domestic product from 2.4 percent to 1.6 percent. This is not a sign… Read More

Economy

The Report on Stimulus CBO Wishes Would Go Away

J.D. Foster | August 26, 2010

Pity the poor Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director. Congress passes and the President signs the most massive fiscal stimulus program in history, spending more money… Read More

Economy

Slicing the Bagel Reveals VAT Flaws

J.D. Foster | August 25, 2010

Washington think tanks and commentators continue to spin out impressive reams attempting to explain the necessity and virtues of adding a value-added tax (VAT) on… Read More

Economy

Whether Taxpayers Face Tax Hikes or Tax Cuts in January is A Matter of Perspective

J.D. Foster | August 17, 2010

Unless Congress and the President intervene legislatively, federal income taxes will soar on January 1, 2011 for millions of middle- and upper-income Americans. Tax relief… Read More

Economy

Another Recession, Already?

J.D. Foster | August 12, 2010

When economists forecast the economy, they tend to draw straight lines. They figure out where we are and where we’re going, and they plot a… Read More

Economy

What Boehner Should Have Told Gregory

J.D. Foster | August 10, 2010

The mainstream media is having a field day with House Minority Leader John Boehner’s (R–OH) less-than-stellar handling of a simple “when did you stop beating… Read More

Economy

Points to Ponder as the Fed Gathers

J.D. Foster | August 10, 2010

The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee meets today in the face of tremendous economic uncertainty. In light of last week’s dismal jobs report and related… Read More

Economy

WaPo Fails Tax Policy 101

J.D. Foster | August 09, 2010

There are many reasons tax reform remains a distant dream. Not “tax reform” disguising a tax hike as the Obama Administration envisions, but tax reform… Read More

 

NYT Laments the Failure of a Doomed Policy

J.D. Foster | August 09, 2010

The New York Times got it half-right. Friday’s jobs report was highly discouraging, causing the Times to reflect that “there’s just no positive spin for… Read More

Economy

Another Obama Economist Jumps Ship

J.D. Foster | August 06, 2010

According to reports, Christina Romer, Chairman of the President’s Council of Economics Advisers (CEA) is calling it quits.  Why does this matter? Another ignored economist… Read More

Economy

What Recovery Summer?

J.D. Foster | August 06, 2010

The Obama Administration announced “Recovery Summer” in June to highlight the expected gains in jobs and economic strength resulting from Obama’s stimulus.. Well, maybe next… Read More

Economy

It’s Official: Medicare’s Finances Shadowed by Uncertainty

J.D. Foster | August 05, 2010

If you do a quick read of the Medicare Trustees Report, it would seem that Medicare’s finances have dramatically improved since last year. The 2010… Read More

Economy

Congress Reaches New Heights of Tax Hike Cynicism

J.D. Foster | August 05, 2010

Progress is often a matter of higher, faster, further—profits are higher, computer chips are faster, cars run further on a gallon of gas. In Washington,… Read More

Economy

Tax Cut Myth Busting, Round 2

J.D. Foster | August 03, 2010

Bill Gale’s discussion of the five myths about the Bush tax cuts was an unusually slanted piece from a normally straight-shooting liberal economist. With respect… Read More

Economy

Liberals’ Deficit Chicken Is Taxpayers’ Soaring Eagle

J.D. Foster | July 29, 2010

Liberals are desperate to bully or chide the rest of the country into accepting massive new taxes to support the recent federal spending surge. Many… Read More

Economy

Reid’s Deficit Addiction Is Blocking Unemployment Benefits Extension

J.D. Foster | July 19, 2010

There’s only one reason nearly 2 million American former workers are without unemployment benefits today: Senator Reid (D-NV) and his Democratic colleagues’ addiction to deficit… Read More

Economy

Greenspan’s Economics Trips on His Naïve Politics, Again

J.D. Foster | July 16, 2010

Alan Greenspan recently gave a Bloomberg News interview with Judy Woodruff. His agenda was redemption. Hers was politics. She got what she wanted. In the… Read More

 

On Stimulus, Krugman Feints, Mankiw Parries, Both Miss

J.D. Foster | July 08, 2010

It often happens that flawed theories put into practice expose their internal inconsistencies for all to see before long. We now see this playing out… Read More

 

Democrats Mean to Raise Middle Class Taxes in 2011

J.D. Foster | July 08, 2010

Imagine a Congress running in a tough environment—the electorate is angry; a war is going badly; the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high. And imagine such… Read More

Economy

Congress’ Small Business Tax Schizophrenia

J.D. Foster | July 02, 2010

An old saying applicable to dysfunctional organizations is that the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. The President and Congress have… Read More

Economy

Hoyer Makes, and Misses, His Mark

J.D. Foster | June 23, 2010

Over the past weekend Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the House Majority Leader, gave one of the most expansive and surprising speeches of the year.  State-of-the-Unionesque in… Read More

 

Obama Sings “Spend On” While Europe Acts to Dampen a Crisis

J.D. Foster | June 22, 2010

Just what Kool-Aid are they drinking in the White House?  The question is occasioned almost daily now, but today’s issue isn’t Afghanistan, the oil spill,… Read More

Economy

Still Not Greece, But Getting Closer Every Day

J.D. Foster | June 17, 2010

The Washington Post reported today that the International Monetary Fund and various world governments warned U.S. officials years ago that “escalating financial problems” in the… Read More

Economy

A Humorous Look At The World Economy

J.D. Foster | May 31, 2010

There’s nothing funny about the state of America’s finances, or those in even more dire straights in Europe. Greece has lined up a bailout from… Read More

Energy

Leveling the Budget Playing Field by Fixing A Kinky CBO

J.D. Foster | May 28, 2010

Americans believe in fair play. They believe in equal opportunity, equal treatment under the law, a level playing field. We have so many expressions for… Read More

Economy

The Message to the U.S. in Germany’s Ascension

J.D. Foster | May 20, 2010

Germany has taken the clear lead as the European sovereign debt crisis unfolds. This is an obvious outcome because of Germany’s relatively tight rein on… Read More

Economy

We’re Not Greece … Yet

J.D. Foster | May 14, 2010

In his latest New York Times column, Paul Krugman manages to make some useful observations before slipping into his usual role of distorting propagandist. His… Read More

Economy

Congress Deserves Better from the CBO

J.D. Foster | May 13, 2010

While the supposedly non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has tended toward a more partisan cast of late, in one matter at least the CBO appears… Read More

Economy

Closing the Deficit Requires an Open Mind, Not an Open Wallet

J.D. Foster | May 12, 2010

The typically staid pages of the Washington Post Business Section were graced this morning with subtle humor from the virtual pen of the ever-sober, oft… Read More

 

No US Taxpayer Dollars for Greek Bailouts

J.D. Foster | May 06, 2010

The European Union (EU) has gone hat in hand to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for assistance in bailing out one of its own. Greece… Read More