Articles by James M. Roberts

 

Spain: Get Economic Freedom Out of the Shadows

James M. Roberts | February 19, 2014

Spain’s economy is finally pulling out of its recession, with growth accelerating from a standstill to a snail’s pace. This is a good sign for… Read More

 

Heritage Takes the Message of Economic Freedom to Ukraine

James M. Roberts | February 18, 2014

The Heritage Foundation sought to bring a small measure of encouragement to Ukrainians this week as they continue their months-long protests for democratic and market… Read More

 

Corruption Blocks Influence of Foreign Aid

James M. Roberts | February 09, 2014

Why do some nations that receive U.S. foreign aid year after year never seem to improve, or move beyond the dependency phase? Perhaps the largest… Read More

 

Ukraine: Despite Calm on the Surface, the Political Crisis Boils on Below

James M. Roberts | February 06, 2014

Last Saturday morning, a Ukrainian television journalist, Oleh Kryshtopa, awoke to find that his car had been set on fire overnight. Witnesses reported seeing three… Read More

 

Protesters in Ukraine Are Demanding Economic Freedom

James M. Roberts | January 29, 2014

The headlines coming out of Ukraine are tragic—and inspiring. Ukrainians are risking their lives and property for independence, a path to Europe, and freedom from… Read More

 

Congress Tells MCC to Get Back to Basics

James M. Roberts | January 28, 2014

Buried in the 1,582-page, trillion-dollar “omnibus” budget bill for fiscal year 2014 is some very tough language that in essence orders the Millennium Challenge Corporation… Read More

Security

In Cristina Kirchner’s Argentina, Christmas Shoppers Are Muscled Aside by Looters

James M. Roberts | December 26, 2013

Earlier this month, widespread looting broke out in “at least 19 of Argentina’s 23 provinces” when mobs took advantage of strikes by police demanding pay… Read More

Economy

Ecuador: Chevron Trial Illustrates Poor Investment Climate

James M. Roberts | December 17, 2013

Press coverage of the just-concluded testimony phase of a racketeering trial in a New York federal court provides an excellent recent illustration of the behind-the-scenes… Read More

Economy 

Did Argentina’s Lack of Economic Freedom Influence the Views of Pope Francis?

James M. Roberts | December 11, 2013

Next month, The Heritage Foundation will send a brand-new copy of the 2014 Index of Economic Freedom to the Vatican in hopes that Pope Francis… Read More

 

Help Typhoon Victims by Making U.S. Food Aid More Flexible

James M. Roberts | November 25, 2013

The New York Times reports that debate over the shape of a U.S. government program to help millions of victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the… Read More

 

Obama’s MCC Rewards Bad Behavior in El Salvador

James M. Roberts | September 20, 2013

Last week, the U.S. government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) approved a five-year, $277 million foreign aid compact with El Salvador. But, as Mary O’Grady reports… Read More

 

Political Football Commercials? Just Be Glad You’re Not in Argentina

James M. Roberts | September 08, 2013

The Obama Administration wanted to advertise Obamacare during NFL games this fall, but the NFL turned them down (although some individual teams have agreed to… Read More

Energy

Energy: As Mexico Finally Enters the 21st Century, Obama Parties Like It’s 1938

James M. Roberts | August 30, 2013

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto recently announced the first, very timid steps to take Mexico’s energy sector—famously nationalized in 1938 by then-President Lázaro Cárdenas—forward into… Read More

 

Millennium Challenge Corporation Goes Off Course in Georgia

James M. Roberts | July 29, 2013

The U.S. government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Board of Directors recently approved a five-year, $140 million compact with the nation of Georgia “to increase the… Read More

Economy

Young Africans Need Economic Freedom, Not Lectures About Climate Change

James M. Roberts | July 03, 2013

Speaking to students during his recent trip to Africa, President Obama said that “if everybody is raising living standards to the point where everybody has… Read More

 

Heritage Analysts: What We Saw in Venezuela

James M. Roberts | April 10, 2013

The situation encountered by Heritage analysts on the ground in Venezuela last week was of a country that has been looted and is falling apart—literally… Read More

Economy

Conservative Chileans Appreciated Margaret Thatcher

James M. Roberts | April 10, 2013

The death of Margaret Thatcher received extensive media coverage in Chile, proving that the “Dama de Hierro” (“Iron Lady”) is still capable of stirring powerful… Read More

 

Good News! Obama’s Sequester Cuts USDOC Programs!

James M. Roberts | March 28, 2013

As if we didn’t have enough to worry about, earlier this month an official from the U.S. Department of Commerce (USDOC) warned that many activities… Read More

 

Death of Chavez Could Resurrect Economic Freedom in Venezuela

James M. Roberts | March 12, 2013

Although Hugo Chavez just died last week in Caracas, economic freedom predeceased him in Venezuela by at least a decade. When Chavez took power in… Read More

EconomyNews

Stop Sending Foreign Aid to the U.S.

James M. Roberts | March 06, 2013

If the Obama Administration is looking for places to make sequestration cuts, it can start with the Economic Development Administration (EDA). In late August 1965,… Read More

Economy

Declining Economic Freedom and Growing Statism: The BRICs Are Hitting the Wall

James M. Roberts | February 15, 2013

Economist Nouriel Roubini warned late last month at the World Economic Forum that economic growth in the so-called BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China)… Read More

 

U.S. and EU Should Take a Firm Stand for Rule of Law in Latin America

James M. Roberts | January 30, 2013

In 2011, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez organized the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in 2011 specifically to serve as a regional body… Read More

Economy

Foreign Aid: There Are Many Ways Conservatives Can—and Should—Help the Poor

James M. Roberts | January 25, 2013

Daniel Hannan, a member of the European Parliament and one of Great Britain’s rising conservative political stars, reminds us that the fundamental error of the… Read More

Economy

The United States of Argentina?

James M. Roberts | January 18, 2013

Is President Obama channeling Juan Perón? The President does seem to have a few things in common with the political descendants of the late Argentine… Read More

 

GAO Cites Waste in U.S. Food Aid Programs—But Does Not Call for Budget Cuts

James M. Roberts | December 26, 2012

Senator Tom Coburn (R–OK) and others in Congress have repeatedly expressed concerns about “fragmentation, overlap, and duplication” in non-emergency food aid programs administered by the… Read More

Economy

Brazil’s Corruption Holds Back Economic Freedom

James M. Roberts | December 05, 2012

Fresh charges of corruption are shaking up the Workers Party of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, as The Wall Street Journal reported last week. Reforms are… Read More

 

Argentina: Massive Protests Against Statism and Corruption

James M. Roberts | November 09, 2012

Dubbed by organizers as “the Protest of 8N” (for November 8), thousands—perhaps hundreds of thousands—of Argentines jammed the streets of Buenos Aires last night to… Read More

Economy

U.S. Drops Out of Top 10 in Latest Legatum Prosperity Index

James M. Roberts | October 30, 2012

In an unprecedented fall, the U.S. dropped out of the top 10 for the first time in the 2012 Legatum Prosperity Index that was published… Read More

 News

Argentina’s Ship of State Hits Choppy Waters

James M. Roberts | October 24, 2012

It’s Spring Break in Argentina, and tens of thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets to protest the policies of President Cristina Fernández de… Read More

 

Private Financial Info at Risk If Ecuador’s Government Takes Over Credit Rating Agencies

James M. Roberts | October 16, 2012

Earlier this month, Ecuador’s National Assembly passed legislation that would nationalize the country’s private credit reporting industry. President Rafael Correa has to decide by November… Read More