Economic Policy News

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released its updated budget estimates for 2016 to 2026. As expected, the report reiterates the grim projections reported by Congressional Budget Office in January. The message is clear: Spending, deficits, and debt are rising at an unsustainable rate that is leading the nation down a path to fiscal disaster….

Budgets identify priorities. Whether they are for an individual, a family, a business, or a government, a budget is a choice to spend money on certain things and not on others. Once a budget is done, its usefulness is that it ensures we have enough money for the things we really need and that we…

Nearly everyone in America understands what it means—and what is required—to live within a budget. Regardless of zip code or economic status, most people can spend only as much as they earn. One person’s paycheck may be twice the size as his neighbor’s, but neither may continually spend beyond their means. The one glaring exception…

This week the House Budget Committee presented its budget proposal for fiscal year 2017 to the American people. The proposal spends too much, cuts too little, and is riddled with gimmicks that thwart the goal of honestly balancing the budget. This is not what a conservative budget looks like. This budget’s primary relevance is how much…

March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day, when all things Irish get celebrated. Before we make another toast with a pint of smooth Guinness or whatever drinks you prefer, it’s worth taking a look at the state of the Irish economy to see how impressively the Celtic Tiger has made its roaring comeback. According to the…

The newly released House budget proposal would increase defense spending in future years, but for the 2017 fiscal year it goes in the wrong direction. First, the good: In the 2018 fiscal year and beyond, the budget proposal would increase defense above current levels (although still below the Heritage Blueprint for Balance). Congress must increase…

Three out of every four Americans say Congress should not increase spending. That’s not 73 percent of the Tea Party, or 73 percent of the Republican Party. That’s 73 percent of all Americans who say Congress should not increase federal spending. Republicans seem to have missed that message. Since 2013, the GOP has consistently proposed…

Over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) expects total spending (outlays) to rise by almost 5 percent annually, with spending totaling nearly $51.4 trillion over the entire period. At this rate, spending growth would significantly outpace revenue growth, resulting in more than $9 trillion in cumulative deficits, which would drive debt to devastating…

This week President Barack Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services reached the startling conclusion that if massive welfare programs such as food stamps and the refundable earned income credit are counted as income, poverty is reduced. Not even incompetent government bureaucracies can spend a trillion dollars per year and have no effect on living…

Justin Trudeau, Canada’s new prime minister, is currently visiting Washington to deepen ties with President Barack Obama and make headway on an ambitious left-leaning agenda on a wider range of issues. From an economics perspective, the summit is basically like Trudeaunomics-meets-Obamanomics, which can double the risk of undermining Canada’s economic freedom and dynamism. Under the…

If Kanye West’s personal finances have you worried, take a closer look at the federal budget. When West announced in February that he was $53 million in personal debt, he took to Twitter to ask for help from his followers, specifically soliciting $1 billion from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Unfortunately, the federal government seems to…

House Republicans are trying to develop a budget that both is fiscally responsible and increases defense spending. Unfortunately, the latest proposal underfunds defense and overfunds wasteful domestic programs, and House Republicans are headed for a political buzz saw if they shortchange current military operations to pay for defense increases elsewhere. This gimmick will distract from vital policy…

As Michigan voters head to the polls on Tuesday, they should ask candidates whether they will leave in place costly regulations that have added thousands to the price of new cars and depressed sales for the state’s iconic industry. Federal regulations that force ever-increasing automobile fuel economy standards cost consumers thousands of dollars more than…

When you buy an antique on eBay or use Lyft for taxi service, you’re a customer in the growing “gig economy.” According to new research from the JPMorgan Chase Institute, about 1 in 100 American adults receives income via one of these new “online earning platforms” each month. That’s not a big share of the…