Economic Policy News
The Daily Signal provides economic policy news with reporting, analysis, and commentary on markets, growth, and fiscal responsibility.
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- Opinion
The IRS May Be Underfunded But It Still Deserved to Have Its Budget Cut
IRS Commissioner Josh Koskinen complained recently about Congress cutting the agency’s budget by $350 million in the recent budget deal. Koskinen warns that taxpayer service will be hurt because the IRS will have to furlough employees and make other adjustments because of the reduction of funding. The IRS has an impossible job. It is tasked…Curtis Dubay -
- Opinion
Why Are We Spending a Billion Dollars on Government Preschool?
President Obama’s administration just announced a $1 billion initiative ($750 million in federal grants and the remainder from private funding) to enroll more children in government preschool programs. The new measure was announced formally at the White House Summit on Early Education last week. The push comes on the heels of President Obama’s speech on…Lindsey Burke -
- Opinion
What Happened in the Last Economic Slump the Government Didn’t Try to Fix
James Grant’s excellent new book, The Forgotten Depression: 1921: The Crash That Cured Itself, tells the story of “America’s last governmentally untreated depression.” Just prior to the Roaring Twenties, the U.S. went into a deep economic slump but soon recovered—despite no active government stimulus policies. That sort of government inaction, of course, is very different…Norbert Michel -
- Opinion
The Fed’s Attempt to Kickstart the Economy Simply Isn’t Working
The Federal Reserve should stop trying to stimulate the economy for two reasons. First, the policies it has enacted so far have contributed very little to the economic recovery. Second, it likely has reached the limits of what monetary policy can do to boost the economy. The Fed’s unconventional “quantitative easing” programs have filled the…Norbert Michel -
- News
House Narrowly OKs Government Spending Bill as Wrangling Goes Down to the Wire
With a midnight deadline looming, the House of Representatives tonight voted 219-206 to pass a $1.1 trillion spending bill to keep the government running. “My job tonight is to say thank you and Merry Christmas,” House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told lawmakers at the conclusion of the vote. Conservatives were unhappy that the spending measure…Melissa Quinn -
- Opinion
Omnibus Bill Keeps Welfare Spending at Massive Levels
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty. Since that time, annual means-tested welfare spending has increased by 16-fold, now costing taxpayers nearly $1 trillion a year. And the omnibus bill keeps spending at this sky-high level. The means-tested welfare system is massive and is the fastest growing part of government spending. The…Rachel Sheffield -
- News
Government Spending Bill Faces Uncertain Fate
With a deadline looming to avoid another partial shutdown of government, members of Congress, staffers and interest groups are gearing up for a House vote Thursday on a long-awaited spending bill, which arrived at the 11th hour. Republicans and Democrats released the text of the massive government-funding bill late Tuesday night. Dubbed the “CRomnibus” for its marriage of…Melissa Quinn -
- Opinion
Bad News for Kids: Huge New Spending Bill Doesn’t Include Much of a Reprieve From Harsh School Lunch Rules
The new spending bill, or as it’s been dubbed on Twitter, the #CRomnibus, doesn’t include even a temporary waiver provision to give some schools a reprieve from new and problematic federal school meal standards. The USDA’s new school lunch and breakfast requirements, implementing the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, have been a disaster. The overly prescriptive…Daren Bakst -
- News
38 Tweets About #CRomnibus, the Government Spending Bill Inspiring Bipartisan Opposition
Last night, House Republicans released a massive $1.1 trillion spending bill that would fund most of the government through Sept. 30, 2015. Here’s how you’re reacting to the news on Twitter. Brace yourselves. The $1 trillion pork-stuffed #cromnibus has landed. Thud: http://t.co/2q8dH6I8kz — Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) December 10, 2014 Rank-and-file split on #cromnibus funding bill:…Robert B. Bluey -
- Opinion
Education Spending Spree Continues Apace in Omnibus
The omnibus bill was released Tuesday night. Here are some key details about what it does regarding education spending. Maintains historically high levels of federal education spending. At all levels, the spending measure maintains elevated levels of federal spending and intervention in education. Maintains high levels of funding for Head Start. The spending bill increases…Lindsey Burke -
- Opinion
No Excuses for ‘CRomnibus’ Spending Bill
At more than 1,600 pages, Congress’s $1.1 trillion behemoth spending bill funding almost all government agencies through September 2015 has arrived. For those keeping track, Congress had ample time to debate its 12 spending bills and give lawmakers a real opportunity to address out-of-control federal spending. But it was not to be. The “CRomnibus” spending bill…Romina Boccia -
- Opinion
Average Federal Spending Per Household Nearly $30K
Did you know that the National Institutes of Health spent $374,000 to find out if a puppet show would convince preschoolers to eat more vegetables? Or that the Department of Agriculture gave $50,000 to a business that packs and sells alpaca manure? Your tax dollars paid for it–and much more. In 2014, federal spending per…Spencer Woody -
- Opinion
Americans Are Spending 42 Percent More on Health Insurance Than They Did in 2007
Data on consumer spending show that spending on health insurance surged 42 percent from 2007 to 2013, according to analysis by the Wall Street Journal. The rise reflects the increasing cost of health insurance and the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that everyone buy extensive health insurance. Another feature shown by the data is the movement…Salim Furth -
- Opinion
Relief from the Hagel Budgets
Secretary Chuck Hagel served as the head of the Department of Defense (DOD) for a grand total of 21 months and, like those previous to him, was an enabler to President Obama’s misguided foreign policy. As the world continues to deteriorate, the next Secretary of Defense will have to do what previous Secretaries have failed…Diem Salmon -
- Opinion
The Budget Control Act Is Sending America’s Military Back in Time
Three years ago, Congress passed the Budget Control Act (BCA) in an attempt to curb spending and begin reducing the deficit. Sequestration was included in the BCA to motivate lawmakers to agree to additional deficit-reduction measures, including reductions in entitlement spending. Regrettably, the super committee squandered the opportunity to address the key drivers of spending…Greg Andrews -
- Opinion
It’s the Culture, Stupid: Welfare Programs Can’t Solve Economic Gap Created by Marriage Decline
This may be a surprising statement from a bleary-eyed, number-crunching economist, but the best anti-poverty program in America may not be tax cuts, debt reduction or regulatory relief, but rather that old-fashioned institution called marriage. It turns out that poverty rates are very low among intact families and prevalent among homes without a father. Children…Stephen Moore -
- Opinion
Employment Numbers Improving, but Economic Recovery Still Sluggish
The Bureau of Labor Statistic’s October employment report showed solid economic growth, but it also shows why many Americans report unhappiness with the economy. The headline figures contained good news. The household survey reported unemployment falling slightly—0.1 percentage points to 5.8 percent—the lowest rate since July 2008. People dropping out of the labor force did…James Sherk -
- News
This City Is Spending Big Bucks on Artsy Stop Signs
ST. PAUL, Minn. — St. Paul may be predictably progressive, but the powers at City Hall enthusiastically embrace the “1 percent.” The 1 percent, that is, of costs automatically taken off the top of local government construction projects, under a city ordinance mandating taxpayer-funded public art. Form counts as much as function in city infrastructure…Tom Steward -
- Opinion
Tunisians Bravely Embrace Democracy, Calling for Greater Economic Freedom
Holding a free and fair election without violence, Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring, has defied skeptics once again and continues its bottom-up democratic transition from despotism. On Sunday, October 26, Tunisians peacefully cast critical ballots in their country’s first full parliamentary election under the constitution they adopted early this year. With leading secular party Nidaa Tounes (Tunisia’s Call) surprisingly outperforming the moderate Islamist party Ennahda (Renaissance party), the 217 members voted…Anthony B. Kim -
- Opinion
Top 7 Wackiest Examples of Wasteful Government Spending from Wastebook 2014
Rabbit massages, laughing classes, and watching the grass grow–these are just a few examples of where your tax dollars went this year. During a time when many families have made financial sacrifices to make ends meet, the federal government continues to spend. Washington politicians continue to claim their levels of spending are necessary and that…Spencer Woody