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 President’s Proposed Budget Meets Late Night Television
President Obama’s proposed $4 trillion budget got a taste of late-night television. Comedian Jimmy Fallon joked: “Speaking of Obama, [Monday] he presented a $4 trillion budget that he says would help the middle class. And then the middle class said, ‘You know what, how about just giving us $4 trillion? That will help us. We… -
opinion
There Is a Simple Formula for Unleashing Economic Prosperity
The age old question in economics is this: how does a nation or state create economic growth and rising living standards for its citizens? Once upon a time superstitious economists believed that growth was a function of the constellation of the stars. That kind of belief in astrology as a predictor of growth was no… -
opinion
How Economic Freedom Reduces Poverty
Suppose someone told you there were over two decades of economic data showing the secret of success for every nation in the world and that a Nobel laureate in economics inspired the methodology that was used to analyze that data. Would you sit up and listen? I hope so, because if you did, you would… -
opinion
Support Family-Friendly, Economically-Wise Policies—Not Transportation Pork or Dependency
Is Obama’s new federally-funded infrastructure package the key to strengthening our nation’s families? That’s the argument of W. Bradford Wilcox of the American Enterprise Institute and Robert Lehrman of the Urban Institute in their essay “How to Revive the American Dream in Blue-Collar America.” It’s a misguided policy prescription, the fruit of a commitment to… -
opinion
Sub-Saharan Africa Is Struggling to Achieve Economic and Democratic Freedom
Two new reports show that Africa still has significant room for improvement in the areas of economic and democratic freedom. The Sub-Saharan Africa region improved only slightly in the 2015 edition of The Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal’s annual Index of Economic Freedom: Thirty-nine of the region’s economies remain “mostly unfree” or “repressed.” In the Freedom… -
opinion
106 Budget Cuts Congress Could Make Right Now
It is budget season in Washington and the debate is focused on who wants to increase spending and by how much. But the debate should be focused on how to reduce the size and scope of government. Across the country, Americans remain deeply concerned about growing deficits and debt. Washington’s obsession with increasing the size… -
news
Scott Walker Touts Property Tax Cut, School Choice Expansion in Budget Address
MADISON, Wis.—Gov. Scott Walker unveiled his proposal for Wisconsin’s state budget on Tuesday night, and he did not shy away from offering bold ideas. The second-term Republican governor has proposed a budget for 2015-17 that would cut property taxes again, eliminate the cap on the state’s school choice program, and reform government by merging agencies…. -
opinion
Why Is the United States’ Economic Freedom Ranking So Low?
If you were to rank all the countries of the world based on their level of economic freedom, you'd think the United States would be a shoo-in for first place, right? Surely we would be at least somewhere in the top five. We're not. We're not even in the top 10. Because this isn't a… -
opinion
Annual Defense Spending Has Shrunk By 25% Since 2010. What Should the Defense Budget Be in 2016?
The White House is slated to release its budget request for fiscal year 2016 next Monday, ostensibly kicking off the budget season for Congress. This year, Congress can do much in the way of improving the state of the military by increasing the defense budget to $584 billion. A recently published report, lays out the… -
opinion
Early Indications Are Nothing Was Learned from Last Year’s Defense Budget Mistakes
Several days before the White House release of the fiscal year 2016 budget, the Pentagon leaked its budget request totaling $585 billion. The Department of Defense budget includes $534 billion for the base budget and $51 billion for the overseas contingency operation account, an emergency supplemental that is exempt from the spending caps established in… -
news
Here’s Paul Ryan’s Recipe for Achieving Economic Freedom
Rep. Paul Ryan has a simple recipe for how the U.S. can achieve greater economic freedom. Ryan, R-Wis., said Tuesday that stronger trade policies and stomping out cronyism can make the country’s economy more free. Ryan, speaking at the Heritage Foundation to introduce the 21st edition of the Index of Economic Freedom, joked that he’s… -
opinion
2015 Economic Freedom of Japan
Japan’s economic freedom score is tied for the second highest it’s ever been since the Index of Economic Freedom was first published more than 20 years ago. Scoring a 73.3, Japan ranks 20th in the world for economic freedom, an improvement over the previous year’s rank of 25. It continues to rank sixth among countries… -
opinion
In Index of Economic Freedom, U.S. Is 12th Freest Economy
There is no single formula for overcoming challenges to economic development and maintaining economic dynamism, but one thing is clear: Around the globe, governments that respect and promote economic freedom provide greater opportunities for innovation, progress and human empowerment. The 2015 Index of Economic Freedom, released today, tracks policy developments affecting economic freedom across the… -
opinion
Pushing Reforms in 2015 for Japan’s Economy
This year will be important for Japan’s economic growth as the country continues to struggle to control its debt problem. In the coming months, observers should watch several key indicators of Japan’s economic performance. Given Japan’s economic troubles, it is important that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe push ahead with his “third arrow” reforms, including continued… -
news
There Hasn’t Been One Since 2001. Can This New Budget Chairman Deliver a Balanced Budget?
A balanced budget and health care reform. Those are two things Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., is pledging to deliver as he takes the helm of the House Budget Committee. Price delivered a speech outlining his priorities for the Budget Committee during the 2015 Conservative Policy Summit. Heritage Action for America, the lobbying arm of The… -
news
Facing Budget Shortfall, State Considers ‘Sin Tax’ on Cigarettes
CULLMAN, Ala.—As the power structure in Montgomery looks for ways to make up a budget shortfall in 2015, a state cigarette tax increase may be on the table. Gov. Robert Bentley has said he might sign a bill if it came across his desk after some legislators expressed an interest in targeting cigarettes as a… -
opinion
How the Laffer Curve Changed America’s Economy
It was 40 years ago this month that two of President Gerald Ford’s top White House advisers, Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld, gathered for a steak dinner at the Two Continents restaurant in Washington with Wall Street Journal editorial writer Jude Wanniski and Arthur Laffer, former chief economist at the Office of Management and Budget…. -
news
Why Alan Greenspan Says the US Economy Is Still ‘Sluggish’
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned Americans that despite recent good news, the U.S. economy remains “sluggish.” Greenspan attributes the slow growth to the continued weakness in the capital goods market, saying this sector has been nearly cut in half since the 2008 financial crash. “The United States is doing better than anybody else,… -
opinion
How India Can Unleash Its Economic Potential
“The hope for India lies not in the exceptional Tatas or similar giants, but precisely in the hole-in-the-wall firms, in the small- and medium-size enterprises, in Ludhiana, not Jamshedpur; in the millions of small entrepreneurs who line the streets of every city with their sometimes minuscule shops and workshops. If the tendencies so evident in… -
opinion
The Economy Just Had the Strongest Growth in a Quarter Since 2009
There is no doubt that the economy has languished in its recovery from the Great Recession, which ended more than five years ago. But signs are emerging that it is finally shaking free the weight of President Obama’s anti-growth policies. The latest bit of good news is that the economy grew at 5 percent in the third…