Economy News
The Daily Signal reports on economy news with analysis and commentary on growth, recession risks, employment, and financial trends.
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opinion
Making This Change to Tax System Would Help Businesses, Economy Thrive
Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, is poised to reintroduce legislation that would make permanent so-called “bonus depreciation.” This legislation would enable businesses to deduct half their capital expenses when incurred rather than being forced to wait years before they can deduct their costs. This bill, which represents an important step towards tax reform, would reduce the cost… -
news
Why Donald Trump Won’t Touch Your Entitlements
DES MOINES, Iowa—Donald Trump says if he runs for president he’ll make sure entitlement programs aren’t touched. “I’m not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican and I’m not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid,” Trump told The Daily Signal. “Every other Republican is going to cut, and even if they wouldn’t, they… -
opinion
Program in Trade Bill Likely Hurts, Not Helps, Workers and Promotes Cronyism
This week, the Senate appears likely to move Trade Adjustment Assistance and Trade Promotion Authority as a single package. The ineffective and costly Trade Adjustment Assistance provides generous income support and training to workers displaced by international trade. Trade Promotion Authority, otherwise known as “fast track,” speeds up and limits the legislative approval process of… -
news
Small Business Left With ‘Bitter Taste’ After Deal With Export-Import Bank Goes Sour
For Induction Innovations of Elgin, Ill., the services provided by the Export-Import Bank seemed perfect for a small business. But after purchasing an insurance policy to protect its exports, the company of just 29 employees found itself left with a “bitter taste” from the bank after an overseas buyer failed to pay. “It was not… -
opinion
Government Regulation Is on the Rise Under Obama. This Infographic Explains Why.
The number and cost of government regulations continued to climb in 2014, intensifying Washington’s control over the economy and Americans’ lives. The addition of 27 new major rules pushed the tally for the Obama administration’s first six years to 184, with scores of other rules in the pipeline. The cost of just these 184 rules… -
opinion
The Dirty Secret of How Washington ‘Balances’ the Budget
For the first time in more than five years, Congress has passed a budget plan. The plan would balance the budget by 2024—but only if Congress were to enact additional enabling legislation that would actually accomplish the savings included in their budget. That’s a huge “if.” This is one of Washington’s dirty secrets. Members of… -
opinion
Cartoon: Washington’s Transportation Spending
Heritage's Michael Sargent wrote about the Highway Transit Fund earlier this week: Transportation funding could hit a dead-end at the end of the month. On May 31, the Highway Trust Fund’s authorization to pay for the nation’s highway and mass transit projects will expire. Even worse, the fund is running a $13 billion cash flow… -
news
Delaware Group Pulls Out of US Chamber Over Claim That Export-Import Bank Helps ‘Small’ Businesses
The founder of a chamber of commerce for small businesses is pushing back against claims from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the Export-Import Bank helps small businesses—one of the main points supporters of the government agency make. In an interview with The Daily Signal, Bob Older, founder and chief executive of the Delaware Small… -
news
Does the Export-Import Bank Really Create Jobs?
Many of the Export-Import Bank’s biggest supporters argue the controversial agency creates jobs. But does it really? The Daily Signal reached out to the bank’s biggest supporters—Exporters for Ex-Im, American Action Forum, National Association of Manufacturers, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade—to ask whether Ex-Im creates jobs and, if… -
news
Here’s Where the Prospective 2016 Presidential Field Stands on the Export-Import Bank
There’s been a lot of talk about the Export-Import Bank in the news lately, with debate about the 80-year-old agency ramping up as Congress nears the June 30 deadline for reauthorization. The debate on Ex-Im’s future has also expanded to the campaign trail, where the prospective 2016 presidential field is weighing in on the bank…. -
news
House GOP Leader: It’s Time to ‘Wind Down’ Export-Import Bank
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., tells The Daily Signal that it’s time to “wind down” the Export-Import Bank. “This is a place the speaker [John Boehner] and I disagree upon,” McCarthy says. “I think this is an opportunity to wind down the bank because I think private sector can fill that void.” The Export-Important… -
news
The Valley of Missed Opportunity: One Town’s Fight for Economic Revival
WINDSOR, N.Y.—Marian’s Pizza Shack sits 10 miles north of the Pennsylvania line, an invisible boundary that separates this small business from economic opportunity. After 23 years in business, owner Marian Szarejko has decided to sell her pizza shack. “There are no jobs here,” Szarejko said. “Business has gone down so much that I am dipping into my… -
opinion
After Baltimore, What We Can Do to Rescue Families Trapped in Cultures of Violence, Despair and Joblessness
The scenes of Baltimore set ablaze have many Americans thinking: What can be done to rescue families trapped in an inner-city culture of violence, despair and joblessness? There are no easy answers, but down the road from Baltimore in Washington, D.C., an education program is giving children in poor neighborhoods a big lift up. The… -
news
Can This Controversial Pipeline Boost the Economy and Protect the Environment?
It may seem like one of the smaller, less consequential clashes as environmental fights go, but the battle taking shape over a pipeline that would take natural gas from eastern Pennsylvania to the Trenton, N.J., area is fast becoming a proxy war for larger forces that could threaten the shale revolution on the East Coast… -
opinion
The 7 Steps the Next President Should Take to Boost Our Economy
Foreign policy should work to advance a constructive agenda—something that’s been largely lacking in the Obama era. Hopefully, the next president will come up with appropriate actions to fill that void. As a cornerstone of that effort, I would suggest a commitment to promoting free trade and more liberal markets worldwide. I’ve written before that… -
opinion
April Jobs Report: Unemployment Rate Falls to Lowest Level Since 2008
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ April jobs report contained modestly encouraging economic news. The payroll survey showed employers added just under a quarter million net new jobs in the month while the household survey reported unemployment falling to 5.4 percent—its lowest level since mid-2008. On the whole, the report provided a positive counterpoint to recent… -
news
Worried About ‘Government Picking Winners and Losers,’ Jindal Calls for Closing of Export-Import Bank
Bobby Jindal has become the latest Republican presidential hopeful to call for the end of a federal agency that makes taxpayer-backed loans to foreign businesses and countries to buy U.S. products. “I don’t like … the federal government saying we’re going to decide which companies, which countries to select to help,” the Louisiana governor said,… -
news
For Two Groups on Opposite Sides of the Aisle, Records Requests to Export-Import Bank Return Different Results
For two groups on opposing sides of the political spectrum, requests to the Export-Import Bank for records under the Freedom of Information Act yield different results. In November 2013, Americans for Limited Government filed a Freedom of Information Act request for correspondence between a consulting firm with ties to the Clinton administration and Export-Import Bank… -
news
Mike Huckabee Hopes to Broaden Appeal With Focus on Foreign Policy, Economics
Mike Huckabee, who announced his candidacy for president this morning in Hope, Ark., tells The Daily Signal this election will be dominated equally by foreign policy and the “economics of the working-class people” in America. Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, spoke with The Daily Signal during a recent trip to Iowa. He is the sixth… -
news
As Presidential Contender, Ben Carson Vows to Fix Economy Before Entitlement Programs
Now that retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has officially thrown his hat into the ring as a Republican candidate for president in 2016, he is rolling out his policy proposals. In an interview at his West Palm Beach, Fla., home last November, Carson said entitlement programs don’t need to be touched until the economy is back on the…