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
Trump’s Spending Freeze Will Block Biden’s Leftist Legacy
Amid all the uproar over President Donald Trump’s spending freeze—now delayed by a judge appointed by President Joe Biden—there’s some critical context missing. On Monday, the Office of Management and Budget sent a memo to federal agencies calling for a temporary pause on spending for grants, loans, and financial assistance. (On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge…David Ditch -
- News
How Taxpayers Bankroll Luxury Travel for State AGs and Family Members
Taxpayers are funding expensive international travel of state attorneys general and family members—or what some critics call “junkets”—by paying for their membership in the Attorney General Alliance, a group that has come under scrutiny for ties to lobbyists and corporate donors in recent years. States pay annual $18,000 membership dues to the AGA, which covers…Fred Lucas -
- News
Trump’s Executive Orders Set to Unleash US Economy
“The golden age of America begins right now,” President Donald Trump declared at the beginning of his inaugural address Monday. Keeping with that spirit, the new president unleashed a flurry of executive orders regarding the U.S. economy at the start of his second term. On Day One of his second term, Trump ended federal government…Jacob Adams -
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Trump Nominee to Lead Office of Management and Budget Faces Tough Questions from Democrats and Republicans Alike
Russell Vought, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to direct the Office of Management and Budget, faced tense questioning from both Democrat and Republican senators during his confirmation hearing Wednesday. When Vought previously served in the same office during the first Trump administration, he helped Trump design a new classification for federal employees—“Schedule F”—to reclassify tens of…George Caldwell -
- Opinion
The Shameful Call for Clemency of a Tax Return-Stealing Felon
It is bad enough that President Joe Biden has pardoned hundreds of drug dealers, embezzlers, thieves, and other dangerous criminals; commuted the death sentences of dozens of murderers; released ruthless terrorists from Guantanamo Bay so they can unleash more brutality into the world; and to top it all off, given his son a “get-out-of-jail-free card”…Hans von Spakovsky -
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Felon Who Stole and Leaked Trump’s Tax Returns on Biden’s Clemency List
REALCLEAR INVESTIGATIONS—The Biden administration is formally considering commuting the sentence of the convicted felon who stole and leaked incoming President Trump’s tax records along with those of thousands of other taxpayers, in the biggest tax data heist in U.S. history. A search of the Justice Department’s pardon database reveals Charles Edward Littlejohn—who just began his five-year sentence…Paul Sperry -
- Opinion
Deport Millions, Finish the Wall, Tax Remittances, and End Birthright Citizenship
Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s video from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see more of his videos. I want to talk about illegal immigration. You know, this is the point in our history that we’ve never been before. We have not a porous…Victor Davis Hanson -
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Los Angeles Fire Budget Cut, Hundreds of Hydrants Stolen for Scrap Before Fires
THE CENTER SQUARE—Hundreds of fire hydrants were stolen from the ground for scrap metal in advance of the blazes raging across Los Angeles, highlighting the local government’s challenges in maintaining basic order and infrastructure. “These fire hydrant thefts are yet another sign of how crime is out of control in Los Angeles County,” said Los Angeles District…Kenneth Schrupp -
- Opinion
Fulton County Taxpayers Pay for Fani Willis’ Outrageous Misbehavior—Again
Imagine if you went to Hollywood trying to attract investors for the following movie plot: an incompetent, unethical, but politically ambitious local district attorney criminally indicts a former president (of the opposition political party) and some of his political allies in an abusive prosecution. It is intended to obstruct his ability to run for re-election,…Hans von Spakovsky -
- News
San Francisco Starts Ban on Cash Welfare for Drug Addicts Who Refuse Treatment
THE CENTER SQUARE—San Francisco started its ban on county-funded cash assistance for individuals with substance abuse disorders who refuse to engage in treatment. Measure F, approved by voters in March 2024, applies to the $714 per month payments to housed low-income adults, and $109 per month to homeless individuals who have been in San Francisco for more…Kenneth Schrupp -
- Opinion
PBS Hosts Far-Left Smear Factory to Demonize Trump—Using Your Tax Dollars
PBS, backed by your tax dollars, hosted the leader of a group that compares conservatives to the KKK, and she used the opportunity to demonize President-elect Donald Trump. Then PBS hosted one of her close allies who suggested that America failing to elect Vice President Kamala Harris emboldens misogyny. The two segments make a rather…Tyler O’Neil -
- Opinion
10 New Ideas to Make America’s Economy Great Again in 2025
Here’s my wish list for the incoming Trump administration to make America healthy and prosperous and great again in 2025. 1. Slash Job-Killing Regulations The regulatory state is a $2 trillion tax on the American economy. We all want worker safety, a clean environment, and consumer protections, but in too many cases the costs of…Stephen Moore -
- News
NEW PATH FORWARD: Conservative Member Charts a Different Course After 2 Failed Must-Pass Spending Bills
After the second must-pass bill to fund the government failed in the House of Representatives Thursday night, a conservative member who voted against the spending bill called for a new path forward. Republican and Democratic leadership in the House and Senate drafted a compromise bill, known as a continuing resolution, to fund the government through…Tyler O’Neil -
- Opinion
Why Are Americans Still Feeling the Economic Squeeze?
The Biden-Harris administration sought to redefine a “recession,” and almost every jobs report for the last four years has been revised downward. There is a grand plan to convince Americans that the economy is fine—but are they buying it? If the economy is in good shape, why is our government lying about growth, and why…Richard Stern -
- Opinion
Your Tax Dollars Not at Work
Government excels at NOT getting things done. But politicians promise more things anyway. Kamala Harris declared that our government would “build thousands of miles of fiber-optic cable!” This “broadband connectivity agenda” was supported by “every House Republican on Energy and Commerce,” write Republican representatives. Three years later, not a single person has been connected. Why?…John Stossel -
- Opinion
Politics of Economic Redistribution, RIP
Whatever happened to the Democrats’ reputation as the party favoring the working man? Put another way, what happened to the Democrats as the party promising economic redistribution from the rich to the average man? Those are questions that Democrats are asking after Vice President Kamala Harris’ decisive, but not landslide, loss to President-elect Donald Trump….Michael Barone -
- Opinion
Radical NLRB Chief Should Be Replaced, Not Reappointed
Senators, yes, it’s the holiday season and a lame-duck session, but don’t get distracted from the reason you’re in Washington—namely, to improve Americans’ lives. Unfortunately, some Republican senators are failing to show up for votes to block outgoing President Joe Biden’s nominees, allowing Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to easily shepherd eight federal Biden…Carrie Sheffield -
- News
Here’s How Much Taxpayers Spent on ‘Gender Transition’ Services for Kids
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—The Biden-Harris administration opened the door for a massive increase of taxpayer-funded transgender interventions, including child sex-change surgeries, and the Daily Caller News Foundation has obtained enough data to give a partial estimate of the cost. From January 2018 to September 2023, 16 states spent more than $165 million funding “gender transition…Megan Brock -
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‘Accountability Is Coming’: Iowa’s Ernst Sends Musk’s DOGE $2T Worth of Ways to Gut Government Spending
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Sen. Joni Ernst sent Department of Government Efficiency cochairmen Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy a letter Monday with ideas for budget cuts that could save the federal government more than $2 trillion. Trump named Musk and Ramaswamy as cochairmen of DOGE on Nov. 12. In the seven-page letter, Ernst’s…Harold Hutchison -
- Opinion
Last, Best Hope to Lasso National Debt?
Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of the accompanying video from professor Peter St. Onge. The Biden administration is handing President-elect Donald Trump a lit fuse on a $37 trillion debt bomb. Because they’ve added $12 trillion in debt over the past four years—more than we added in the first 220 years of…Peter St. Onge