Economy News
The Daily Signal reports on economy news with analysis and commentary on growth, recession risks, employment, and financial trends.
-
news
Budget Chief Prescribes Less Government Spending as Key to Draining Swamp
Fiscal responsibility is key to draining the swamp, the White House budget chief said Saturday in remarks to an annual gathering of conservative activists outside Washington. “We cannot permanently drain the swamp if we don’t reduce spending in agencies that are regulating the American people, that are filling the offices across the country, the accounts,… -
opinion
Strengthening America’s Economic Engagement With Africa
America’s first trade deal with a sub-Saharan African country is in the works, and the results could be significant. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta announced they would pursue a free trade agreement between the two countries. With about $1 billion in trade with the U.S. annually, Kenya is East… -
news
Trump’s Budget Weighs In at $4.8 Trillion, Projects Deficits Until 2035
The Trump administration on Monday presented a $4.8 trillion spending proposal for fiscal 2021 to Congress that would balance the federal budget in 15 years, cut foreign aid, and boost the nuclear arsenal. President Donald Trump’s spending plan also asks Congress to increase spending for border security, infrastructure, and NASA. “The plan offered today proposes… -
opinion
Economy Adds 225,000 Jobs as Nation Continues to Flourish
The U.S. economy added an impressive 225,000 jobs in January as low unemployment rates continued for all Americans. The new jobs report shatters the experts’ predictions and continues to make the case that, because of good economic policy, America is flourishing. This report shows that since President Donald Trump was elected in November 2016, employment… -
opinion
An Economics Reality Check
I have been teaching economics since 1967—40 years of it at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. During that interval, economic reality has not changed. Just as Galileo’s law about the independent influence of gravity on falling objects has not changed, neither have the fundamental principles of economics. Economics is fun and simple. It’s made… -
news
Amid Impeachment Trial, Trump Signs Major Trade Deal With Canada, Mexico
President Donald Trump has signed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the trade deal replacing the Clinton-era North American Free Trade Agreement, keeping a key campaign promise on trade that strayed somewhat from Republican tradition. “This is something we really put our heart into,” Trump said at the bill-signing ceremony Wednesday on the South Lawn outside the White… -
opinion
5 Takeaways From the Latest Budget Projections
The Congressional Budget Office has released its budget and economic projections for fiscal years 2020-2030. The latest report confirms what the Congressional Budget Office has been telling lawmakers for years: The nation is hurtling toward a spending-driven debt crisis. Without major reforms to mandatory spending programs, it is not a question of if, but when,… -
opinion
We Hear You: Sex Ed, Student Loans, and Government Spending
Editor's note: Here's some of what's on the minds of The Daily Signal's audience, straight out of the ol' inbox. Please don't neglect to write us at [email protected].—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: As one of the principal organizers of the defeat of Washington state’s “comprehensive sexual health education bill” in 2018, I am writing to… -
opinion
US-China Trade Deal Is a Welcome First Step
President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on Wednesday signed Phase 1 of the U.S.-China Economic and Trade Agreement. The long-awaited deal is the result of two years of tough trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing. Over this period, new taxes have been placed on hundreds of billions of traded goods across the… -
opinion
What You Need to Know About New US-China Trade Deal
Will the new deal boost the American economy? Is it normal for a trade deal to demand one party spend a certain amount? Will it curb China’s theft of intellectual property from U.S. companies? Riley Walters, a policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation who focuses on Asia’s economy and technology, has answers. Read a lightly… -
opinion
Andrew Cuomo Is Wrong. The Gig Economy Isn’t Like a Sweatshop at All.
In his State of the State address on Jan. 8, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo likened 21st-century gig-economy corporations to late 18th- and early 19th-century sweatshops, the latter characterized as such for their poor working conditions, exploitation of workers, and violations of labor laws. By asserting that entirely optional gig and contract-based work “is exploitive,… -
news
145,000 Jobs Added in December, Unemployment at 3.5%
The U.S. economy added 145,000 jobs in December, while the unemployment rate remained at 3.5%, according to Department of Labor data released Friday. In December, 145,000 jobs were added, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report—about 121,000 fewer jobs than were added in November. Decembers’ unemployment rate remained steady at 3.5%, matching September’s unemployment rate, the… -
opinion
Federal Spending Explodes at Nearly $300,000 Per Household Since 2010
Amid the drama surrounding impeachment, both parties came together on one area of shared support: spending enormous amounts of taxpayer dollars and adding to the $23.1 trillion national debt. Congress had little time to properly review fiscal 2020 spending bills, which weighed in at more than 2,000 pages of clunky text. The legislation contained a… -
news
House Votes Overwhelmingly to Pass US-Mexico-Canada Trade Deal
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed President Donald Trump's trade deal with Mexico and Canada on Thursday, just one day after it voted to impeach him. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which sets rules for moving products among the three countries, passed with a vote of 385-41. The Senate will be able to vote to ratify the… -
opinion
Washington Post Concedes That Government Spending on Education Has Increased, Not Decreased
“The biggest problem plaguing U.S. public schools [is] a lack of resources.” So claims Robert Pianta, dean of the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education, in an op-ed published last week in The Washington Post. In fact, Pianta asserts, government spending on K-12 education actually has declined since the 1980s. These claims are inaccurate,… -
opinion
‘An Incredible Economic Boom’: The Effects of the 2017 Tax Cuts
Monica Crowley, Treasury Department assistant secretary of public affairs, joins the podcast to talk about the “incredible economic boom” that followed the tax reform passed in 2017. Read the lightly edited transcript, posted below, or listen on the podcast: Rachel del Guidice: The Daily Signal Podcast is coming to you from the U.S. Treasury Department… -
opinion
What Does ‘The Irishman’ Have to Do With Congress’ Latest Spending Bill?
Director Martin Scorsese’s award-winning new film “The Irishman” contains some important history for lawmakers as they prepare to vote on a spending package that would provide a $6 billion taxpayer bailout to one select union. That union is the United Mine Workers of America. For the first time in history, Congress is poised to use… -
opinion
How 2 Years of Tax Cuts Have Supported Our Strong Economy
This month marks the two-year anniversary of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the most sweeping update to the U.S. tax code in more than 30 years. The reforms simplified the process of paying taxes, lowered rates on individuals and businesses, and updated the business tax code so that American corporations and the people they… -
opinion
The Pros and Cons of 3 Possible Budget Outcomes
Just over a week away from the next deadline for fiscal year 2020 appropriations, Congress still has not passed a single spending bill. If Americans are feeling a strange sense of déjà vu, it is because the current spending uncertainty has played out time and time again. The federal government is already on its second… -
news
Unemployment Dips to 3.5% as 266,000 Jobs Added
The U.S. economy added 266,000 jobs in November, while the unemployment rate dropped to 3.5%, according to Department of Labor data released Friday. The 266,000 jobs added in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, amounted to about 138,000 more jobs than were added in October. The surge comes after a 40-day General Motors strike,…