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
Lack of Economic Freedom in Central America Spurring Mass Migration
The lack of economic freedom in the countries of the Northern Triangle—Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador—has long been a consistent push factor of illegal immigration to the north. It did not suddenly cause the 2021 U.S. border crisis, and resolving it requires serious, lasting solutions. There are a great number of interwoven factors behind why… -
opinion
Biden’s Appropriations Budget Proposal Is Unreasonable, Irresponsible
After proposing a massive $2 trillion tax-and-spending binge, President Joe Biden released his budget request for fiscal year 2022 discretionary appropriations. This so-called skinny budget proposal would drive up wasteful spending, shortchange actual priorities such as national security, and increase the likelihood of the appropriations bills not being passed through regular order. The budget is… -
opinion
9 Things You Need to Know About Biden’s ‘Infrastructure’ Spending Plan
Fast on the heels of signing a bloated $1.9 trillion spending package, President Joe Biden has introduced yet another gigantic spending plan. While the administration’s messaging focuses on broadly popular themes such as “jobs” and “infrastructure,” the details of the plan show that it would be a destructive power grab for Washington. Here are just… -
opinion
Biden Administration Should Say No to New Trade Deals With China
In her first media interview since being confirmed United States trade representative, Katherine Tai said last week she is in no rush to lift tariffs associated with the Trump administration’s U.S.-China Phase One trade deal. She should reconsider. Tai’s stated reasoning for maintaining the tariffs is that they provide useful negotiating leverage. Which is kind… -
opinion
New Secretary-General Could Stop Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development From Veering Further Left
Longtime Australian Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has recently been elected to a five-year term as secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an intergovernmental economic group based in Paris. Cormann will assume his duties on June 1, replacing three-term Secretary-General Angel Gurría of Mexico. New leadership might be exactly what this taxpayer-funded international… -
opinion
Biden’s Tax-and-Spend ‘Infrastructure’ Plan Would Slow Economy, Deepen Swamp
The Biden administration on Wednesday released details of the first part of its latest enormous spending plan. Although President Joe Biden is promoting the plan as a way to create jobs through infrastructure projects, its combination of tax hikes and central planning would leave the nation poorer and more dysfunctional. Amazingly, this $2 trillion-plus in… -
opinion
Liberals’ Employer Tax Scheme in Lieu of $15 Minimum Wage Is as Crazy as It Is Convoluted
Despite repeated setbacks—including opposition from some Democrats—to liberal lawmakers’ deeply flawed push to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, proponents continue their desperate search for roundabout ways to force through that mandated nationwide minimum. The first blow came when the Senate parliamentarian ruled that a $15 minimum wage could not be included under… -
opinion
$3T Infrastructure Grab Bag Would Strangle Economy, Americans With Debt, Taxes
The media were flooded Monday with news that the Biden administration is working on a colossal new $3 trillion to $4 trillion spending plan. While full details are not available yet, the plan appears to be another left-wing grab bag of big-government proposals. Rather than stimulating the economy, it would stimulate bigger government while funneling… -
opinion
US Should Encourage Albania’s Transition to Free Market Economy
March 15 marked the 30th anniversary of the reestablishment of ties between the United States and Albania. Commemorating the occasion, U.S. Ambassador Yuri Kim noted that Albania, once known as the “North Korea of Europe,” has been transformed into “a steadfast ally, a partner, and a dear friend of the United States.” Kim further noted… -
opinion
New Study Finds Economic Freedom Is Key to Curbing Fake News
Economic freedom helps to inhibit the spread of fake news, according to a recent academic paper featured in the European Journal of Information Systems. According to the study, titled “Impact of Mobile Connectivity and Freedom on Fake News Propensity During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Country Empirical Examination”: [O]ur empirical analysis demonstrates the significant role of… -
opinion
More Economic Freedom, Greater Herd Immunity in Chile
Although it has faltered, Chile continues to lead South America in having a free economy, according to the 2021 edition of The Heritage Foundation’s annual Index of Economic Freedom. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Chile also leads South America in the race to achieve herd immunity from the COVID-19 pandemic. Those two developments… -
opinion
5 Things to Know About Agriculture Amnesty Bill
The House of Representatives is expected this week to take up one of the most egregious immigration amnesty bills in recent memory, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. In 2019, the House passed the bill, but fortunately, it went nowhere in the Senate. Now, the new Congress is taking it up. The legislation would, among other… -
opinion
Lawlessness Impedes Economic Freedom in Nigeria
In the latest in a series of kidnappings (and even killings) of schoolchildren reported earlier by media outlets, including The Daily Signal, a criminal gang of more than 100 armed bandits invaded a boarding school in Zamfara, northwest Nigeria, on Feb. 26 and abducted as many as 300 innocent schoolgirls. No sooner had the government… -
opinion
2 Major Reports Conclude Excessive Government Spending Threatens American Prosperity
Last week, two important reports were released, shining a light on one of the major challenges facing America—excessive government spending that is causing the poor and declining fiscal health of the federal government. This reduces economic freedom and threatens prosperity, making it more difficult for families to live the American dream. In The Heritage Foundation’s… -
opinion
Ocasio-Cortez’s Terrible Minimum Wage Argument
“It is utterly embarrassing that ‘pay people enough to live’ is a stance that’s even up for debate,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently tweeted. “Override the parliamentarian and raise the wage. [McDonald’s] workers in Denmark are paid $22/hr + 6 wks paid vacation. $15/hr is a deep compromise—a big one, considering the phase in.” The most… -
news
2021 Index Finds Rise in Global Economic Freedom, but US Score Falls
America’s economic freedom ranking has fallen to an all-time low, according to The Heritage Foundation’s 2021 Index of Economic Freedom. The United States fell three places since last year and now ranks 20th in the world among countries evaluated, with an economic freedom score of 74.8 out of 100. The 27th annual Index of Economic… -
opinion
Fox Business’ Charles Payne Assesses Where US Headed at Launch of 2021 Index of Economic Freedom
Charles Payne of the Fox Business Network sat down with Jack Spencer, vice president of the Institute for Economic Freedom at The Heritage Foundation, to discuss the revealing—and alarming—key points from the 2021 Index of Economic Freedom at the index’s launch event Thursday. The index shows that the United States suffered a large setback in… -
opinion
Improving Job Market Shows Solution Includes Employment Opportunities, Not Unemployment Rewards
The latest employment report shows gradual but welcome improvements, with 379,000 jobs added to the economy and the unemployment rate edging down to 6.2%. The easing of lockdown restrictions in many areas of the country, along with more children having the option to attend school in person, has helped ease the employment struggles of… -
opinion
Job Creation, Not a $15 Minimum Wage, Will Reduce Poverty
Though the Senate parliamentarian rejected their efforts to include a $15-an-hour minimum wage in President Joe Biden’s so-called COVID-19 relief bill, Senate Democrats are scrambling for a way to include it. Their efforts demonstrate the importance of this issue for the progressive left. But should they succeed, would such a measure truly help struggling Americans… -
opinion
Advancing Economic Freedom Matters More Than Ever, 2021 Index Shows
The year 2020 was extraordinary for the global economy, with slowing growth and economic turmoil caused and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which engulfed the entire world. In the midst of the health crisis, perhaps not so unexpectedly, our free-market system was questioned yet again by some as a root cause of systemic economic woes…